Kauri Cliffs Golf Club in New Zealand is to re-grass its fairways with a more drought tolerant strain of Bermuda grass as the world top 100 golf course bids to enhance its year-round playability.
Under the direction of Kauri Cliffs Course Manager Andy Wood, the re-grassing project is due to begin in early October, with the course reopening for play on December 10, in time for the start of the high summer season in the southern hemisphere.
Designed by the late David Harman, the clifftop 18-hole course at Kauri Cliffs has not undergone fairway regrassing since it first opened in 1999, but changing climate conditions, including much drier winters, have resulted in bentgrass fairways being less practical from environmental and agronomic standpoints. The choice of Transcontinental Bermuda grass on the fairways will conserve water while providing golfers a lusher, hardier playing surface.
“While Kauri is among the most beautiful courses in the world, our bentgrass fairways never looked or played their best in high season — our summer months of November, December, January, February and March,” Wood explains. “With those months getting warmer and warmer, the move to Bermuda grass is something of a no-brainer, especially with the introduction of modern, drought-tolerant, high-performing strains like Transcontinental.
“We take our environmental stewardship very seriously here. Switching over to Bermuda will require far less water. It’s the responsible choice — and the truth is, Kauri will look and play better during those months when everyone’s flying halfway across the world to play it.”
Wood oversaw the Covid-era regrassing of Kauri Cliffs’ tees and greens. The latter undertaking replaced 25-year-old bentgrass putting surfaces with state-of-the-art, drought-tolerant Pure Distinction bentgrass. “Our regular guests tell us Kauri, today, has the best greens in the country,’ Wood says. “Of course, our sister course at Cape Kidnappers might be a close second.”
Cape Kidnappers, while also located on New Zealand’s North Island, occupies a completely different climate and ecosystem. The Hawkes Bay region lies 500km to the south of Kauri Cliffs. It’s drier and cooler there — perfect for all strains of bentgrass, old and new.
Still, Course Manager Brad Sim oversaw a comprehensive regrassing of his fairways and greens back in 2022. He worked with original architect Tom Doak and shaper Angela Moser on the project, which included a complete greens reconstruction.
“We rebuilt the putting surfaces from 10 inches down and Angela put the contours back exactly as they’d been before,” reports Sim, whose golf course opened in 2004 and joined the world top 100 ranking almost immediately, in 2005. Today, Golf Digest ranks it 15.
“Regrassing the greens at Cape addressed our thatch problem, but it also restored the bounce and roll that Doak had in mind when he first built this place 20 years ago. During the regressing, we also embarked on some strategic tree clearing and we’re determined to keep that going,” added Sim. “This is an incredibly diverse and lush eco-system.
“Between Cape and Kauri, I doubt there are two resorts in the world that takes environmental protections more seriously than we do. Yet we’re also determined to protect our vistas and the original course designs here. It’s a balance. The vision behind that balance is what makes both properties so unique — and so attractive to traveling golfers.”