CAPE KIDNAPPERS

Describing the landscape on the North Island's most spectacular golf course is difficult with words alone; the back nine features holes that are laid out across fingers of land that are demarcated by cavernous gorges and gullies. The architect, Tom Doak, also responsible for the Pacific Dunes course at Bandon Dunes, has carefully manipulated this remarkable terrain to produce a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

Doak is a highly individualistic creator; his courses do not reflect the time-honoured traditions of golf design. Rather, Doak places the utmost emphasis on using the inherent character of the land presented to him. It is for this reason that the decision makers at Cape Kidnappers rightly called upon him to formulate a course that merited the location, and he has certainly succeeded in completing a course that will soon be renowned the world over.

Cape Kidnappers has already shown its tournament creditials in hosting the Kiwi Challenge in October 2008. The event, which was won in a playoff by Hunter Mahan who defeated Ryder Cup hero Anthony Kim, adds yet further kudos to one of the world's most spectactular golf courses.