It might be one of the most incredible golf venues on the planet.  Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand is a coastal headland and a peninsula forming the southern boundary of Hawkes Bay jutting magnificently into the Pacific Ocean. The land mass covers 6,000 acres of hills, cliffs, forest, prairie land including the largest aviary of Gannet birds.  The property is a working farm and ranch with a preponderance of sheep and some cattle.  The golf course was designed by Tom Doak (Bandon Dunes).  The course is carved carefully and elegantly throughout the cliffs, forests, and different terrains as if very little was touched.  It seems to be a minimalist yet powerful design, and on some holes, you might think you’re playing golf somewhere other than planet earth.

Doak’s work does remind you of Bandon Dunes particularly due to the variety of holes that make this track quite remarkable.  It is not a golf course for the faint of heart, yet it is not a consistent grind.  The fairways are generous and must be experienced if you want to score here.  You are going to experience wind here and it can be ferocious at times even in clear, sunny conditions.  The par 3’s look very gettable but seem to be elusive as wind and pin positions toughen things up.  One significant difference from Bandon is that Bandon is closer to pure links and is more forgiving to the high handicapper thus allowing for better playability throughout the round.  You cannot walk Kidnappers as the distance between holes required by the design and the terrain is considerable–probably 8 miles or more compared to 6 in a typical course layout.  Kidnappers is not for the average or high handicapper as 6 holes require significant carries of tee shots over the gorges that is either forest or jungle.  Another 3 holes contain significant mounds that will test the accuracy of an iron shot to the green as many of these greens are elevated accompanied by significant wind conditions. r  The greens are medium speed to my putter acumen probably in the 10-11 range on the stimpmeter.  When you finish the round, the first question asked of you is usually how many balls did you lose rather than what your score was.  I was greeted with tremendous but respectful skepticism when I said-zero.  I had played Kidnappers before and played the course at about 6,400 yards.

Doak’s effort is well worth the effort and is a pilgrimage for those golfers looking to add to their bucket list achievement.  You may hit all the clubs in your bag and you need to bring your “A” game to score-it will probably take a few rounds to get the full experience.  The problem is that the experience will contain some significant variables primarily due to wind.

The Course

15th Hole–“Pirates Plank”

I have to start with the 588 par 5-15th hole called “Pirates Plank”, which plays at 650 yards from the back tee.  The hole looks like a journey to nowhere and is as flat as a Nebraska cornfield.  The fairway is probably the widest on the course but you better not miss it as the left is a fence protecting you and any roaming creatures from falling into the Pacific.  The right side is a significant drop into the abyss.  The wind will ultimately determine what happens on this hole and the approach shot to the green must be achieved or else–going over the green is a trip to the Pacific Ocean.  On a downwind day, I hit an approach shot to the green of about 170 yards, which was converted into a routine par.  Against the wind, my fourth shot was a 9 iron of 110 yards, which luckily was close enough to make another par.  The approach shots to this hole should be center to center/left as I noticed some very weird bounces from second shots hit well but right center.  The shot hit to the right center of the fairway as a strong fade could find some serious unwanted scrub.  If you manage to muscle an approach shot over the green, the ball will travel some 500 feet or about 10 seconds of hang time before it reaches the Pacific Ocean.  The hole leaves you exhilarated as you’ve covered a lot of ground as you putt out facing the Pacific Ocean.

16th Hole–“Widows Walk”

The 15th and the 16th are the outstanding highlights of the course.  A strong par 5 with significant length is followed by another par 5 of 500 yards called “Widow’s Walk.”  As you recover from having survived the 15th, you then encounter the 75 steps up the hill to the 16th tee.  The tee is carved out of the top of another bluff over looking the Pacific with spectacular views–I’m told that some couples have exchanged marriage vows on this tee although I would be hard pressed to understand how a bridal gown would manage the 75 steps.  The hole is 500 yards crossing another chasm, which is only about 150 yards looking down from this vantage point.  Finding the fairway should be well within reach of almost all players but the challenge begins from the fairway.  The fairway from the tee shot is completely uphill to the green.  The fairway is generous but the wind can play tricks and move a shot dangerously close to the right rough where the ball will die a natural death.  Club selection especially against the wind is very tricky to a large, horizontally shaped green.  Par on this hole is also a very good score

17th hole:  Gannets Perch

You have survived 15 and 16 either elated or exasperated and now face the very tough 17th hole, which I played at 420 yards.  There really isn’t much trouble on this hole so the difficulty is presented by the behavior of the wind combined with the need to carry the greenside bunkers for the approach shot.  It’s a weird feeling playing a hole that seems to be fairly straightforward but the wind has made it virtually impossible.  I was flummoxed by the ferocity of the wind as I felt I was never going to get to the green.

Holes with Significant Mounding:  the 18th–named “IPU”

I’m not sure what IPU means but I played the 18th as a par 5 as it is a 390 yard, par 4.  The yardage of the hole is only critical depending on the wind.  A wide fairway gives way to a second shot that will need to hang to the left side of the fairway in order to avoid the steep bowl that will push any shot into the bowl.  My first attempt at this hole was to play away from the steep drop into the bowl and what I thought was perfect jumped out of the left rough into the bowl where I still had a 50 yard pitch shot.  My second attempt is to simply play a second shot directly at the pin at the top of the mound avoiding the bowl altogether for a straightforward 75 pitch shot at the pin.  From this position, getting up and down for par is a much easier proposition.

9th Hole–“The Dip”

This was my favorite mounded hole.  I had forgotten the hole from playing in prior years and playing in the pouring rain, I played a tee shot over the gorge from the forward tees.  I forgot about “the dip” so the ball ended up on the top about 150 yards, where I proceeded to airmail the green and made a horrid bogey on what is one of the easier holes.   Another try ended up with the right result–a hybrid club over the gorge in lovely sunshine carried the top and released all the way to the bottom of the “dip” leaving a chip up the hill of only 45 yards.  A 54 degree wedge stopped the ball 2 feet from the pin for one of the few birdies of the week.  The 9th is a welcome respite following the difficult par 3, 8th and another mounded hole-the 7th.

7th Hole–“14 Flags”

The 7th hole measures only 388 yards but it felt like 450 as the generous fairway is tilted from left to right so any tee shot isn’t likely to roll forward very much (especially mine) leaving a daunting iron shot to the green over another significant dip on the right.  A good tee shot on the left side of the fairway will leave a medium iron (not for me) to the large green.  It’s a beautiful visual hole especially after the intimidating 6th.  Kidnappers seems to alternate difficulty with ease as you meander through the cliffs, gorges and the bunkers.  The course just seems to emit an air of fairness throughout the round.  You will be rewarded for focus and staying in the fairways as well as greens that are pretty true and puttable.

1st Hole–Adequately Named-First

The first hole is your welcome to the idea that this is going to be a fair test but not an easy one.  The hole is a 390 yard, par 4 with a generous fairway that slopes in a similar fashion to number 7.  If you are too far left, you will not get home in two and be subject to your initial experience of the significant dip on the right.  What is interesting about the hole is that this your introduction to the course, which is telling you that you had better pay attention to positioning your shots or else it will be a long day of trying to recover.  Bunkers are well positioned on the left side of the green to catch the iron shot whose distance is misjudged.

6th Hole–Gulley

The 6th hole is the most intimidating hole on the course as a par 3 of 225 yards from the back tee and 190 yards from the forward tee.  The teebox is on the top of a cliff and reminded somewhat of No. 3 at Mauna Kea in Hawaii.  The difference between the two holes is the wind–the wind at Kidnappers will blow hard in all conditions from right to left (i.e. to the ocean).  The green is one of the largest on the course reminding me of one of the Old MacDonald holes at Bandon where 4 putting is a real potential possibility.  I was completely spooked and would have been pleased just to carry the gorge and all the bunkers so I aimed my tee shot with a 3 wood as right of the hole I dare.  The ball flew and  I knelt in prayer as the ball carried the right bunker and ended up in the rough off the green.  I proceeded to produce a minor miracle and chipped a 60 degree wedge to a foot for par.  I did experience other adventures of required bunker shots on this hole in other rounds but the quality and uniformity of the sand throughout the course was very good.

I’ve now played Cape Kidnappers 9 times and I continue to learn and experience the wonderment of the views from the cliffs, the terrain and the general playability of this beautiful piece of property.

I will evoke the words of Tom Doak to summarize this piece.   “You will never play golf somewhere like this again.”