Kiwi golf's rough jewel
Can new owners preserve the Kinloch course’s reputation as the ultimate challenge for Kiwi golfers?
Wednesday, September 28 2011 || The Cut || BY Peter Thornton, The Cut
The winner of the 1963 Open Championship in the UK was blown away by the design and rates it as the country’s ‘must play’ course. “I had heard a lot about Kinloch before I played there and it exceeded all of my expectations. It is one of the best designs Jack has come up with.”
Former Australian test cricketers Allan Border and Greg Blewett and former Black Cap Simon Doull recently took on Kinloch and, according to director of golf Tom Long, the sporting greats were in awe of the course.
Danny Lee has described Kinloch as the hardest course in the world and practises at Kinloch whenever he returns to New Zealand because of what the course demands in terms of shot making.
But for all the praise Kinloch has endured a tough existence. Recent owners the Van Den Brink poultry farming family put the course up for sale a few months ago. It has now been bought by The Southpark Corporation, the third time the property has changed hands since Nicklaus opened the facility in 2007.
It is a nervous time for course staff and Long says they hope and pray the new owners have the same passion and love for this course as themselves.
“We’ve put our heart and soul into making Kinloch what it is, to give it an international status here in New Zealand, and the new owner has to love this place to make it work. There is a tinge of sadness that this course isn’t where it deserves to be. Hopefully that will change. Until an owner comes in with a real love for the place and intention to develop, it will remain an unpolished diamond.”
What makes Kinloch so special? Charles explains it this way: “It is links golf with a difference, remarkable given that its location near Taupo - in the heart of the North Island - is a vast distance from the ocean.
“Kinloch is in the tradition of the great Irish and Scottish links courses. It is firm and fast and not lush so it demands a lot from your shot making. Every hole has its own character. There are a few with water, which is not a characteristic of links courses, but it adds to the design. The bunkering is excellent and every green is a challenge. It’s a complete golf course.”
There is a common argument that Kinloch is too difficult for the average club golfer. But Long says the Kiwi fighting spirit shows through.
“We see so many golfers come off the course mentally drained, the course having beaten them up. I tell them if they came here to play a true championship course and found it easy, they wouldn’t respect it, nor appreciate how good the pros are.
“They are beaten, but you know they will be back. And they do come back. It’s a course that niggles away at them over time; it is a test you want to take on again.”
In 2007, US Travel and Leisure Golf Magazine included it among its top 10 new golf courses in the world.
It would not be an absurd idea for the government to bail out Kinloch and make it a national asset. Not that the course has suffered. Nicklaus visited in February 2008, eager to play the back nine for the first time. He enjoyed the experience to such an extent that he played the front nine as well.
“It’s clearly one of his favourite designs,” says Long, “and he was delighted Kinloch had matured as he intended.”
When the Golden Bear opened the course four years ago, he was asked which hole he regarded as the signature hole of the course. His reply: “All of them.”
Kiwi professionals and leading amateurs rated Kinloch the hardest course in the country in a survey by The Cut in 2009.
Hamilton amateur Mathew Perry, 24, arranged to play the course ahead of the New Zealand amateur championship in May because he wanted to test himself. Perry went on to win the Christchurch event and said mental toughness was the key to his victory.
“Kinloch is the hardest golfing test in the country,” he said. “Not only because of its demanding length, but the layout and design mean you have to place your ball well throughout the course. The greens are slick and undulating, providing for a tough challenge to score well.
“Like with any sport, you want to test yourself against the best and play the best courses. Kinloch is the ultimate golfing challenge New Zealand has to offer.”
