Cape Kidnappers Golf Course, New Zealand

When Tiger Management leaded by Julian Robertson decided to build a second golf course in New Zealand that could rival if not better his first (the amazing Kauri Cliffs)] the awareness was that they had to do something special. They invited the American Golf Course architect Tom Doak and the result was Cape Kidnappers Golf Course, a stunning par 71 golf course measuring 6,510 meters; the layout is an example of the minimalist design philosophy, which makes maximum use of natural topographical features and shows restraint with earthmoving in a site of rare and awesome beauty.

The course itself is the namesake of the famed Cape Kidnappers Peninsula names by Captain James Cook during his voyage to Australia and New Zealand in 1769 after local Maori attempted to kidnap his ship’s Tahitian crew member. Cape Kidnappers feels like an old-style Scottish course and was designed to blend in with the rolling coastal farmland. It is not true links terrain; instead, the land tilts toward the sea as a series of ridges which jut out toward the edge of the cliffs. Poised on cliffs 140 metres above the sea, the course tilts toward the sea as a series of ridges jutting out toward the edge of the cliffs. The surface is firm and fast, however conditions can be windy. The course’s ’signature’ hole is the 15th, known as ‘Pirate’s Plank. This is a long, wide and flat par five that follows a massive cliff finger as it gently heads down towards the edge of the earth.

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“The Cape is not true links terrain; instead, the land tilts toward the sea as a series of ridges jutting out toward the edge of the cliffs. Yet, the play is seaside golf at its finest. The surface is firm and fast, and the conditions can be windy, so the player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course. You’ll hit heroic shots over the tops of the tea trees, and play cautiously along the edges of deep ravines. Every hole has a view of the Bay, and at the sixth and fifteenth holes it’s possible to pull your approach off the very end of the earth, though it will take nearly ten seconds of hang time for your ball to reach the ocean, 500 feet below. Enjoy your game, and enjoy the setting. You will never play golf somewhere like this again.” – Tom Doak.

Since it’s inauguration in 2004, this spectacular New Zealand golf course has been hailed as one of the great modern marvels in golf. Cape Kidnappers golf course was ranked 13th in the top 100 world golf courses in the world by Golf Digest “The World’s Greatest Golf-Courses 2009-2010” and also ranked the 4th in the world’s greatest golf courses “The 50 Greatest Golf Courses of the past 50 years” by Golf Magazine.