The Course:
18 holes. Seaside links. Undulating terrain - a few slopes to climb.
Surroundings:
Coastal duneland alongside the Pacific Ocean.
Designer:
Tom Doak
-36.126904
174.616592
5 km SE of Mangawhai / 68 km SE of Whangarei / 100 km N of Auckland.
Tara Iti
Tara Iti Golf Club: Laid out alongside a pristine beach, ninety minutes northeast of Auckland, Tara Iti is hailed by many in the same way as several other modern retro-links style layouts. Its comparator list (including other notable Doak designs) includes the likes of Barnbougle Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Cabot Cliffs and King Island's Cape Wickham. One big difference, however, is that Tara Iti is a private golf club. Unless invited to play by a member, outside visitors are not able to sample this very special Tom Doak design.
It took the clearing of a former pine plantation to restore the site to native duneland. It then took a further two years for Doak to meticulously craft the gently contoured holes, sculpt the rugged dunes and create all those bumps and hollows around the large and indistinctly defined greens. The overall impression produced is that the wind shaped this course, and nature took care of the rest.
Beyond Tara Iti's rolling undulating fairways there's plenty of sand, but no bunkers (you can ground your club anywhere). Doak's open links-style layout, with holes inspired by Cypress Point and the great links of Britain and Ireland, offers stunning views of the Hauraki Gulf, offshore islands and the spectacular Pacific Ocean beyond.
Limited access: this private course is generally playable only by members and their invited guests.
Private club - guests may only play if hosted by a member.
Excellent
Tara Iti GC is named after the New Zealand fairy tern, a bird species that has spent several decades on the country's critically endangered list.
Tara Iti was inspired and is owned by American billionaire and private equity investor Ric Kayne, who saw the potential of developing golf on the Te Ārai coast, south of Mangawhai. This was inspite of several treaty ownership interests of local Maori iwi (people or tribe). Kayne has also built two further courses called Te Arai, just south of Tara iti. Te Ārai Beach is the exact antipode (polar opposite location) of Gibraltar.
New Zealand's No.1 course (Australian Golf Digest, 2023/24).
World's 20th best course (GOLF Magazine 2023/24) and 13th best public access course (Golf World, 2025).
Chevron Championship: Carlton Woods near Houston in Texas provides the stage for the first women’s major championship of 2025, where Nelly Korda defends her title. (April 24-27).
Soudal Open: successor to the Belgian Open, the Soudal Open takes place on the quiet, wooded North course of Rinkven Golfclub. Belgian stars Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts will be vying for top honours. (May 22-25).
Rory McIlroy: with his 2025 win in The Masters, Rory joined the pantheon of golfing greats who have achieved a career Grand Slam of men’s majors ... Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only others in this select band.
Bernhard Langer: he may have played in his last Masters Tournament, but the 67-year-old German will be trying to extend his own record, and win a 13th senior major title at the 36th Regions Tradition. (May 15-18).
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.
Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.
Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.
Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available
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