World-class golfers and those who write about them sometimes offer cosmic descriptions of playing \u201cin the zone,\u201d that transcendent state where focus seems automatic, technique and strategy blissfully intuitive.\u00a0 Less well known, but just as magical and elusive, is the zone occasionally enjoyed by golf-destination writers and those who share their fascination for the game\u2019s variety and relationship with the landscape.\u00a0 In this zone, the quality of your shots is beside the point.\u00a0 You are \u2013 existentially and often literally \u2013 a world away, playing in a mesmerizingly unaccustomed atmosphere\u00a0\u00a0 And nowhere that this reporter has visited is more likely to induce such a trance than Kauri Cliffs, near the northern tip of New Zealand\u2019s North Island.<\/p>\n
The most striking visual key to the sensation is the Bay of Islands, a sprawling collection of craggy landforms jutting out of the Pacific, which forms the backdrop for all but three of the course\u2019s 18 holes.\u00a0 Officially designated a subtropical maritime climate, the terrain has few trees, though some have intriguing, wind-blown shapes.\u00a0 The vegetation is colorful and exotic, the closest familiar analogy probably being Hawaii, which is, however, closer to the equator and therefore warmer.<\/p>\n
Of course, the cynic will point out that Kauri Cliffs feels a world away because it is.\u00a0 True, it\u2019s a haul \u2013 about 14 hours from the West Coast and a one-hour helicopter ride or a four-hour drive from Auckland \u2013 but still justifies the commute.\u00a0 The 5,000-acre property, developed by retired American financier Julian Robertson, has the modestly proportioned Relais & Chateau lodge as its only vestige of civilization.\u00a0 The 22 cottage accommodations \u2013 and even Robertson\u2019s three-bedroom house, with swimming pool, which you can rent when he is not there \u2013 are first-rate, as is the restaurant, but the indoor attractions can only be secondary.<\/p>\n
There are three private beaches, including one with pink sand, which you will likely have to yourself, not to mention the 90-mile beach and shoreline north of the resort, which you can tour by helicopter.\u00a0 There is surfcasting, scuba diving, and all manner of watersports, along with boat trips to Bay of Islands, designated a national park.\u00a0 There are hiking trails with stunning vistas, including two precipitous waterfalls, as well as guided tours for bird-watching and hunting.<\/p>\n
You can also very easily spend the entire day playing golf.\u00a0 During summer months \u2013 our winter \u2013 this could even mean 54 holes, as there will be nobody to hold you up:\u00a0 Tee times are spaced a laughable 30 minutes apart and a really busy day might include three dozen golfers.<\/p>\n
As a test of golf, Kauri Cliffs is not as severe as its physiognomy may first suggest.\u00a0 Designed by onetime Nicklaus prot\u00e9g\u00e9 David Harman, a Florida-based architect whose best-known original work is likely Orange County National, in Orlando, it plays as long as 7,119 yards, par 72 from the back tees.\u00a0 Wind can be problematic, and the penalty for many errant shots is an unequivocally lost ball; but with five tee boxes and just a few manageable forced carries, it is as playable as the pitching and rolling topography will allow.\u00a0 The routing makes astute use of 250-foot-high cliffs that form the immediate border for six holes, while nine other holes are set slightly inland and above the seaside fairways.\u00a0 Even the three inland holes without Pacific views \u2013 the 10th through 12th \u2013 are scenic in their own way.<\/p>\n
A couple of the par 5s, the 4th<\/sup> and the 15th<\/sup>, make great risk-reward holes and picking a \u201csignature\u201d hole may seem silly, but the 7th<\/sup>, a par 3, is an obvious favorite.\u00a0 It plays as long as 221 yards, and as short as 85, uphill, over a ravine-like indentation in the cliff overlooking Cavalli, the name of both the hole and the large island in the bay to the golfer\u2019s right.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a backstage pass to the zone, even if you measure your winnings in post-round beers rather than millions of dollars.<\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"