[David Davis]

Maybe the tree house has seen this, a friend just sent it to me.


If you haven't then it's worth every bit of the 12 minutes. I didn't have any volume going so I won't take any responsibility if the narration is not up to par.


It may well be lightening in a bottle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6_5cGQhnDA

[Garland Bayley]

Thanks for the post. Eliminates any desire to play there. Looks too jarringly unnatural for my tastes.

[David Davis]

Thanks for the post. Eliminates any desire to play there. Looks too jarringly unnatural for my tastes.

Garland,


I'm quite surprised to hear that you find this unnatural. I have the exact opposite feeling. I was also lucky enough to be there and if you said surreal I'd agree but unnatural? Why do you find that? There was very little earth moving done at Tara Iti so that's about as natural as you can get?


At least that's what I thought. I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me if that is not true. All they did was remove the forest that was there and this ground was what was under it.


Does anyone else find this unnatural?

[Garland Bayley]

It looks unnatural because water flows downhill.

[Steve Kline]

That is some serious golf porn.


I need to make that course a priority.

[Sean Leary]

Garland likes to be a contrarian. That being said, I would guess that the visuals are much different from ground level than from the drone angle...

[Ryan Taylor]

It's also in my Top 10 dream to play list. The guys over at No Laying Up just posted Season 1 / Episode 8 which features Tara Iti:

https://nolayingup.com/2018/08/07/video-series-tourist-sauce-season-1/

[George Pazin]

Garland likes to be a contrarian. That being said, I would guess that the visuals are much different from ground level than from the drone angle...

  Indeed.


I find flyover videos to be less than useful. Sometimes titillating, but that's about it.

[William_G]

the cottages look fantastic, the converted Airstream sounds great, the peopleless beach sounds tranquil

lonely beauty in the dunes on the shore of NZ

would love to visit and play and stay

[Kalen Braley]

This course looks nothing short of fantastic from everything I've seen of it....its most certainly on my Wish List.


P.S. Garland, you need to check your peyote supplier...cause I don't know what you've been smoking 

[Cal Seifert]

It's also in my Top 10 dream to play list. The guys over at No Laying Up just posted Season 1 / Episode 8 which features Tara Iti:

https://nolayingup.com/2018/08/07/video-series-tourist-sauce-season-1/

the No Laying Up videos are phenomenal.  Had no idea Tara Iti allows outside guest play and a rumored two additional public courses opening up next to it have massive potential.  Love watching the creativity you can have with your putts.

[David Davis]

It's also in my Top 10 dream to play list. The guys over at No Laying Up just posted Season 1 / Episode 8 which features Tara Iti:

https://nolayingup.com/2018/08/07/video-series-tourist-sauce-season-1/

Ryan, thanks for posting that. I hadn't seen this. Very cool video and well done.


Tara Iti is definitely the real deal and about as much fun as you can have on a golf course IMO.

[Garland Bayley]

This course looks nothing short of fantastic from everything I've seen of it....its most certainly on my Wish List.


P.S. Garland, you need to check your peyote supplier...cause I don't know what you've been smoking 

It clearly is a gorgeous work of art. As a side note, when I called TD an artist on this website a long time ago, he argued he wasn't, but accepted engineer ad a label.

It clearly would be a fine place to play being strategic and all the other things we value for playing the game here.

However, lush green swaths of grass floating above dry desert like waste areas only computes in my mind if they rise into the clouds while the waste areas lie low well below the clouds. Only going to happen artificially.

And Kalen, I imagine Heidi Klum is on your wish list too, but that ain't gonna happen either.

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,


"...no idea Tara Iti allows outside guest play"
The last I heard one was allowed to play one game there in your life and to get repeat play you had to become a member .... not a cheap option I imagine!
So, have things changed?  Another two courses in that area would have me over there quick smart.

Cheers Colin

[Frank M]

I agree with Garland. Now that I've seen the video, I'm less inclined to go play and it does look unnatural...or maybe otherworldly. It's definitely over the top for me no less.

[Kalen Braley]

Garland,


You ought to do a bit of homework to avoid looking silly if you think the North Island of NZ is desert-like in any way, shape, or form. 


P.S.  Given thier once in a lifetime deal for a visitor, its not as Heidi Klum like as you might think....even thou she's not particularly high on my list. 

[Daryl David]

Garland,


You ought to do a bit of homework to avoid looking silly if you think the North Island of NZ is desert-like in any way, shape, or form. 

Exactly.


Northern New ZealandKaitaia, Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga
This is a sub-tropical climate zone, with warm humid summers and mild winters. Typical summer daytime maximum air temperatures range from 22°C to 26°C, but seldom exceed 30°C. Winter daytime maximum air temperatures range from 12°C to 17°C. Annual sunshine hours average about 2000 in many areas. Tauranga is much sunnier with at least 2200 hours. SW winds prevail for much of the year. Sea breezes often occur on warm summer days. Winter usually has more rain and is the most unsettled time of year. In summer and autumn, storms of tropical origin may bring high winds and heavy rainfall from the east or northeast. 
Average rainfall at Tara Iti is 1600 to 2400 mm.  Borderline tropical.

[Tim Gallant]

I agree with Garland. Now that I've seen the video, I'm less inclined to go play and it does look unnatural...or maybe otherworldly. It's definitely over the top for me no less.

The more of these modern "minimalist" courses I play the less I enjoy them.There used to be a sense of discovery but I feel like I know what each of the next courses is going to bring and spectacular isolated locations are starting to become redundant. Pair that with the exclusivity and/or price you have to pay to play one of these places and I have no interest.

After reading the course profile on Stoatin Brae and now watching this video of Tara Iti, I'm not lying when I say I'm more interested in visiting Stoatin Brae.

Frank,


Fair enough, but why stop at moderns. I take it you're not interested in playing Cypress? Looked awfully similar and 'unnatural' as you say when it opened and still does today if that's your definition.








Photo from Jon Cavalier and Greg Smith

[Ally Mcintosh]

Kalen, Daryl,


Are you not just confirming Garland’s point - it looks unnatural.


It looks bloody brilliant though. Is it my imagination or do the Renaissance crew spend much more time on micro-undulations in the fairway than their peers?


Together with the variety of styles I’ve seen from them and the likelihood that they will take the odd chance probably means I would call on them first if asked to choose between the BIG modern three (C&C / Hanse being the other two).

[Thomas Dai]

Appears pretty terrific to me.
Photograph it, and other courses of its ilk, in faded black and white and the look isn’t that dissimilar to many GB&I links (and even some heathland) courses back in period late-1800’s to WW2 and that imo is a great tribute to all involved in its design and construction.
Atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

Hey Dai,


That’s where I’ll have to disagree with you. Sand dune creation and succession in GB&I would never look like that (although it would be interesting to see the *most* sandy links courses in Victorian times) - I guess that’s a challenge for you to find some photos to make me eat my words.


Ally

[Garland Bayley]

Appears pretty terrific to me.
Photograph it, and other courses of its ilk, in faded black and white and the look isn’t that dissimilar to many GB&I links (and even some heathland) courses back in period late-1800’s to WW2 and that imo is a great tribute to all involved in itslo design and construction.
Atb

Admittedly my view is formed from one view of one video, but I think you would be hard pressed to find a golden age course where hole after hole had fairway floating above bare sand.

The two Cypress photos posted were more believable with perhaps the majority of the bare sand in dunes above the grassed areas.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,


You ought to do a bit of homework to avoid looking silly if you think the North Island of NZ is desert-like in any way, shape, or form. 
...

I'm not going to comment on how you look (we've all seen pictures)

But, all you are telling me is that paying to play there means I am supporting the cost to keep the vegetation out of all that sand.

[George Pazin]

Natural is one of those buzz words that means different things to different people. As Rich G has noted many times, no golf course really looks natural - when's the last time you saw a mowed green or a bunker or a hole with flag in it whilst traipsing about in the woods?


And as others have noted above, videos flyovers are not conducive to how a course looks when playing it.


The video doesn't look all that different from the pics in Geoff Shack's opus on Cypress Point. If I weren't the brokest poster on here, I'd be there tomorrow. Alas.....


Many thanks for posting the original video link, David, it's wonderful for those of us who haven't been there and possibly never will have the pleasure of enjoying this beauty.

[Jeff Schley]

I have nothing but envy for this layout which looks beautiful.  I don't have the will to critique this beauty just to look for flaws, which it doesn't appear are there.  Natural or unnatural I don't care, it looks like a top 5 course to me.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()