Julian Robertson said, "It was a very emotional experience for me because New Zealand was a real love affair between my wife and me and the country. I can't tell you the number of times she'd wake up in the morning and look outside and say, "We're in paradise."
The problem with Kauri Cliffs, and I don't mean the degree of difficulty of the golf course, is getting there. My golf mates and I refuse to pay the cost of catching a helicopter to go play Kauri Cliffs. And so it's a case of take the long and winding road Jack! Or whoever happens to be driving us. And that's OK if we've arranged to play Waipu and Waitangi along the way. However if it's a case of just up there and back we'll pass on taking the trip up north. Unless the wine-lovers in our group of guys talk us into also playing nearby Carrington.
A three and a half drive from Auckland to Kauri Cliffs may mean nothing to Aussies and Americans however for Kiwis who live in a small country where in a short span of time the scenery can dramatically change it's often a case of a bridge (Auckland Harbour Bridge) too far.
And it's here I must digress from writing about Godzone as a must play place on the global golf map. There's also the matter of the quantum leap in the quality of New Zealand wines.
In 1973 and just off the boat from South Africa where I had enjoyed world famous wines, I was warned, "The wines in Godzone are gawdawful." And they were right. A bottle of ‘Bakano’ appeared to be the only available offering of a New Zealand red. And as for white wine there was the pseudo-authentic name of ‘Liebestraum’.
Thankfully New Zealand wines have improved out of sight but I mustn't lose sight of the fact that there's no accounting for other people's tastes. A recent auction at Godzone's answer to eBay was a bottle of ‘McWilliams Bakano 1964’ and I find it hard to believe that someone actually bought it.
Since I believe that Julian Robertson must be thanked for putting Godzone on the world golf map. I also believe that Alan Brady has to be applauded for driving global awareness of New Zealand wines.
Some time around the 1980s I watched a news item on TV describing Alan's pioneering and typically Kiwi entrepreneurship in planting grapes in an area that's most times surrounded by snow-capped mountains in what would we be the world's southernmost vineyard. And it wasn't just the locals who thought he was crazy. Few if any of New Zealand's wine experts thought he'd a snow-capped chance in hell of success.
Thankfully, the rest is history and just as Jack's Point is a must play course when in the Queenstown, South Island region. The Gibbston Valley winery is a must visit.
Now where was I? Ah! Yes. My wine-loving golf mates suggesting we play Carrington as well as Kauri Cliffs.
Karikari Estate winery is a very short distance from the Carrington course and Peppers Carrington Resort. It's a boutique winery offering beautiful views of the golf course and their Syrah has been described as, "A very masculine wine. Savoury leather flavour mixed with capsicum, mushroom and oak."
Carrington was designed by Matt Dye who is related to world famous golf architect Pete Dye and this suggests it has to be worth having a look at since it's not all that far from Kauri Cliffs. Pete Dye's designs have been described as, "Tough but fair" and thankfully it's fair to say that Matt's Carrington layout is more on the fair side rather than being a tough test of golf.