A Mulligan at Fishers Island

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases - Carl Jung



I am always trying to get better, so in the interest of being objective, I subjected my first Fishers Island writeup to a peer review. The simple conclusion of the learned and well-traveled group of golf aficionados that read it was that I am a moron.

They suggested I go back and check out Fishers Island again and in the interim repeat the following sentence often, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." I finally found a member brave enough to invite this heathen back to experience Fishers Island again. It is my hope that by coming clean I can avoid the road to everlasting perdition. Bless me father for I have sinned.

I always like to start with my conclusions, which are, that I liked Fishers Island a lot more the second time around and can really see why people fall in love with it.

I took a lot of heat for my original description of being stared down by a state trooper as we disembarked from the ferry and of a kid sitting at a checkpoint looking at us as we drove down the entry road to the course. People have accused me of making it all up.

Balderdash.

It was all true. I subsequently learned that there was a very simple explanation for it. The then head of the CIA, Porter Goss, has a home on Fishers Island and was there, thus the heightened security. All very cloak and dagger. I'll bet the innocent looking kid probably had an Uzi in that little shed in case things got out of hand!

I didn't take the ferry over this time. Instead, it was a little water taxi from Groton which drops you off by the seventeenth tee. I must admit that there is really no better way to get to a golf course than skipping across the water on a little Boston Whaler on a perfect, bluebird day with the sun shining down on all God's creation and spray coming off the boat splashing in your face.

Fishers Island is a seven mile long island, located on the narrowest part of the Long Island Sound between New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is quite small, the entire island being only 3,200 acres, and is one of the most affluent places in the world. It is hard for a U.S. locale to have a WASPier origin or a better pedigree. Fishers Island was granted to John Winthrop Jr., Governor of the Colony of Connecticut in 1640. The family owned the island for several generations and finally sold it in 1863. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it evolved into a retreat for families with last names like Dupont, Firestone and Whitney. Fishers Island remains a secluded enclave, and more than a handful of billionaires summer on the island.

The Golf Course

I entered the pro shop with some trepidation since I'm on their 10 most wanted list. I kept my camera hidden and my sunglasses and fake mustache on so as not to be spotted, and then off we went to the first tee.

I'm not a huge fan of the first hole, a 396 yard, straight par four. The second hole is a Redan hole of 172 yards. I'm a traditionalist and don't think a Redan should have water in front of it. Where is the treacherous bunker? Where is the green sloping away? Now that I have played over a dozen of the world's greatest Redan holes, I can tell you that this one is one of the least interesting.

The Redan green as seen from the rear

Although I was a bit disappointed in the opening holes, nine of the next ten holes (the eleventh excepted) are fantastic golf holes, some of the best in the world, in fact.

The 335 yard third hole named "Plateau," is a fabulous one. The fairway is set at an angle to the tee, and the hole plays uphill the entire way. The green sits up on, you guessed it, a plateau, which falls off sharply on three sides. It's a great, fun hole with beautiful views.

The third green with its sharp falloff

The fourth hole, "Punch Bowl," is without a doubt one of the best in the world. It is 397 yards of delight. Your tee shot has to carry over a ravine to a broad fairway. Your second shot is a blind one over a hill. The hole takes its name from the green, which is true to its name. The approach shot to the green is aimed at a big Fishers Island flag over the top of the hill. It is really exhilarating when you hit a good shot to run up and see where your ball has rolled to and whether it is near the pin.

The fourth "Punch Bowl" hole from its daunting tee


The huge Punch Bowl Green

The next hole is world-class also. It's a true terror. A 207 yard "Biarritz," it is on a scale that is hard to describe. Everything about it is big. The carry from the tee is over a big ravine. The size of the green is big. The swale that splits the green is big. The view in all directions is expansive. The bunkering is both deep and oversized. The fescue hazards are big. And more than likely, your score when you walk off the green will also be big. It's a doozie of a hole!

The big "Biarritz" hole as seen from the tee


A wider view of the "Biarritz" hole shows how it is perched on the shoreline

The next hole, the sixth, "Olinda" is also a "big" hole. A 520 yard par five, its proportions are outsized. Your tee is over a daunting ravine to a fairway that slopes severly upward. Over the crest of the hill, the incline back down the hill is just as severe. Any shots pulled to the left on this hole would be painful. The hole reminded me quite a bit of the twelfth hole at Shinnecock, which has a similar feel and shape to it.

The 6th hole with its heaving fairway

The seventh, "Latimer," is a great downhill par four with dramatic views of Long Island Sound. When you are on this green, you are closest to the stubby red and white lighthouse, which has a charming ping that lulls you throughout your round.

The idyllic setting of the seventh hole at Fishers Island

The finishing hole on the front nine is also world-class. "Double Plateau" is the hole's name and it plays 364 yards. It reminded me of the fifth hole at New South Wales, also one of the world's best. You hit a blind tee shot into, and hopefully over, a big hill. After you walk up the top of the hill, the rest of the hole is below you, again, with a sweeping view of the Sound. The hole takes its name from the treacherous and fun green, seen below.

The "Double Plateau" green

The tenth hole, "Knoll," plays a lot longer than its 401 yards. The green sits at the top of a massive hill. If you ever get to play Fishers Island, I would bet money that someone in your group (more likely more than one person) lands the ball short and watches it painfully travel 50-60 yards backward to the bottom of the hill!

The 10th hole from the tee

I also liked the twelfth hole named "Winthrop". A 389 yard par four, the hole is named for the Winthrop family house left of the green. The hole sweeps from left to right with a green set high on a steeply declining hillside.

The 12th hole with its big slopes

For my taste, the rest of the holes are good but not great holes, although I think seventeen is decidely weak. I also think the "Short" hole (sixteen) doesn't compare with prototype "Short" holes at a lot of other great courses such as Camargo and the National Golf Links. The "Long" hole (fifteen) also didn't strike me as brilliant.

Fishers Island Place in the Golf Rankings

The first time I played Fishers Island it was in quite poor condition, which I thought really detracted from it. Aside from the fairways being really burned out, the sand traps were in poor condition and the greens were bumpy. There is a fine line between 'fast and firm' and not maintained, and the first time I played it, it was just over the line. This time around the conditioning was great: the sand was in good condition, and the greens were quite good.

I originally played Fishers Island early on in my quest and thus didn't have a lot of other courses to compare it to. Now that I'm virtually done I can better articulate it. I took a lot of heat for not appreciating the designs of the course architect Seth Raynor. Unfortunately, Fishers Island was my first exposure to his work; thus, I came away thinking he was overrated. Having played several of his courses including Yeamans Hall, Camargo and Shoreacres, I can honestly say he is one of the greatest to have ever plied the trade. I count these three among my personal favorites. They all have a uniqueness and polish about them that are memorable. The other thing that they all have in common is that they have been restored and refreshed over the last fifteen years and were in great shape when I played them.

Despite all the vitriolic comments I have received, I don't hate the people who disagree with my initial assessment. My initial point about Fishers Island was (to some degree still is) a simple one: Should a course with nine great holes and nine ok/good holes be ranked as the #29 course in the world? My initial impression was that it was overrated, although, in fairness, I have always said it is a delightful and memorable place to spend a day.

As an aside, I have learned a lot about why a great deal of what you read in the newspaper and see on TV tends to be negative. I have written great things about some unbelievable courses and received minimal comments. My initial Fishers Island post is by far the most commented on of any of my course reviews. Negativity attracts people like flies to honey. I have enjoyed this ongoing debate more than any other as I travel around the world and compare notes with people and with my readers.

Three things have led me now to upgrade my opinion of Fishers Island: 1) I am older and wiser and have seen a lot more great golf courses, thus I am better able to compare it to others than I was when I first saw it. 2) The course conditioning had improved significantly since the last time I played it. The greens are also in the process of being expanded back to the size they were when originally built, and the edges are now squared off on many of them, like on other Raynor designs. 3) I played better this time around. As much as we like to say that how we play doesn't affect how we like a course, we're all human, and it definitely does. Brilliant weather conditions don't hurt either.

For the record, my two hosts at Fishers Island have been among the most down to earth and gracious hosts I've had in all my travels.

The idyllic setting of the beach club as seen from the Plateau hole

While I have for sure upgraded my opinion of Fishers Island, let's not get carried away either. Many people have left me comments that the views at Fishers are as good as Pebble Beach, and I don't agree. You can see water on every hole, the argument goes. Old Head has water views from almost every hole also, but does that make it a great golf course in and of itself? No. The knock on Old Head, Tralee, Bayonne or any number of courses that have great water views is that they don't have great holes. I think there is a lot of confusion about Fishers Island because the water holes blind most people's perception. Water views shouldn't give a free pass to criticism or to questioning whether a course is ranked in the right place relative to other great courses. As I stated in my original post, all water views are not the same. I'm sorry, but looking over to Connecticut, as beautiful as it is, is not the same as looking at Monterey Bay, the Irish Sea or the Tasman Sea.

I had not yet played Cypress Point when I first played Fishers Island. I received several comments that Fishers Island could be compared to Cypress Point. Comparisons between the two are not in order. Visually and routing wise, it is another Long Island course, Friars Head, that is a closer comparison to Cypress in my view, although Cypress is really beyond a direct comparison to any other course.

I have now completed playing all of Seth Raynor's courses ranked in the top 100. I think his best, in order, are Yeamans Hall (1925), followed by Camargo (1921), then Shoreacres (1919) and Fishers Island (1926).

The overall experience at Fishers Island is a unique one: The boat trip, the exclusiveness of the island, the lighthouse pinging, the laid back beach atmosphere and an overall experience that feels like you are going back in time. It wouldn't be hard to imagine it was still 1954 while you're on Fishers Island. While I personally prefer Maidstone, which has a similar set of characteristics, I can see why a lot of people love Fishers Island.

Hell, if this trend continues and some brave soul invites me again, who knows, I may continue to raise my opinion and write an unqualified glowing review of Fishers Island!

Joey Chestnut is the Tiger Woods of Eating!

I hope that everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. One of the great recent traditions of the celebration of America's independence is Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. The excitement this year surrounded Joey "Jaws" Chestnut's title defense. He is ranked #1 in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Joey plowed through 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win by a Tigeresque margin of victory of nine over his closest competitor, Patrick Bertoletti. Check out the event below:



It was Chestnut's fifth-consecutive championship earning him $10,000 and the coveted mustard yellow championship belt. Hmmm...I guess the real lesson here is that if you're going to dominate an individual sport, do it in golf rather than eating. Also, I'm pretty sure that the groupies aren't as hot on the hot dog eating circuit as it is in golf.

Paraparaumu Beach

Kia ora from New Zealand. Before Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs put New Zealand squarely on the radar of golf enthusiasts worldwide, Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club (ranked #99 in the world) held the distinction of the best course in this remote country. To get to Paraparaumu we drove down about four hours to the capital city, Wellington, from Cape Kidnappers, through another beautiful part of the country. One of the great things about this quest is the unexpected, pleasant discoveries I've made: rounding a blind curve, going south on New Zealand Highway 2, presented one of them. The first glimpse of Wellington Harbor left the four of us, who were seeing it for the first time, gobsmacked.

Wellington, New Zealand's Capital city

Wellington has one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the world. The water color is similar to that of the Caribbean, a light aquamarine. The city is reminiscent of San Francisco with its compactness and steep hills that rise from the harbor. It is visually very attractive, and unfortunately, like San Francisco, it is prone to earthquakes.

Wellington's fantastic natural harbor

Located 40 minutes north of Wellington on the Kapiti coast, Paraparaumu is the home course of caddy Steve Williams and has hosted the New Zealand Open 12 times. Paraparaumu means "scraps from an earth oven" in Māori, and it seems obvious why they don't use the native translation in their marketing of the club. Pronounced a tongue twisting "para-para-OO-moo," the locals call it "Paraparam’" for short.

Paraparaumu was designed by Alex Russell on a small plot of just 130 acres. Russell was an Australian Open champion who co-designed one of the world's great golf courses, Royal Melbourne, with Alister MacKenzie. The course opened in 1949, 23 years after Royal Melbourne, in a decade that didn't see much in the way of good golf design. Russell left the rumpled fairways as he found them and exercised restraint in his design choices. The result is a quirky links course with a dearth of bunkers and an abundance of table top greens.

The first green at Paraparaumu Beach with native grasses in the background

A true links course, Paraparaumu has the feel of a course in the British Isles, although the weather is decidedly better here. Similar to Royal Lytham & St. Annes, you never actually see the water while playing. In addition to sharing the topography of Lytham, the course also has an element of the quirkiness of Scotland's Cruden Bay thrown in. There are a half dozen blind or semi-blind shots, including the 1st tee shot, and holes with some interesting greens, including the 11th, which is a punchbowl.

A collection of short par 4s, the 6th, 8th and 10th take full advantage of the dramatic natural land forms. They make up for their lack of length and bunkering by using the natural contours of the true links land, placing a premium on shot accuracy. Paraparaumu offers plenty of opportunity to be creative and bump and run the ball: a key consideration when playing in "windy Wellington."

Paraparaumu's eighth shows off the rumpled fairway and green set amidst the dunes

One of the defining characteristics of the course is its appropriate sense of scale, with a continual change in hole direction. The dunes are perfectly proportioned, and Russell routed the course among them with skill. The front nine is routed further from the sea, which is about 500 yards away at its closest point. The front nine is nearer the water, with all but two holes on the course designed to play in a cross-wind.

In the same way that Whistling Straits is defined by its generous use of bunkers, Paraparaumu is defined by the absence of them. There are less than a dozen fairway bunkers on the entire course; and the 1st and 5th holes have none of any kind. The scarcity of bunkering is most pronounced on the par 3s. The two best, the 5th and 16th, have tabletop greens that fall off sharply on three sides. Anything less than the perfect shot will not hold them. As my host said in typical straightforward Kiwi fashion of the 155-yard 5th, "you are either on it, or you're not," meaning correctly, that there is a harsh penalty for missing. New Zealand native and Open Champion Bob Charles calls the 5th "equal to any short hole in the world."

The par three fifth hole with tabletop green and no bunkers, as seen from behind

The back nine features two world-class long par 4s. Hole 13 is the most challenging on the course and is a 448-yard par 4 that features a dramatic tee shot from an elevated tee. The second shot is the crucial one, since you play over a large swale to an elevated back-to-front sloping green. The prevailing wind is at your back on this hole, and as is often the case on links courses, holes playing down wind can be more difficult to judge distance on. The approach to the 13th is particularly difficult because you have to factor in the severe uphill with the wind.

Paraparaumu's thirteenth hole seen from the tee

The short but testing 138 yard par three sixteenth is seen below, from the rear of the green.

Paraparaumu's tabletop sixteenth green

The difficult seventeenth offers a choice of fairways off the tee. The hole is a renowned one. It was selected as one of the 100 best by The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes, and Golf's 100 Toughest Holes also lists 17 as one of its selections. The 442-yard hole features a choice of two fairways, both set at an angle off the tee. With a breeze coming off of Cook Strait and the Tasman Sea, choosing the correct combination of fairway and distance makes the 17th a real test. The hole features another tabletop green that falls off sharply in the back. The genius of the hole is that by giving so many choices and no clear line to hit on off the tee, Russell ends up creating doubt, which is the last thing a golfer needs when teeing up a ball.

Paraparaumu has one of the cheapest greens fees among world-class courses and provides a good excuse to visit Wellington. No golf trip to New Zealand would be complete without visiting this classic links gem. A lot can be learned about how to make a golf course challenging and interesting by using hilly land forms and dunes as hazards instead of bunkers. I don't think Russell has been given enough credit for the brilliance of his minimalist use of bunkers here. At Paraparam’, less is truly more. This course is worthy of being in the top 100 in the world.

Paraparaumu is also the home course of my Kiwi friends Michael Goldstein, Jamie Patton and Bart De Vries of the puregolf2010.com phenomenon. Jamie and Michael were gracious enough to caddy for us when we played; thanks guys (and Bart), you are true gentlemen. Their faux-Augusta style caddy uniforms got us a lot of looks out on the course. And Jamie you should have that cabinet in your kitchen smoothed out so nobody rips their pants in the future. Roger has been talking about your legendary hospitability since we got back!

Normally, a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth two thousand.

The fat lady is now following me around and made the trip to Wellington. She's putting on her costume and warming up her vocal cords, getting ready to perform. This can't be a good sign; I don't even like opera.

Post Script

Being a combination moron and frequent traveler, I often leave things behind on trains, planes and automobiles. On my way from Wellington to Queenstown I lost my 3G-CDMA-universal-globa-cell-phone with satellite uplink and anti-lock brakes, as it turns out, in the taxi to the airport. In how many places in the world would a cab driver return to the airport 30 minutes later to find me and give me my phone back? Not many. But mine did, as if it were not the slightest bit out of the ordinary. This tells you all you need to know about the Kiwi ethos. What a fabulous people and country.

How to Play a Top Ranked Golf Course

I am often asked how I have been able to gain access to some of the world's great golf courses. There are many ways to do so, none better than bidding on a charity auction to buy a threesome or foresome.



I posted last month about Jim Colton's selfless quest to raise money for a Ballyneal caddie, Ben Cox, who was injured in a ski accident. Well, Jim has completed his marathon golfing session and raised over $77,000 for Ben's benefit.



You can read news coverage of Jim's marathon below. There is also a link to the auction which includes access to fourteen of the world's top 100 ranked courses including many private and exclusive clubs.





GOLF WORLD MONDAY



MARATHON RECAP



A SPECIAL FATHER'S DAY



THE RAFFLE



DENVER POST ARTICLE



JASON SOBEL GOLF CHANNEL COLUMN (see #10)



Congratulations Jim, well done!

Cape Kidnappers

Cape Kidnappers is located on the middle part of the North Island of New Zealand, near the town of Napier. Napier is a quaint place that is known as the world's most thoroughly Art Deco city and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and was rebuilt over the next couple of years entirely in the Deco style.

An example of the Art Deco architecture in Napier

When we flew down from Kauri Cliffs our our way to Napier after changing planes in Auckland, we never showed any identification or went through security of any kind, which is a nice change from the dehumanizing nightmare that flying in the U.S. has become. My day playing Kidnappers began with a walk on the beach, freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand, wearing shorts and a golf shirt, watching the sunrise with the cliffs of Cape Kidnappers in the middle distance. Louis Armstrong was right. "What a wonderful world." Staying in town, we had the opportunity to enjoy the fabulous architecture and got to mingle with locals on St. Patrick's Day, as opposed to staying overnight at the billionaire's playground for US$1,300 per night. Although not on the 2003 Golf Magazine Top 100 list which I am playing, Cape Kidnappers is ranked #27 in the world on a recent list.

Cape Kidnappers is the second course I have played with a Captain Cook connection (New South Wales in Sydney is the other). Cook sailed the HMS Endeavor into the cove off the course, and one of his Tahitian guides was alleged to have been kidnapped, giving the area its name. The high headlands, which Cape Kidnappers is built on, are visible from Napier and the picture below can give you some perspective on its Gibraltaresque size.

The headlands of Cape Kidnappers seen from Napier

The entry drive at Cape Kidnappers vaults to the top of my list of dramatic golf course entrances. It eclipses all four of my other top entry drives: Sand Hills, Morfontaine, Yeamans Hall and Kauri Cliffs.

The beginning of the amazing entry drive at Cape Kidnappers

The front entrance is accessible by pressing a button to speak with the pro shop, and the gates are then opened by remote control. Once inside the gate, it is still a full seven kilometer drive up a winding road to get to the course. This has to be golf's equivalent of foreplay, if there is such a thing; the tension and excitement build as you climb each hairpin turn through the forest.

Cape Kidnappers has a more rustic feel than Kauri Cliffs and is more laid back. The staff is welcoming and accommodating, as they should be charging $400 for a round of golf!

The uphill wooded entry drive at Cape Kidnappers

Cape Kidnappers has been one of the most hyped courses built in the last ten years. It begins with a good first hole, but overall I found the 2nd through 6th, 10th, 11th and 17th a bit underwhelming relative to expectations. The course has very wide fairways, and Tom Doak, the course designer, always leaves a bailout area and a more forgiving route to the green for less skilled players. This less skilled player, for one, appreciates this design philosophy. The other side of this design philosophy is that if you play aggressively and make a mistake, there is a big penalty. The big penalty at Cape Kidnappers is being in the high rough, which is almost certainly a lost ball.

Despite the initial letdown of the front, I did like the variety of hole types. The course has some short par threes and some short par fours, which are nice because they take away the tedium of hitting hybrid clubs off the fairway all day long. Cape Kidnappers also puts a premium on putting, 'cause there ain't a flat green out there. I enjoyed the par three sixth hole, which reminded me a bit of the "Calamity" par three at Royal Portrush, but with the big drop-off on the left side of the hole instead of on the right. The hole plays over 200 yards and is a tester; It offers a preview of the immensity of the rocky gorges to come. The drop from the green to the water below is over 500 feet.

The tough par three 6th hole

The seventh hole features a semi-blind tee shot and then a big hollow between the driving area and the green. It is more than likely that your shot to the large green will also be blind, because the hill is so steep.

The seventh green seen from the top of the fairway

As is Doak's trademark, the greens at Cape Kidnappers are all interesting; although very hard to read. I didn't understand the eleventh hole at all. It is a 224 yard par three that requires you to walk far from the previous green, up a hill with a dramatic view. The tee shot is played back toward the 10th green alongside it. It seems to me that it would have made a much better hole if it were designed the other way around; that is, with the green situated on the hill, with the dramatic cliffs on the sides. The green would have then taken advantage of the view rather than having your back face it.

The par three 11th green

The course really picks up steam on the twelfth hole, and it is the beginning of an unbelievable set of world-class holes in succession, starting with the twelfth and ending with the sixteenth. This part of the course plays among the fingers of rock formations above Hawke's Bay. All the pictures of the course that you see in magazines or when the course is advertised are of this stretch of the course taken from the air. Twelve is a classic 460 yard par four where the fairway is set at an angle to the tee, and you have to carry your tee shot over a gully. This hole allows you to decide how aggressive to be and is really fun. The green is situated on the top of a hill overlooking Hawke's Bay. The hole's name is "Infinity" because looking over the edge of the green, it looks like it goes on forever.

The 12th green appropriately named "Infinity"

Thirteen is a 130 yard par three ("Al's Ace") with a beautiful view of the cliffs and Hawke's Bay, and a large and severely undulating green. I recommend walking at Cape Kidnappers because some of the tee box positions are awkward to get to with a golf cart, such as the eleventh and thirteenth. With a cart it is difficult to figure out which clubs to bring to the tee because the wind is hard to factor in.

The uphill par three 13th green

Fourteen is a fun, short par four, albeit with a weird name, "Pimple." It plays 348 yards from the tips and is a good risk/reward hole with multiple playing options. There is a simple but deadly pot bunker near the green that is as magnetic as the Road Hole bunker at St. Andrews and comes into play in a similar fashion.

The short par four 14th green

The fifteenth hole ("Pirate's Plank") is one of the best par fives - make that holes of any kind, in the world. It plays 650 yards from the tips and 550 from the tees for high handicappers. The hole subtly gets progressively narrower from tee to green. The left side of the fairway falls off into a jagged gorge with the South Pacific about 500 feet below you. There are at least a half-dozen signs along the left side of the fairway warning you not to go over the fences or get too close to the edge, because it is sayonara if you do. The prevailing wind (at least the day we played) is in your face, adding to the challenge. The green sits on a cliff on the edge of the world, with a dramatic view in all directions.

The par five 15th seen from the fairway looking toward the green

Aside from the exhilirating views, the fifteenth hole offers options to be conservative or aggressive. I was lucky to play it on a day with only a mild wind. Being so exposed up on the cliff top, I can't imagine playing it when the wind is blowing. As they say down here, it is pure. Below is one of the vertiginous views on the hole. To give you a sense of the sensation you feel playing the hole, one of the guys in our group actually had to back away from the edge of the fairway because it drops off so precipitously and he is afraid of heights. The fifteenth hole is Rara Avis (for my friends in New Jersey, it is a rare bird, quite out of the common). There are not many places in the world where a hole like this can be built. It took balls to build it, and it really came off exceptionally well.

View of the gorge from the 15th fairway

Like Cypress Point, Kidnappers features back-to-back par fives. The sixteenth is a par five in the opposite direction from the fifteenth, this time playing downwind. The hole is only 500 yards from the tips. The fairway heaves quite a bit in different directions, and the green is elevated and funky. It is a very different hole than the fifteenth and has a wide fairway. It reminded me of the par five fifteenth hole at Kawana in Japan with the ripples and waves in the fairway. The hole is seen below looking back from the green.

The par five 16th looking backward down the fairway

I've heard the par four seventeenth described as a great hole but I don't think so. I didn't find much about it to be unique. Eighteen is a good finishing hole and features a punchbowl green.

The punchbowl 18th green at Cape Kidnappers

Cape Kidnappers is in many respects ultimately like Pebble Beach. What makes Pebble Beach so great is a half dozen spectacular holes, which compensate for many holes that are good, but not great. Cape Kidnappers also has a collection of holes that are so superior in their own right that they make up for some average holes and make it a worthy course to be included among the best in the world.

Not a bad view when changing into your golf shoes: Kidnappers locker room

Just like when we played at Kauri Cliffs, there was almost no one on the course in March. As a commercial enterprise, me thinks neither of these work. It's great to have Julian Robertson subsidize them; he could have chosen to build these and make them exclusive preserves like Kerry Packer did with Ellerston in Australia. It seems to me they are just too remote and expensive to make it on their own, even with the high prices. Unlike The Donald, Robertson actually has class and builds quality, and I for one am grateful he did it and opened up two unique locations for the world to see.

New Zealand has some spectacular and dramatic golf. Combine the front nine of Kauri Cliffs with the back nine of Cape Kidnappers and you've got the eighteen prettiest holes in the world. As I was walking off the eighteenth green I saw that fat lady again, this time she was arriving and looked very serious. I'm afraid at some point in the not too distant future she's going to sing. This has to be more than a coincidence.