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The course is laid out on a hilly sheep-faming, craggy land with on volcanic
terrain. This is the first Jack Nicklaus designed course in New Zealand
and it differs from typical Nicklaus designs. The course is extremely
intimidating visually from the tees with shaggy-looking bunkers and long
heath grasses throughout on roughs but when you are in the actual fairways
it will turn out there are much more room than it appears. The fairways,
semi-roughs and roughs are clearly separated, so you must pay penalties
on your errant shots. The entire course is undulating with overlapping
numerous moguls, which looks sometimes nasty but looks always picturesque.
Multiple undulations are set on every green and finding out good putting
lines is not easy. The course is suitable for good players who can hit
balls straight because the course is long with strategically placed bunkers
and roughs. The front 9 has aura of a raw links, somehow blended seamlessly
into age-old sheep-farming territory while the back 9 offer panoramic
views over majestic Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in New Zealand.
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Scorecard |
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A par 3 over water. The green is wide and the front sides faces the water.
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| A dogleg to the left, downhill but very long par 4. 2 bunkers
on the left corner are reachable 275 yards off the tee. Long hitters can
drive onto downhill lies making approach shots more difficult. A bunker
guarding the front side of the green is deep. The green is wide and slopes
from left to right. |
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A dogleg to the left, relatively short par 4. The bunker on the left comer
is reachable 250 yards off the tee. Placing the tee shot to the right half
of the fairway will offer you better view of the green on the second shot.
The green is deep. |
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| A par 3 over Fescue grass. The green is slightly elevated and
guarded by 4 bunkers. A large fairway is placed in front of the bunkers
and the green, making approach easier for tee shots short. This green is
larger than it appears from the tee. |
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| A double dogleg, great hole, to the left first then to the
right. Several fairway bunkers left & right 240 -300 yards off the tee
are in play. A two fairway option left & right is provided on the second
shot. The green is double-tiered. |
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A dogleg to the left, difficult hole. The further you drive, the fairway
will narrow beyond 250 yards off the tee. The second shot is uphill. The
green is wide. |
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A slightly downhill, sharp dogleg to the right. You should aim left off
the tee as the fairway slopes from left to right. You hit toward Lake Taupo
on the second shot. A left to right shot is ideal on the second shot if
you are attempting to go for the green is 2 as there is a large bunker with
rough bordering the entire left side of the green. |
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| A very long, slightly downhill par 3 over bush. The green
is deep and narrow with a sharp drop-off on the left. The green slopes down
for first 30 yards and up for the next 10 yards. The view of Lake Taupo
beyond the green is excellent. |
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| A slightly uphill double dogleg with a dogleg to the right
and then to the left. The landing area of the fairway on the second shot
is divided into 2 by 3 fairway bunkers and thick rough. The green is shallow
and slopes from back to front as well as from left to right, |
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A downhill par 3 whose green is surrounded by rough. The green is elevated
and borders a bunker on the left. Anything short or left makes par difficult.
Lake Taupo can be seen beyond the green. |
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A double dogleg to the right and then to the left around a pond. Water on
the left comers into play on the second & third shots. Long hitters
can reach the green in 2 but both shots require distance and accuracy. The
tee shot must drive onto the narrow fairway between bunkers left & right.
Then, on the second shot anything short or left will end up with the water.
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It is a 3 hours & half drive from Auckland, a 20 minutes drive from
Taupo and ａ 30-minutes drive from Taupo Airport. I saw a helicopter to
come to this club. The distances are in meters, so I have converted them
into yards. Players with official handicap of 9 or below can use the longest
tees, but it is very demanding to play from them.
We were told to use fairways, not roughs, to drive a golf cart. Many
courses force us not to drive on fairways but on roughs, but this course
is the other way around, which is unique. They like to leave the roughs
as naturally as possible.
It was ranked 3rd in the top 25 courses in New Zealand in 2010 by a panel
of NZPGA Professionals and Golf Travel operators.
The course is not is a list of US Golf Digest Magazine’s Top 100 Courses
in the World but is selected on the 98th out of Top 100 Golf Course of
the World by an independent golf organization in UK.
The other Jack Nicklaus designed courses in neighboring Australia are
The Australian
GC, The Heritage G&CC, Lakelands GC and Rothbury GR.
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3rd Par 3 185 yards (2)