Te Arai

[Padraig Dooley]

Not long back from New Zealand and here are some photos of Te Arai

Par 5 1st
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 2nd
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 3rd
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 4th
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 3 5th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

[John Kavanaugh]

Nice. You let the course be the star.

[Padraig Dooley]

Par 3 5th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 5 7th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 3 8th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 10th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 11th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 3 12th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 5 13th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

[Padraig Dooley]

Par 4 14th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 16th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 3 17th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 5 18th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

[David_Tepper]

Great pics. Thanks for posting.

It will be interesting to see how the open sandy waste areas are maintained and what short of vegetation grows into those areas over the next several years.

[David Wuthrich]

Thanks for sharing!

[Thomas Dai]

Terrific post Padraig.
Many thanks for sharing with us.
Atb

[John Kavanaugh]

I hope that it’s not disrespectful to call this DudeBro architecture.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Is the course as tight and difficult as it appears from the pictures?

[Tom_Doak]

Great pics. Thanks for posting.

It will be interesting to see how the open sandy waste areas are maintained and what short of vegetation grows into those areas over the next several years.

As of now, they are trying to minimize the vegetation in those areas; not much will volunteer if they don't plant it.  But there is a very fine line there, because if you don't have much vegetation, the open sand will constantly be eroding onto the turf.  So there's something of a natural cycle of planting stuff and then cutting it back, as we've had to do just up the beach.


Padraig didn't label it but this is Bill Coore's course at Te Arai, the South Course.  Our North Course is currently growing in and will open in October 2023.


And, no, Tommy, it doesn't play very tight at all.  The scale of the place is just so vast that some of the fairways look small, but they are really pretty big.

[David_Tepper]

"As of now, they are trying to minimize the vegetation in those areas; not much will volunteer if they don't plant it.  But there is a very fine line there, because if you don't have much vegetation, the open sand will constantly be eroding onto the turf.  So there's something of a natural cycle of planting stuff and then cutting it back, as we've had to do just up the beach."

Tom D. -

Thanks for your reply. The reason I asked the question is that I have seen how the beach below the 16th green at Royal Dornoch has changed over the past 20 past years. Marram grass is now growing where there used to be just sand and small trees are growing where there used to be just marram grass.

Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, so it would not surprise me at all if some sort of ground cover starts growing naturally in those open sandy areas over time.

DT

[Mike Bodo]

Terrific post Padraig.
Many thanks for sharing with us.
Atb

Here, here! Terrific job with the photos. The course looks amazing!

[Tommy Williamsen]

In the past twenty years, architects have been given some amazing sites on which to practice their craft. We are richer for it, especially if one is a globetrotter.

[Peter Sayegh]

Thanks for the screensavers Padraig. Great pics.
Does the playabilty equal the eye candy?
Peter

[Ben Sims]

I just came to christen the 14th the Inverse Lion’s Mouth. Goodness gracious what a better concept for the green than a bunker there. Shaggy mound. May get a bump off it, May get stuck on it. Demands you to think just like a bunker would. Very cool.

[Tim_Weiman]

Not long back from New Zealand and here are some photos of Te Arai

Par 5 1st
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 2nd
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 3rd
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 4 4th
Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Par 3 5th
Golf at Te Arai by Padraig Dooley,

Padraig,


Wow. Great collection of pictures. Thanks for posting!

[Jeff Schley]

Outstanding tour Padriag. Look like you had a wonderful day to play. Is there much wind there? Typical day maybe how many MPH?  You will need the width if windy.

[Padraig Dooley]

To answer a few questions and add a comment or two.
The course is very wide, not narrow at all, we had one instance of looking for a ball in the 2 days there. The course is not difficult, good scoring can be done and the holes are full of variety. I wouldn't tire of playing there.
Windwise, on the first day, there was none, blue skies, a real chamber of commerce day. Second day there was at least a 2 club wind which added plenty of interest shotmaking-wise but with the width still very playable.
Notable holes are the 4th, the downhill hole which will get most of the photos, the par 3 5th, par 5 7th, par 5 13th, par 4 14th, par 4 16th and the par 3 17th but there really is no weak hole.
My favourites were the 5th with an infinity green, 7th with rolling terrain down to the green leaving all sorts of interest from 100 yards and in, 13th with a great green, the short drivable 14th with Bill Coore's 'Inverted Bunker'. The full of options 16th and the short postage stamp 17th.
Also to note is the playground or the massive putting green near the restaurant and the practice area with Gibraltar, Biarritz, Punchbowl, Redan, Short and Eden combined and Sitwell Park greens. It's possible to play the holes on the range as par 3s when the range has been closed and the balls picked.
Initially I thought the split between it and Tara Iti might be 6-4 in favour of Tara Iti but having gone around Tara Iti again after, it might be 7-3.

Tom's North Course is visible from the 14th green and 15th tee and looks very dramatic so it will be very interesting to see how that would dictate a 10 round split between the three.
I guess the only question I'd have of the courses is whether fescue is too thirsty a grass for them.

[jeffwarne]

I just came to christen the 14th the Inverse Lion’s Mouth. Goodness gracious what a better concept for the green than a bunker there. Shaggy mound. May get a bump off it, May get stuck on it. Demands you to think just like a bunker would. Very cool.

Thanks for highlighting that Ben.
Love it and wish we saw more of it.
5 at Friar's Head-an otherwise unremarkable piece of land/hole made great by a grassed bump.
I disagree that it "makes you think like a bunker would" as the carom off of it may repel the ball far from the hole and the shot from it would likely be far difficult to control than a bunker shot for a better player.
The mound ACTUALLY makes one think off the tee, like the bump on 5 at Friar's, and unlike nearly all greenside bunkers.

[Ben Sims]

I just came to christen the 14th the Inverse Lion’s Mouth. Goodness gracious what a better concept for the green than a bunker there. Shaggy mound. May get a bump off it, May get stuck on it. Demands you to think just like a bunker would. Very cool.

Thanks for highlighting that Ben.
Love it and wish we saw more of it.
5 at Friar's Head-an otherwise unremarkable piece of land/hole made great by a grassed bump.
I disagree that it "makes you think like a bunker would" as the carom off of it may repel the ball far from the hole and the shot from it would likely be far difficult to control than a bunker shot for a better player.
The mound ACTUALLY makes one think off the tee, like the bump on 5 at Friar's, and unlike nearly all greenside bunkers.

You’re right of course. A lazy bit of typing by me to not expand on why all hazards aren’t equal. The second I saw it I was smitten though. Above ground features/hazards are cool and underutilized.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom's North Course is visible from the 14th green and 15th tee and looks very dramatic so it will be very interesting to see how that would dictate a 10 round split between the three.
I guess the only question I'd have of the courses is whether fescue is too thirsty a grass for them.

Interesting that you wondered about the grass.  We've had discussions whether they might oversaw the fairways on my course with Bermuda [couch], particularly if the use of golf carts becomes a thing there.  My only objection was that I can't see how they can restrict one course to walking only and have carts available on the other, and alternate which is the members' course for the day and which is the resort course.  I think it would inevitably drag carts onto Bill's course, too.


The alternate-day setup will pretty much dictate the split of rounds played at Te Arai; and only the members of Tara Iti will get to choose among the three.


P.S.  I just noticed you didn't have a picture of Bill's 6th hole, which was one of my favorites.  Did you guess wrong on where to hit your tee shot?

[Thomas Dai]

Another feature of the 14th is that there seem to be several sets of steps leading to/from the fairway and the sandy area on the left side of the hole. I can only imagine that the height difference between the fairway and the sandy area below is both considerable and pretty steep.
I can’t spot the use of similar steps elsewhere in the photos but wonder if there are some?
Atb

[Tom_Doak]

Another feature of the 14th is that there seem to be several sets of steps leading to/from the fairway and the sandy area on the left side of the hole. I can only imagine that the height difference between the fairway and the sandy area below is both considerable and pretty steep.
I can’t spot the use of similar steps elsewhere in the photos but wonder if there are some?
Atb

There are quite a few deep bunkers where you wouldn't go straight up the face to the green, but on that one you would have had to rake your way 40-50 yards back up the fairway to a place you could get up the bank, so the stairs were added.


That is a particularly difficult place to be, because the sand won't always be raked.  I am not sure they are designating everything as "through the green" like Tara Iti, but there are certainly many sand areas they won't be able to rake every day.

[Charles Lund]

Nice photos.  Thanks for posting.


I'll be in Australia from late February to late March.  I did four Downunder trips between 2007 and 2009 that included New Zealand.  I am pretty sure I traveled through the Te Arai and Tara Iti area on trips between Auckland and Kauri Cliffs before there was much golf there.


The photos and discussion led me to consider a flight over from Australia next year.  Looks like there is Airbnb lodging in the area.  Might give it a try.


Charles Lund

[Padraig Dooley]

The par 4 6th from behind the green


Untitled by Padraig Dooley,

I didn't take any photos on the 6th as we were getting called through a group on the hole but did get one from behind the green. The first day of playing I hit it just over the right side of the dune in front of the tee which led the shot just hanging on to the right side of the fairway. The second day we both hit it 30 yards left of that!