[John Foley]

WOW. The GD & NLU video's are spectacular and from everything we have heard the course is off the charts.


If there was every a Making Of ... book I'd love to see written, this would be on the top of the list.


Hopefully a place to visit someday.

[David Davis]

I'd have to say that one of the things I find amazing about Tara Iti is that there doesn't seem to be much cross polination in the dunes, I mean where are all the weads? It's hard for me to believe they go in and pull them all, maybe they do, however as they mention there are these huge bare dunes to what I think is the northwest and they don't pull those.


As to the comments of looking natural, I take that more to mean how things tie in with the surroundings, not necessarily that there is very green grass on the fairways. Of course the dunes didn't have this grass, but if I walk across the fence at my home course, I walk into some of the wildest dunes you've ever seen, they are a protected area and this land is not much different than Tara Iti. The shaping everywhere ties in and looks like they didn't do anything but lay turf. It looks like they found greensites and seeded them and put the flag there without changing anything. To me that's incredibly natural.


It looks incredible and surreal in that setting but I'm not sure even the video which is excellent does the real thing due justice. It's truly an amazing place.

[Thomas Dai]

One aspect of Tara Iti over other sandy site minimalist/natural style courses in other parts of the world is that in NZ, like in Ireland, there are no hissing, slithering things to stick their fags into you!

atb


PS - really like the look of the 7th hole and green complex.

[Ally Mcintosh]

David,


The shaping (or lack of in many areas) looks brilliant and really “natural”... I don’t think that is what Garland was referring to.


Maybe it’s like those that say that loads of sand in a parkland setting isn’t like nature. Ditto loads of green grass fairways aren’t like nature in an open sand setting.... But what does that really matter? It doesn’t.


And anyway, whilst you wouldn’t get that kind of look on GB&I linksland, it does appear that other areas of the world do have these forested or scrub areas with quite a lot of exposed sand and minimal grass cover. Pretty close to the finished feel.

[Peter Pallotta]

To my eyes, Ally (as he is most often) is right: the work seems brilliant and the look really "natural".
Also to my eyes, I think the golf (ie the actual playing of the game) looks to be excellent.
Other than Crystal Downs, I know all the greats/near greats of the world only through photos & write-ups; and compared to many of the top flight moderns, Tom seems to use 'width' in the right and best way, ie the best way for the *game* of golf.
(I think, but of course I don't know for sure, that it's because no matter how cool & interesting the greens and their contours, their 'relationship' to approach shots and their 'alignment' to the land's natural slopes and tilts are always foremost in his mind...so that you get, with the width, real challenge and choice along with the beauty.)
P

[David Davis]

Peter,


I'm going to agree with that sentiment regarding width. Tara Iti is a course from my experience of several rounds there where the width is really needed. Even for the good players. The wind blows pretty good there, I didn't have a round without it, the same can be said for other great sites Tom and his team have worked on; Pac Dunes, Old Mac, Barnbougle, Ballyneal etc.


I always feel like I've not studied the courses enough - mainly for the lack of rounds there, I've had 4 at most that I've mentioned though only two at Barnbougle and I know how this sounds as it was a huge privelige to have the opportunity but it's just not enough to be able to learn and even notice all the really interesting and fun aspects of the courses.


What you notice first at Tara Iti is how fast everything plays and I don't mean putting surfaces. The course seems very long from the back tees, part of that is because it's in yards and I'm use to meters of course but the other part is that the balls roll on so while this looks very green and surreal that is I'm guessing an aspect of the climate there. This width you mention is greatly needed. With all that sand I was amazed at how little I found my ball in it with the wind I had. In fact only a few times in a few rounds.






Ally,


I've yet to hear about someone going there that didn't find it natural. Definitely tons of micro contours as you suggest and if those were all shaped then indeed that was done by the hands of a magician because I can't remember a single hump that left me feeling, WTF?


I guess it's really about as fun as golf can be. On top of that...at least when I was there. No bugs! No flies, bees, snakes, scorpions, mosquitos, you name it. No idea why but that alone was surreal. Usually there is something hiding to protect the beauty ha ha.

[Peter Pallotta]

David - thanks much for that response. I appreciate the informed insights of a well travelled golfer. Despite my frequent provisos, the nature of the written word always ends up making my posts seem more 'assured' than I intend them -- as in this case, they are often merely  'feelings' culled only from photos. So it's nice (like the blind squirrel who sometimes finds a nut) to be right on occasion!
P

[Tom_Doak]

Ally,


I've yet to hear about someone going there that didn't find it natural. Definitely tons of micro contours as you suggest and if those were all shaped then indeed that was done by the hands of a magician because I can't remember a single hump that left me feeling, WTF?

The entire site was thick with trees when we started, and getting out all the stumps and roots meant it had to be thoroughly gutted.  The big contours and dunes are where they always were (except a few of them are actually new dunes covering over buried stumps).  But all of the micro contours were created by a crew of three guys on sand pros (Clyde Johnson, Michael Henderson, and Pete Zarlengo) doing the finish work, with Brian Slawnik editing them.  Brian called them "the art department" and it was very true, but we do that on a much different scale than Tom Fabio does.


We did not do as much of that work at Pacific Dunes or Barnbougle because the natural contours were not destroyed to get rid of vegetation.  So it's not really that I am choosing to add more micro contours to this course, it's just that we had to do something, and we had a small army of talent on site to do it.

[Thomas Dai]

Tom,
What is the native low level, semi-ground covering vegetation and grasses at Tara It like in comparison to seaside/sandy courses in say GB&I or Aussie? I ask this because I’ve heard that the North Island of NZ is semi-tropical in some respects.
And an additional question if I may, what is the prevailing wind direction at Tara Iti?
Atb

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,
What is the native low level, semi-ground covering vegetation and grasses at Tara It like in comparison to seaside/sandy courses in say GB&I or Aussie? I ask this because I’ve heard that the North Island of NZ is semi-tropical in some respects.
And an additional question if I may, what is the prevailing wind direction at Tara Iti?
Atb

Thomas:


Once we cleared the trees there was no vegetation at all, and we were suggested to use some native ground covers that grew speedily to cover the out-of-play areas and keep sand in place.  One is a creeping vine called spinifex that is really aggressive, like the octopus of your nightmares.  Now that it's in, it has to be thinned constantly.


I have always thought about just grassing over the large areas in between holes, but that would take a lot more irrigation to get it established, and water was at a premium for us there.  Plus the environmental reviewers almost always prefer natives instead.

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks Tom.
I’m sure there’s a plan for restraining the creep of the vegetation at TI but it is an aspect of the modern generation of open aspect sandy course that over time if not handled appropriately is likely to have a significant effect on the way such courses play.
Vegetation seeds and roots etc do seem to rather like it when they came into contact with wind borne and run-off irrigation water and if maintenance budgets do not allow for vegetation restraining then...........
Atb

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