Before anyone jumps down my throat -- I confess to never having been to NZ. Kauri Cliffs certainly looked impressive on the tube but the downhill shots over and over again demonstrated for me a lack of imagination on the part of the designer. Again, I will re-emphasize before the barking dogs emerge -- I am making admittingly, deep left field seat analysis, but the course didn't seem to have many unique / exciting design elements that were equal or greater than the visual elements provided.
For those who can comment -- I'd like to know if the prevailing spring wind pattern at the course is what the players encountered when playing the first round at KC. For example, the wind was helping considerably from right-to-left on #16 and #17 and a good bit as well on #18.
Seeing the TV pics of Cape Kidnappers makes me set aside time to watch tomorrow's telecast to see how the Doak layouts stacks up against what Kauri Cliffs offered.