Here are some pictures of this wonderful course. You sure don't get to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand by accident, but it is a great part of the world with the town of Napier and all the fine wineries.
As for the course - a sensational location, probably even better than Bandon, Pebble and NSW. Indeed, the site is so scenic that you could make a (cute) case that the golf struggles to stay with it. And the drive up to the clubhouse - 15 min from the public road - is unique, creating an amazing sense of anticipation.
The main impressions I took away were:
- quite a forgiving course; very broad fairways even by Doak standards (but hugely affected by the wind, as with all sea courses) which encourage the use of the driver.
- the fairways, with some exceptions, possibly less rumpled than on some of his other courses;
- bunkering much less dramatic than at Pacific Dunes, Barnbougle or St Andrews Beach (because less sandy?);
- green contouring less marked than at these courses;
- done a great job for women. My wife really enjoyed it and was able to play 5182 yards vs 7137 I played.
- fantastic "sheep-station" styled clubhouse; quite small and simple, but beautifully appointed.
No doubt Tom will correct any egregious misunderstandings.
It is a very, very different proposition to Barnbougle - costs you roughly 6 times as much to play for a day (600 Kiwi dollars vs A$100), and clearly is not appealing to the public in the same way.
Holes I remember most:
1 - challenging opener, requiring good drive and lengthy second to hit the green.
5 - clever central bunker forces you to choose left or right off the tee.
6 - epic short hole over a valley.
7 - One of the best holes. If your drive clears the fairway mound you have a short-iron in. But wind makes a huge difference - in the morning I cleared the brow and hit a wedge 2nd shot; in the pm, into a strong wind, my drive did not clear the hill and rolled all the way back down the fairway into the rough!
12 - Righly called "Infinity" - looks like you are hitting your approach into the ocean. You have to be brave to hit the ball all the way to the flag.
14 A fun short two shotter with Devil's asshole type bunker in the green. (Very long carry off the wind - pm I hit a decent drive off the back and was mortified not to make the fairway)
15 - much photographed par 5 - feels like the longest, straightest, flattest fairway you will play, but calamitous if you stray from the short grass. 16 that follows (back to back 5's - is reachable in two). Quite fun with the two going in opposite directions, in immediate succession. One is going to be a brute and the other possibly in range (though you have to be a big hitter to get home on 15 at 600-650 yards, though not impossible given how flat the fairway is).
17 -excellent tough par 4 to elevated green, in the mould of the first hole and reminds of No 10 at St Andrew's Beach, though longer.
18 - a difficult if not dramatic finish, with an interesting green hidden behind the slope.
Pictures:
Approach to first
Third hole (215 yards)
Third green
Sixth hole (225 yards)
5th green?
Approach to Seven
Looking back at Seven
Eighth green with seven behind
Approach to Ten
Eleventh (224 yards)
Approach to Twelve (Infinity)
Thirteen (130 yards)
Fourteen
Bunker on side of Fifteen green
Sixteen
Approach to Seventeen
Eighteenth green
Misc - hopefully these last two help give some sense of the property, sea to one side, mountains in the mid-distance to the other.
Misc 2
