Tara Iti: photo/video essay by No Laying Up

[Jeff Schley]

The question is how do I convince my wife that we need to go to New Zealand without mentioning golf.  How far is the course from Auckland?

haha... yeah need to brainstorm...... if you are Lord of the Rings fans you could say let's go visit the LOTR sites in New Zealand honey!

[jeffwarne]

The disadvantage of drone shots is that you see the cart paths in all their gory detail. Hopefully they are more palatable from the ground.

Ulrich

I'm baffled.
I just watched on my laptop-all I ever use being a luddite.
Stunning-and my interenet is at best average.
Perhaps I am too easily impressed.



I just watched the video again.
How in the world can you call those paths "gory"
They are the same color as the sand around them and are merely compacted from the traffic.
I only could even see them because I looked for them-and the only thing I can see from the drone shot are tire tracks in the native sand!
On the ground you would never know they were there-I don't remember seeing one.


I defy you to find a course aeriel with less visible paths (from the air) and I will allow you to include any great links course-trust me they have plenty of paved , gravel and dirt maintenance paths and plenty of fake turf pull cart paths.


When one plays the course they are COMPLETELY unaware of their  existence, but I could barely find them in the aeriel.

[Jeff Schley]

I didn't even notice them in my first view and just watched it again and really had to look to identify them as Jeff already said they are sand so they blend in better than I think almost anything else you could conceive of.  But in the end, even if they are black, who the hell cares, how does it look when you are playing the course?  My suspicion with Tara Iti is camouflage.

[Daryl David]

The question is how do I convince my wife that we need to go to New Zealand without mentioning golf.  How far is the course from Auckland?

About 2 hours.

[Mark Kiely]

I experienced the whole tour last night and didn't notice any paths stand out. Maybe I was drooling too much over the course itself. Absolutely stunning! Very cool presentation, too! Thanks for posting this.

[Pete_Pittock]

The disadvantage of drone shots is that you see the cart paths in all their gory detail. Hopefully they are more palatable from the ground.

Ulrich

They are

[Kalen Braley]

I thought the videos were excellent, and didn't have any issues with download speed or otherwise.  Given the relative cheap cost of drones, I hope this trend continues.


P.S. The maintenance paths really did pop out due the contrast of their surrounds, but I figured they would be hidden when at the ground level

[Will Lozier]

The short par-4 7th reminds me a bit of Pac Dunes 16th in reverse. Wondering if anyone else thought the same thing?


Cheers,
Will

[Pete_Pittock]

The short par-4 7th reminds me a bit of Pac Dunes 16th in reverse. Wondering if anyone else thought the same thing?
Cheers,
Will

It looks to me that Tara  Iti 7th puts the emphasis on the drive, while Pac Dune 16th is all about the approach.

[Will Lozier]

The short par-4 7th reminds me a bit of Pac Dunes 16th in reverse. Wondering if anyone else thought the same thing?
Cheers,
Will

It looks to me that Tara  Iti 7th puts the emphasis on the drive, while Pac Dune 16th is all about the approach.

But Pete, isn't the approach dependent on the tee shot? They are not mutually exclusive. Do you know how many times I've seen players within 30 yards of the 16th green, down on the right side, and walk off with a double or worse because of the difficulty of hitting that green from that angle...which was caused by the need to, not realistically go for the green, but to try to get as close as possible (against my suggestion!). To me, the best play is to hit hybrid/fairway wood to the outer edge of the fairway to get the best angle into that green with a wedge. It looks (from pics) like that might be the best play on the 7th at Tara Iti as well. Ultimately, the wind will play a big factor in how it plays. The green - it's orientation relative to the fairway, it's size, the trouble short & long - is what made me thing of PD #16.

[jeffwarne]

The short par-4 7th reminds me a bit of Pac Dunes 16th in reverse. Wondering if anyone else thought the same thing?
Cheers,
Will

It looks to me that Tara  Iti 7th puts the emphasis on the drive, while Pac Dune 16th is all about the approach.

Unless you've driven the green on the 7th, your approach will be very challenging, no matter where you are.
Far more challenging of an approach than 16 at Pac Dunes due to the small size and contours of 7 at Tra Iti, (note-I've only played 16 at Pac Dunes once and was a full wedge out.
7 at Tara Iti I've played 4 times from a variety of approach distances-10 yards to 100-scary second for the non imaginative or imprecisie wedge player player.

[Pete_Pittock]

The short par-4 7th reminds me a bit of Pac Dunes 16th in reverse. Wondering if anyone else thought the same thing?
Cheers,
Will

It looks to me that Tara  Iti 7th puts the emphasis on the drive, while Pac Dune 16th is all about the approach.

Unless you've driven the green on the 7th, your approach will be very challenging, no matter where you are.
Far more challenging of an approach than 16 at Pac Dunes due to the small size and contours of 7 at Tra Iti, (note-I've only played 16 at Pac Dunes once and was a full wedge out.
7 at Tara Iti I've played 4 times from a variety of approach distances-10 yards to 100-scary second for the non imaginative or imprecisie wedge player player.

The approach would be infinitely worse if you did not hit a good drive. I agree it is probably a more difficult approach than PD16

[Tom_Doak]

They are both very tough approaches, especially playing downwind, which happens often.  And yet both can be played with a putter if you hit a good tee shot!

[Randy Thompson]

What a piece of land and looks to be an incredible and unforgetable design! I think it`s time for TD to retire. How do you follow up a project like that one? Congrats to all involved!!

[Tom_Doak]

What a piece of land and looks to be an incredible and unforgetable design! I think it`s time for TD to retire. How do you follow up a project like that one? Congrats to all involved!!

That's the kind of land we are looking for in Argentina, dude!

[Randy Thompson]

What a piece of land and looks to be an incredible and unforgetable design! I think it`s time for TD to retire. How do you follow up a project like that one? Congrats to all involved!!

That's the kind of land we are looking for in Argentina, dude!

It`s out there, waiting to be discovered! I think I am the right guy to find it. Please have all interested investors send  me a helicopter with a pilot for a week, two cases of a good Malbec Argentine wine and a cow. I be good to go with these basic essentials!

[Jeff Schley]

Ok I'm hooked, I have some time this winter (their summer) perhaps and would like to see if they would allow a hack like me to enjoy a round.  Any advice?  Thanks

[Tom_Doak]

Ok I'm hooked, I have some time this winter (their summer) perhaps and would like to see if they would allow a hack like me to enjoy a round.  Any advice?  Thanks

If you read the No Laying Up article that goes with the slide show, they have the details on how to arrange to play the course -- you write them a letter, and you can go once, if you stay on property.


All the publicity for the course in the past couple of months has made it a tough ticket this winter.  I've forwarded requests from multiple acquaintances only for them to find out there were no rooms on the days they wanted to go.

[Jeff Schley]

Ok I'm hooked, I have some time this winter (their summer) perhaps and would like to see if they would allow a hack like me to enjoy a round.  Any advice?  Thanks

If you read the No Laying Up article that goes with the slide show, they have the details on how to arrange to play the course -- you write them a letter, and you can go once, if you stay on property.


All the publicity for the course in the past couple of months has made it a tough ticket this winter.  I've forwarded requests from multiple acquaintances only for them to find out there were no rooms on the days they wanted to go.

Thanks Tom.  Yeah I bet they are inundated as well they should.  It's on my list and whenever it works out will be a blessing.  Great work, you should be very proud to create something so loved.

[Kalen Braley]

Tom,


I was looking at Google Maps.  Is that land to the north suitable should the owner decide on another 18?  Or at those dunes too big?


P.S.  It also looks like they were experimenting with different grasses to the south of the course, with 7 or so patches that looked like greens

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

I was looking at Google Maps.  Is that land to the north suitable should the owner decide on another 18?  Or at those dunes too big?

The land to the north is protected as a sanctuary.  The central dune is around 200 feet high, though it moves back and forth a bit.  There would be some great holes up there, but there won't be.


The land for any future golf is a few miles to the south, on another part of the tribe's holdings.  A good friend of mine is working on a routing for that one.  I wish he'd send one of his former clients to me as a return gesture.

[Buck Wolter]

Quite a but of discussion with Ric Kayne -- Owner of Tara Iti. Hadn't heard of a public course as part of the development (edit:maybe I should have read Tom's post right before this).

Kayne, who plans another golf course of similar quality that will be open to the public, said he will also be forced to sell the house he’s building for himself and wife Suzanne under the new restrictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-12/the-rich-aren-t-happy-new-zealand-is-banning-foreign-boltholes