So, God was a golfer…
Make available a block of land with superb sea views and most New Zealanders would dream of building a little holiday home, planting a stand of fruit trees and perhaps putting in a pool or tennis court, depending on the budget.
But when the budget isn’t an obstacle, you’re a golf fan and you like to make your dreams come true - there’s only one outcome once you own such a block of land. Create your own golf course, then make sure you have somewhere comfortable to sleep after a day of playing golf.
Kauri Cliffs Lodge
A stunning example of a golf course fantasy realised sits perched in a remote area at the top of the North Island of New Zealand. Matauri Bay, in Northland, is the home of Kauri Cliffs Golf Course and Lodge, a spectacular development by New York financier Julian R Robertson.
There was Robertson, having a perfectly happy family holiday in Northland, when he espied the 4000-acre property. Where others were awestruck by the breathtaking cliff top sea views, secluded beach coves and rugged coast, he was spurred to action. He saw a golf course. That’s the thing with golfers - they can’t go for a casual stroll across anything green without fantasizing about making par.
The course itself is hot, never mind the sub-tropical Northland weather. Designed by David Harman, Kauri Cliffs features six holes testing the nerves of the acrophobic golfer. It is carved into the land as naturally as though it was meant to be here all along. Robertson is a religious man, and it seems God must be a golfer.
"Julian will say ‘we didn’t really do anything - it’s God who has given us this beautiful land; we just enhanced it," explains Kauri Cliffs general manger Richard Nauck.
"He feels very strongly about it. He just looked at the natural lay of the land and that’s how the golf course is cut out. It’s not just plonked there after earthmoving - it’s carved into the land. That’s how he wanted it."
Natural element
That natural element pervades Kauri Cliffs. What could have been the stomping ground of the affected, wannabe golfer with a wad of cash in his plus-fours and a swagger to match, has retained a laid-back Kiwi feel the country is renowned for - after all, this is a place where cellphone coverage isn’t great and no-one cares how nifty your Wap phone is.
Sure it’s New Zealand’s most expensive golf course on which to play a round, but even Kiwis are coming to play. In 2000, most of the visitors to the course were New Zealanders, and there’s a group of Aucklanders who travel north every weekend to play.
Luxury lodge
Now that the luxury lodge is open - that was wife Josie’s inspired part of the dream - people can play and stay, which has made it an attractive proposition to golfers from all over the world. Americans, in particular, are coming thick and fast.
An American guest writes in the log guest book: "Pebble Beach is boring." Another writes: "I’d much rather play this than Pebble because it’s more scenic and more challenging." Lucky to have the choice, of course, especially at opposite ends of the earth.
Nauck says it’s difficult to compare the two when Pebble Beach has been there for many years, but he says Kauri Cliffs does have at least one advantage.
"At Pebble, you have to book a month in advance to play - and you pay a fortune to play there. Here there are times when you’ve virtually got the course to yourself. Yet, you have the same quality as what they have there. Sure you do need to book in the high season, but we don’t overbook the course. If we did, we would lose our identity and lose what we really want to give the people."
Golfing and fishing
Nauck is happy with the numbers of American visitors already making the trip.
Matauri Bay is four hours from Auckland by car, or 40 minutes by plane to the nearest airport Kerikeri. Golf is the lure but fishing, in the bountiful seas of Northland is another - something Robertson saw in the area when he first visited it around 30 years ago.
Locals - even in the hospitality industry, theoretically competing for the accommodation dollar - are astounded by what Robertson has achieved. They say he has enhanced the area, unlike large conglomerates that often develop and decimate the land, having no consideration for the environment so treasured by New Zealanders.
Enhancing the environment
"It’s very important to Julian to enhance the environment," says Nauck.
"We have only planted native trees here. We have a few citrus trees but Julian said ‘if you want them put them in a pot, but I don’t want them in the ground’. He’s very strong about that."
More than 300 kauri trees have been planted - a type of native tree that has played a big part in the history of the Northland area, once a gum diggers’ paradise. A 1300-year old kauri that sits on Robertson’s land has been gifted to a trust by Robertson, to ensure its preservation.
Native birds abound, and there are even kiwi living on the land that Robertson is determined to protect.
The attention to the environment extends to the care given to the golf course.
"The golf course itself is a living creature," says Nauck. "You have to nourish it and work with it and groom it to make it even better. That’s what we’re doing to constantly maintain it. Even though it’s already beautiful, we’re trying to improve on its beauty."
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