Te Arai Links: A golfing heaven

By Neville Idour

One of the joys of being a golfer is getting to play new and different courses for the first time.

There are so many jewels in New Zealand thanks to our coastlines and glorious mountain scenery. Think Kauri Cliffs, The Hills, Tara Iti and many others. Well, at Te Arai Links near Mangawhai, 90 minutes north of Auckland, golfing heaven awaits with the choice of two superb courses.

With world leading golf course designers responsible for the North and South courses at Te Arai, it is not surprising they have revelled in the opportunities presented and produced two absolute gems that in this writer’s opinion should find their place in any rating of the world’s best courses.

These two pure links courses are blessed with spectacular coastal landscapes and views amidst, at times, raw landforms and remnants of the forests that used to envelope the land the courses inhabit. Always there is a reminder of their roots.

Caption: The opening hole at the South course at Te Arai Links.

The South course opened on October 1, 2022, and it is hard to believe when we played it that it was just a year young. The designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw said they look for sand based sites where random land contours provide sites where the land, more than the designers, determine the design and the course’s character.

“We were given a great gift and a uniquely special site for golf with landforms sculpted by the wind, adjacent to the sea,” Coore said.

There are seven tee blocks to choose from. They range from the championship at 6256 metres to the forward at 4640 metres. A tee for all in effect.

Standing on the first tee one draws breath and sees a generous fairway for the first tee shot. Always a good introduction to a course. However sand is in play for an errant shot as you walk up to an elevated green. So the scene is well set. The walk on the South course is relatively comfortable. Of course only trundlers are allowed at Te Arai to protect the courses.

The course has 16 holes with an ocean view, eight of which border the sea. Shapes and green sizes vary beautifully. No two holes are similar with the variety of landforms from gentle valleys to gently rising slopes an ongoing feast. The fourth hole is a long 399 metres from the middle tees and 365 metres from the forward tees. However do not fear this is an exception as the par fours go. The next longest is 351 metres. There are five shortish par fours from 306 metres (six) down to 232 metres (14). The four par threes range from 100 metres to 141 metres from the middle tees.

Arguably the 17th par three at just 100 metres is the most spectacular by the sea but surrounded by bunkers. It is easy to be distracted so commitment to the shot is essential. Interestingly the course is book-ended with the 18th a par five of 469 metres. It is stroke 18 so does not have too much bite, just get good connections to counter the length. There is so much to like about the layout. Every hole presents a new vista to contemplate then enjoy the challenge.

After a blissful night's sleep we were more than ready to play the North course just a couple of days after it opened to the public on October 1, exactly one year after the South course opened. This Tom Doak design is quite breathtaking as it unfolds.

Doak says: “The North course starts and finishes on the ocean with another sweep down to the ocean at holes eight and nine, but for me the unique character of the course will be found inland.”

This where the routing explores what had been a pine forest set on dunes high above the beach. Doak spent months on site personally shaping green complexes and fairway features controlling his bulldozer. Talk about hands on.

The eighth hole at the North course at Te Arai Links.

Normally, after being on site for several days formulating the project, he leaves the construction of the project to his long time associates in the Renaissance shaping and construction crews. However because the North course was constructed during the covid-19 pandemic, Doak travelled to Te Arai and stayed for two months.

Said Doak: “I’m still not great on the dozer but I do love it. Some of the results are pretty wild like the greens at seven and four but they look really cool. To be spoken of equally with the South course we felt we had to do more with the golf and the overall shaping of greens and fairways speak to that I think.''

He likes to talk about the inland holes that occupy a massive valley in the middle of the course.

“Before we moved any dirt, we all identified that natural bowl and I think we used it well. I like how all of the holes four to seven in there turned out. Then from the edge of the bowl eight plays down to the water and I love how the par five ninth comes back uphill into that bowl … a blind approach over a road. The last 140 metres of that hole are awesome.

“The green of the par four fifth hole and the next tee sit high on a ridge adjacent to an ancient Maori pa, or hill fortress, built from the largest dune on the property, while the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth greens sit in a bowl amongst the dunes. On any given day each of the 18 holes can play quite differently depending on the wind direction. But that is what links golf by the sea is all about.

“It feels a bit weird to apologise for having seven holes on the ocean, especially when the rest of the course plays through terrain where the best comparison might be Pine Valley in New Jersey. At Tara Iti you are looking at the Pacific Ocean from every hole and on the South course, from all but the first few holes. Yet everyone is pleased with the way the North course stands on it's own.”

The result for all to see is world leading.

A caddy is recommended at Te Arai and it is especially so on the North course which is a more demanding walk with more decent undulations. Our caddy Richard Squire was a legend with his knowledge of the Te Arai development and his expert guidance around the course. His reading of the greens was on the button every time. You can read Richard’s story accompanying this review.

The opening hole is a very fair par four at 257 metres from the middle tee. The course stretches 6337 metres from the middle tees and 4574 from the front tees.

The fourth at 350 metres is the stroke one hole with a small extreme two tier green which is three putt territory. On hole five the drive is key. Six and seven are strategic par fours with plenty of sand to avoid while eight plays almost to infinity with Great Barrier Island looming behind. Doak thinks 11 and 13 are possibly the most dramatic holes. Eleven is a long par five of 495 metres to an elevated green with a hazard seven metres below the green. Thirteen is a long par four at 399 metres with the green above the edge of a huge natural bunker which must be cleared with the approach shot. Otherwise bale out left.

The closing three holes provide a less taxing farewell with the 16th, 12th and 18th stroke holes. The 17th is an epic par three of 131 metres with a narrow entry and bunkers lurking. The 18th, a 402 metre par five, tracks the shoreline to the greens and should not provide too much angst. A fitting finish to two wonderful rounds of golf where the expression “don’t forget to smell the roses” was impossible to neglect.

Te Arai Links is without doubt one of New Zealand’s greatest gifts to golfers because it is available to casual green fee players. The green fees vary according to the season. For New Zealand residents a round will cost $400 from November 1 through to April 23. Then to June 3o it is $300. Low season then runs to September 30 at $250.

During October you will pay $300. Trundlers can be hired for just $20 and clubs for $80. Availability for each course alternates each day with one for members and the other for visitors.

Te Arai Link’s amazing transformation

By Neville Idour

Golfer Pacific spoke with Te Arai Links general manager Brian Spicer while we were there recently. He related his experience when he first arrived in September, 2020.

“I was driven around by the construction supervisor and the entire property was a forest. There were probably two holes that had been cleared which were sand. They drove me round in a truck on forestry tracks with posts in the ground saying this is the tee on the 12th South course, this is the green on the 12th North course.

Caption: Hole No 10 of the North course at Te Arai Links.

“I had no idea what I was looking at because it was just a couple of posts stuck in the middle of a forest. The transformation from that to the finished product and seeing how it went from clearing the trees, the big expanses of open sand, then shaping it up into grassing it was amazing.”

We were chatting by the main reception building and looking around at the finished product was mind boggling for this writer.

Caption: The 14th hole on the South course at Te Arai Links.

Spicer continued: “What we have now is a fantastic place to come and visit with two world class courses and great facilities. The new Ocean restaurant will be outstanding with probably the best views of any restaurant in New Zealand and the weather (chuckles) to go with it.” It was a lovely day when we spoke to Brian.

We asked about the membership situation. His reply revealed the desire for people to be a part of Te Arai links.

“Membership is full with just over 600 memberships and we have a waitlist. These are a mixture of family and individual memberships. They sold very quickly off the back of Tara Iti when people knew what the product was going to be and had faith a great product would be delivered. We are currently assessing how much volume the members and hotel guests play the course.”

So the only option to join presently is go on the waiting list. The joining fee is $50,000. Individual memberships are $7000 and family memberships are $10,000. All are plus GST.

Grace Rokela a perfect fit for Te Arai Links

By Neville Idour

Te Arai Links marketing director Grace Rokela talked to Golfer Pacific during this writer's recent experience there. She lives in Auckland and is based at the office there.

Te Arai links opened on October 1, 2022, with the South course and a year later to the day the North course opened. Rokela talked to us about the various recreation facilities available.

“We have tennis courts, basketball, pickleball courts and of course the playground, the world’s largest putting green. It covers two and a half acres and the hole positions are changed every day. It is a cool spot for families and seeing kids running around,’’ Rokela said.

“Also we are building the Ocean Restaurant overlooking the 18th hole on the South course and the North course clubhouse both of which will open in 2024. They are in beautiful spots with stunning views. The driving range here at the South course has six modelled greens from classic course architecture. Then alongside we have just finished a short game area which is quite cool.”

These could easily be the best practice facilities in New Zealand.

Caption: Te Arai Links marketing director Grace Rokela with Golfer Pacific writer Neville Idour.

“The other good thing is our courses alternate every day. Because we have members, each day we have one members' course and one resort course. This ensures we have enough availability for our members. We are also now open for casual green fee players as well. If you stay a night or two you can play both courses. We want Te Arai Links to be a welcoming and inclusive environment as we think we have something special here.”

At this point we ask Rokela about her background.

“I was born in New Zealand. My dad’s a Kiwi and mum’s American. I moved to the USA when I was young and played college golf at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and did all my education over there. I studied marketing and graphic design. I did four years there but wasn’t sure what I was going to do after school. I started with some small design work for a women’s golf clothing company and some other freelance work.

``Then about five years ago I thought I am going to move back to New Zealand. I hadn’t played golf for about 18 months.”

Why was that? “College golf is just a job, but I have never loved golf more than I do now. It is funny how it comes full circle. I realised golf had done so much for me in terms of education and life skills, that I wanted to give back to it.

“That is when a job became available at Golf New Zealand doing marketing support and graphic design. I ended up doing the marketing including with high performance and working on participation initiatives for commercial partnerships. I was there for about three years. It was great to be part of growing the game and watching women getting into golf. We see it here (Te Arai Links) now. We have a lot of female members and it is cool to see the change.

“Then about 18 months ago I met Jim Rohrstaff, the owner and director here and at Tara Iti. We hit it off and he said do you want to be part of this?. I said it was an opportunity of a lifetime I couldn’t pass so it is incredible to be a part of Jim and Ric’s (Kayne) legacy. I am mind blown by it every single day. It is crazy.”

So living and being based in Auckland does this present any logistical difficulty?

“It is only an hour from my house. It is so close with the new motorways. In summer I am usually here three or four times a week. Actually when you get to call this your job I think there is no hassle doing that drive.''

We ask if overall the facilities on the North course when completed will duplicate what are on the South course?

“Some of the two bedroom cottages will be there plus six four bedroom villas. The North clubhouse will be open in October, 2024. It will have a restaurant, a small golf shop and a concierge for accommodation check in. We will always have a shuttle service but South will remain the main hub.”

We come back to Rokela and her golf, knowing her ability as a near scratch handicapper, and ask if she played representative golf.

“I have played for North Harbour and Northland. Not a lot and not in the Interprovincials which I don’t really want to do. I have played in a few Charles Tour events. Off the back of 18 months off can’t say I played that well. Not sure If I will again but I just love my golf so much now and while I am competitive every time I go out there I just really enjoy it.”

That was an appropriate note on which to end this chat with Grace Rokela. Her bubbly and enthusiastic personality is infectious and the perfect fit for the sensational Te Arai Links.