Your 7-day golf route Dreamrra

Under the equator and under the radar. so New Zealand It is used to register for American players, to the extent that it was recorded at all: a remote place with some eye -eyed courses, but not a main goal for a Golf Buddies journey.

However, in the most recent years, a constellation of Marquee projects have raised the New Zealand profile in the game overseas, raising it to a SHE The destination, known for both its celebrated modern courses, but also for playing the appearances of the golden era that the American market had long overlooked.

In a last episode of Golf Podcast, Simon Holt set a seven-day dream under the itinerary.

To hear the episode, click below. And for a summary of HOLT recommendations, continue to read.

Getting there

New Zealand is made up of hundreds of islands, but the two largest are the northern island and the south island. From the couple, the North Island offers the largest golf concentration you have to play. It is also the home of the capital, Auckland, which welcomes non -stop flights from such great American markets as Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. This is where you will touch down.

When we go

On the rolling side of the planet, the seasons are overturned. Come in December, when winter is held in the US, the New Zealand golf season is starting to swing. But a wide, sweet window extends from November to April and May.

Day 1

Golf club titles

This is your arrival day course, and not just for its proximity (20 minutes) from the airport. You are playing this for her lecturer. Founded in 1909, the course was redesigned nearly 20 years later by Alister Mackezie. Remains the only course in New Zealand by the famous architect returned by the doctor, and it holds many of its signs, located in a shocked landscape, with compelling compressed greens, dramatic bunkers and ground game options everywhere. Titirangi is a private club. But like most private courses in New Zealand, it works in the British model, which means she accepts the game outside.

Day 2

Rocks

Holt is a big fan of Whirlybirds (and of fast transport in general), so prepare to board a chopper. You have booked one, right? Once you have paved your first night in Tairai (more at the time), you will wing up to Cliffs Kauri, one of those early caramel courses you’ve probably seen in the picture. Built by the late New Zealand businessman Julian Robertson, he lives up to his name, with 15 holes commanding a Pacific panorama and some stretches that boldly hang along the Oceanside Cliffs. Kauri Cliffs has a hotel with Rosewood, but as with most modern New Zealand courses, you will pay a premium to stay and play here. But for Simon’s itinerary, you are conducting a surgical attack, entering the day to play the course, then returning to the night.

Days 3 and 4

barrier

Maybe you’ve heard of Tara iti, home for a Tom Doak design that is widely regarded as the best modern course in the southern hemisphere. One of the rare clubs of New Zealand that is inaccessible to the public; You have been a member – or you know one – to move on. This is the bad news. The good news is that about 15 miles away, Tara itisters built at Arai, which Holt describes as Pebble Beach in Tara Iti Cypress Point: Anyone can stay and play there for a price. The accommodations are stylish and underestimated, the food is prominent, and two courses with 18 holes, north and south (designed, respectively, by Doak and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw), are the type of tracks for which you cross an ocean for it. They are open to the public on alternative days. So you are hanging on for two days to play them both.

Day 5

Kinloch Golf Club

After a 90-minute car at Auckland Airport, followed by a 50-minute commercial flight, you are in Taupo, preparing for a round at Kinloch Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus design in the heart of the northern island. If you have seen The Hobbi’s film version, you can get a good idea of ​​what the Earth looks here. Rooted rolling, rustic, chopped with clutter, knotted with forests, gilded by local herbs – unspoiled landscapes, straight and by Shire, with a course that Holt says he reminds him of an inner kingdom. As it happens, a shaper from that famous modern course near St. Andrews had a hand in shaping here as well.

Day 6

Cape

A two-hour east driving takes you to Napier, a coastal city, which puts you on a round in the Kepi kidnappers, another under the Doak model. “Even if you think you haven’t seen pictures of it, you have,” Holt says. He is right. One of the most photogenic courses in the world, it contains holes that function as soft fingers along the coast, giving way to the ocean and island you would swear were air until you see real. Like Cliffs Kauri, Kepit Kandappers has a rosewood hotel, but other accommodations are numerous in Napier.

Day 7

Forester

You can’t see the water but you know it’s near. You can feel his bold influence on this wild entertainment connection, a pleasure of the golden age, created by the former Mockezie collaborator, Alex Russell. In 2002, with the promotion of Steve Williams, his Kiwi caddy at the time, Tiger Woods played in New Zealand open here – an unforgettable appearance that still inspires conversations about the club bar. This golf here is wonderfully delicate and strange, and green fees ($ 225, or approximately $ 130) make it one of the biggest bargains everywhere.

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