My recent trip to Cape Kidnappers

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:

I think you'd like Kauri Cliffs.  It's plenty difficult and it's very beautiful -- more beautiful than Old Head, in my book.

Cape Kidnappers is probably the most relentless golf course I've built from the back tees, because Mr. Robertson wanted those back tees specifically for an event like the one that will be played in October.  (Actually, Sebonack is probably even harder.) 

At the same time, some of the fairways are 80 yards wide with no bunkers, so you don't have to be striping it all day if the wind is up.  If you let down your guard on one of those tee shots (like say on #12), the second shot is liable to bite you in the butt, but as Mike says, you can go out and play the course for fun, too, which is what most of the paying customers are there for.

[Peter Wagner]

Matthew,

The picture that you titled 'Looking back from the 6th green, towards Hawke’s Bay and Napier' is just plain beautiful.  Forget it if you think I'm playing that course in 4 hours because I'd have to park it right at that site for a good hour or two to soak in that view.  How pretty is that?

I wonder if they would mind if I brought a chair?  Also wonder if gin and tonics could be delivered?

Think of the tourist dollars that are drawn to New Zealand because of this one view!

Wow,

Peter

PS.  Matthew, I'm stealing this pic... hope you don't mind.

[Jason McNamara]

Regarding the jet lag.  Tom Doak is right, but for a different reason than stated.  Jet lag travelling east is more severe than when travelling west.  They say travelling east is akin to switching frommorning to evening shift at work, whereas travelling west is akin to going from morning to afternoon shift.  The former is (apparently) far worse.

If you fly west with an eight hr time difference (Chicago - Melbourne* or London - LA), depending on DST), then you essentially have a 32-hour day.  Stay up late a couple nights, not a big problem.

If you do the other direction, then you either have what is in effect a 16- or 40 hour day.  Yuck.

So next time you return to Chicago from Melbourne, just do it via a couple days in South Africa.   

* I know, it's 16.  But it's a day minus 8 hrs.

[Matthew Mollica]

Matthew,

The picture that you titled 'Looking back from the 6th green, towards Hawke’s Bay and Napier' is just plain beautiful.  Forget it if you think I'm playing that course in 4 hours because I'd have to park it right at that site for a good hour or two to soak in that view.  How pretty is that?

I wonder if they would mind if I brought a chair?  Also wonder if gin and tonics could be delivered?

Think of the tourist dollars that are drawn to New Zealand because of this one view!

Wow,

Peter

PS.  Matthew, I'm stealing this pic... hope you don't mind.

No worries Peter. Knock yourself out.
Hawke's Bay is really a very pretty place.
Not just Cape Kidnappers but the whole region.

Selecting the pictures for this review was hard.
There are so many great images, and I'm not that good a photographer.
There's some good shots on the cutting room floor.

I know what you mean about pace of play. I took 5 hours as a single on one round!
As the only one on the course, I felt I could indulge myself a bit 

Matthew

[Matthew Mollica]

Enough discussion - now to the holes.

I've selected ten, and will put them up a few at a time.

/\/\/\


Holes to note – 

4th  Par 5, Blue tees, 497 metres,  white tees 468 metres

While not endowed with splendid ocean views, the 4th may just be the best three shot hole among Doak’s three Australasian courses.  A blind drive to a wide undulating fairway free of hazards leads to a tantalising second.  Should one hit a disciplined lay-up to a generous fairway, on a line well away from the green?  The flag sits within range, and implores a long second.  Good drives afford the chance to play the thrilling shot over undulating rough ground and hazards, towards the two tiered green.

Drive on the 4th hole


The challenging long second shot into the 4th green.


View of the green for those playing a short simple third shot into the 4th hole



5th  Par 4, Blue tees, 384 metres,  white tees 366 metres

The broad fairway is disrupted by a pair of centre-line hazards.  Shorter accurate tee shots placed between the central and right side fairway bunkers yield approaches played down the axis of the green, free from influence of greenside sand.  Long drives heading left are afforded a more spacious landing zone, yet they result in approaches played across the axis of the slightly convex green, which must contend with greenside hazards.  Questions are asked on the tee, and consequences encountered in the fairway.  In an exciting and beautiful setting too!
   
View of the 5th green from the central fairway hazard


Looking back down the 5th hole from behind the green – note the convexity of the putting surface



 6th  Par 3, Blue tees, 206 metres,  white tees 194 metres

The one shot holes are Kidnappers are all testing and enjoyable.  The 6th is the longest and requires a surely struck ball.  Occupying a stunning site with cliffs and Hawke’s Bay to the left, the 6th plays from the edge of one rise to the next, traversing a broad sweeping valley.  Tee shots falling short funnel away from the green back into the valley. The large putting surface features bold contouring, in keeping with the dramatic topography through which the hole runs.

The long par 3 6th hole



7th  Par 4, Blue tees,414 metres,  white tees 384 metres

Separated from the tee by a meandering ravine, the 7th fairway plunges downhill and to the right.  The green is perched upon a knoll with a gully at the front and the ravine beyond.  The downhill approach is a thrilling shot, necessitating good distance control.

View from the 7th tee


The exacting downhill approach to the 7th green




More soon...

[Jonathan Cummings]

Tom D

Kauri and Old Head are both undenyably breathtaking - it's spilting hairs calling one more beautiful than the other.  They are both 10s on a beauty scale.  That said I think Old Head is more interesting from a character standpoint than is Kauri.

I have South Africa on my schedule in the next year or so and am looking forward to seeing Pinnacle Point which supposedly rivals Kauri and Old Head for the lofty, expansive views.

JC 

[Philip Gawith]

Jonathan - Pinnacle Point has a stunning setting that matches Cape Kidnappers and certainly invites you to play some heroic shots of the sort you don't especially encounter at CK. But some of the land is close to being too severe to play on. Overall CK is a much more exclusive product and a much better golf course.

Thanks for the nice review Matthew - I look forward to seeing what other holes you post. Shame the sun did not come out for you! I share your enthusiasm for the course and agree with Mike C that the course is not too gruelling, even with wind, if you are playing sensible tees. Certainly it is expensive, but there are very, very few courses that are as memorable. If you are happy to pay expensive green fees for something special, then you are not going to begrudge CK the cost.

[Matthew Mollica]

10th  Par 4, Blue tees, 430 metres,  white tees 398 metres

The scale of the course shifts up a notch with a broad expanse of fairway ahead, and the blue waters of Hawke’s Bay meeting the horizon.  The tee shot is devoid of definition and demands thought if an advantageous angle into the right to left tiled green is to be had.  A low running second may serve best on approach.  Bunkers to the left of the green save errant balls from a much worse fate.

The view from the 10th tee, devoid of definition, with the wide vista of Hawke’s Bay beyond


Approach to thee 10th green



12th  Par 4, Blue tees, 421 metres,  white tees 393 metres

The 12th is just one of several exciting holes which travel along the fingers of cliff top land which jut into Hawke’s Bay.  One may flirt with the steep crevasse which defines the left of the fairway, or safely drive further right, accepting a longer approach.  Another thrilling approach awaits, with the bunkerless green seeming to extend and disappear into the bay beyond.  Recovery from the steep slopes either side of the green warrants great touch.

Approach to the 12th green – note the absence of framing and the effect on depth perception



13th  Par 3, Blue tees, 119 metres,  white tees 114 metres

The shortest of the one shot holes requires a lofted club and invariably places one’s ball at the mercy of the wind.  Especially as the hole hugs the cliff edges, at the northern reaches of the property.  A green surface unable to be fully visualised from the tee may sew a seed of doubt in golfers’ minds.  An exacting tee shot is required to hold this well bunkered green.  Some shots finishing on the front portion of the green may be swept to a collection point short and right of the putting surface, or to a left greenside trap.

View from the 13th tee

[George Pazin]

Thanks, Matthew. If the site decided to chip in and send one guy to review a new course, my vote just might go to you.

[Matthew Mollica]

Thanks for the kind words George. I'll PM Ran with my nomination for GCA's finance committee chairman!

/\/\/\



14th  Par 4, Blue tees, 318 metres,  white tees 309 metres

What course would be complete without a high quality short par 4? The fairway extends on a gentle diagonal to the right.  A generous landing zone lies to the left, yet the green beckons and is in plain sight. Fairway bunkers sit on the direct line from tee to green.  The small green is sharply divided into front and rear segments, and is guarded by a solitary bunker at its left.  A steep slope lies beyond the green.  Conservative drives yield an approach which must contend with the diminutive yet voracious greenside bunker.

The drive at Cape Kidnappers’ short par 4 14th hole


The green complex featuring the deep bunker at its left, and pronounced putting surface contouring


15th  Par 5, Blue tees, 594 metres,  white tees 549 metres

The longest of the three shot holes demands straight hitting.  A sheer drop of several hundred feet to the left and a treed ravine right both gobble balls which miss the fairway.  What the hole lacks in strategy, it more than makes up for with drama.  The fall of the land towards the bay sees the hole much shorter than the yardage suggests.

Don’t bother looking for balls beyond the left edge of the fairway


Approach to the 15th green


Balls rolling through the 15th green are saved from a watery grave hundreds of feet below



17th  Par 4 Blue tees, 423 metres,  white tees 400 metres

A long par four possessing appealing subtle movement. From the tee, the ideal line is slightly right.  The fairway then gradually ascends to a green offset to the left.  Striking bunkering must be carried if one hopes to find the green.  Ample room lies at the outside of the fairway on the drive, and to the right of the green, affording less skilled golfer’s the chance to risk little, yet safely secure bogey. The uphill second shot is exciting and demands a long, well struck shot.

Approach to the 17th green



In his book The Sprit of St. Andrews, Alister MacKenzie noted that “Golf in New Zealand, unlike Australia, is dead. In fact, it has never been alive”.  That may have been the case in the 1930’s but not so today.  Cape Kidnappers has breathed life into the Kiwi golf, in the most striking way.  The refined English gentleman with whom I played the course is not overly excitable.  He has played golf all over the world and seen it all. During our round, he repeatedly giggled aloud, such was his delight.  The golf course, indeed everything about Cape Kidnappers, truly is a wonderful experience.


Matthew

[Carl Rogers]

Matthew,

I am sorry for being out of sequence in the thread.

I have looked over the web site and the pics of the buildings and cottages you suggested earlier.  Often, too too often, the buildings detract from the course and setting.  However, in this case, they are a very very positive addition.  I would speculate they add a lot to what would already be a terrific, if not life altering, expierence.  Mr. Robertson found some very capable people to design and furnish (I have no idea whom) these structures.

I find it very interesting when individuals of great means go out and build things ... often it becomes a function of what they choose to leave out because they have the resources to do anything.  This project is the polar opposite of Donald Trumpism.

[Tom_Doak]

Carl:

You would love the pro shop at Cape Kidnappers.  Along with the clubhouse at Stonewall, it is by far the best building anyone has ever put next to one of our golf courses.  The architect was a fairly young guy named Andrew Paterson out of Auckland, who is very highly regarded down there.  A friend of Julian and Josie's did the interior, unfortunately I can't remember her name right now.

[cary lichtenstein]

Matt:

From the back tees, on the days I played with the intense wind, even YOU, have zero chance of breaking 80!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cary

[Matt_Ward]

Tom D:

I'd be curious to know that in planning your various alternate routings -- how many did you create for CK ?

Also, do you study wind velocity trends when placing holes in any golf course or do you simply bend to the will of the land ?

I can remember you saying something on this topic in regards to The Rawls Course.

Thanks ...

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:

We did two real routings for Cape Kidnappers.  The first one had several holes on the next finger of land to the east (across from #3 and #4), and did not go so far out to land's end on #15 and #16.  Mr. Robertson strongly suggested we use the furthest-out land, so we refined the routing accordingly.  [Dave Harman, who designed Kauri Cliffs, also submitted a routing at one point.]

We do study the prevailing winds when designing any course, but sometimes it is of more use than others.  At Cape Kidnappers, the fingers of land we were using were 60-100 yards wide, so playing holes that hip-hopped east and west across the fingers was not a serious option ... you would've had a dozen bridges and a lot of lost balls that way.  So, most of the holes had to run roughly north and south, along the fingers.  We knew the prevailing wind was from the north-west, with southerlies at times, but there weren't many places we could play more towards the north-west ... the land just didn't run that way.

When you are on a flat site like The Rawls Course, there are more chances to make the holes run in the wind directions you would like them to.