Book A Round
Book A Round
Written by Michael Donaldson | Air NZ Kia Ora Magazine on 01 Jan, 2025
KINLOCH
This spectacular high-end resort course above Lake Taupō was designed by golf's greatest player Jack Nicklaus. The 18-time major winner is notorious for dreaming up demanding tests and Kinloch does not disappoint. It is, without doubt, the most difficult interrogation of golf skills in New Zealand.
Brutal and beautiful don't always go together, but Kinloch is also among the most gorgeous courses in New Zealand.
Perched on sloping farm land in the boutique holiday spot of Kinloch, it offers a picturesque setting and the course itself is golfing eye-candy.
Kinloch is a mixture of design ideas, from the iconic links courses in Scotland and Ireland to the historical English heathland—but it’s also its own thing: Kiwi high country golf.
Kinloch works on two fundamental levels. Golfers who rate courses by difficulty willl love it. Those who love a picturesque setting will revel in the exquisitely undulating aesthetic of the fairways and the artful landscaping of the green complexes. The shaping and contours are truly works of art in earth.
All that said, however, if you're a golfer in the true sense of the word, with an appreciation for both beauty and the examination of your game, Kinloch is a place you will want to come back to because it's a course that must be unpicked in layers.
Head golf professional Tom Long says that while no one would actually do it, his advice is to traverse the course backwards–from l8 green to first tee–before you play because that makes the tactics more apparent. That's because there's a lot of visual deception going on. Where the course appears to offer no way out, there are in fact plenty of options. In that way, Nicklaus, golf's greatest strategist, has created a test of mind, patience and shot-making ability, but he's given you a beautiful place to do it.
MORE TO EXPLORE
The design of Kinloch Manor riffs off the original Kinloch Castle in Scotland and is perched high above the course with great views of the fairway action and Lake Taupō.
It's almost enough just to spend time in the lodge's public rooms with their daybeds, sofas and log fires. All that staring at the lake may inspire you to take a cruise across its blue waters, and that can be arranged.
The lodge also offers a guided Tongariro Alpine Crossing, providing a backpack filled with a gourmet lunch and snacks.
An optional transfer one or both ways by helicopter can be organised to view the spectacular national park from the air.
Open for public play, regardless of season, Friday to Monday.
