“I think it was our second trip when we gave Julian and his wife Josie a tour of the place. We had spent a few days on-site just sticking flags in the ground — to show what the golf course could be.”
Doak believes he and his former associate undersold the idea back then, pitching it as somewhere that encapsulated the farming elements of the surroundings.
“Julian’s focus was always on building a top-100 golf course, whereas at The Farm, Bruce Hepner and I were thinking more about a course with sheep and cows all over it. Which is what they use the land for now, of course. That’s what so many ‘country courses’ do all over New Zealand.”
He doesn’t remember the exact date they started formulating a route but believes it may have been about 2008.
“We had played around with maps from the start, but that was definitely our impetus — to get Julian more interested in a second course down below.”
Doak also recalled seeing the stunning natural cliffs of the cape for the first time in 2001 and recognising the potential for a golf course in the valley.
“They picked me up in a helicopter and landed me on the point down below. At that time, Julian wanted to build his lodge down there, and, in my opinion — then and now — that would have been a superb place to build a golf course,” he said.
“It was flat enough, to go with plenty of acreage. From the moment the helicopter touched down, I was like, ‘Why wouldn’t we build it down here in this valley?’”
Robertson had made himself clear, though, that the clifftops were his first choice.
“His vision for golf on those cliffs was inspired. It’s a setting like no other. But I thought then — and I still think — a very good golf course could have gone down there in the valley,” Doak said.
No stranger to premium NZ course builds, Doak returned to New Zealand in 2013 to design and build Tara Iti Golf Club. His love for Northland continued with the South Course at Te Arai Links opening for play in late 2022 and the Doak-designed North Course debuting a year later.
The success of these “country” courses has spurned renewed thoughts from Doak about the potential to revive The Farm course.
“I’ve not discussed it with anyone there at Cape, not formally. But maybe the Robertsons would think differently about The Farm course today — because of what’s been happening up at Te Arai,” he said.
“I don’t lie awake at night thinking about it, but I can tell you we’d jump at the chance to design and build a course down there. I don’t know that there is the will to do it, today, but maybe what’s happening at Te Arai has upped the ante some.
“I’ve been spending so much time in New Zealand of late. It’s hard not to think about The Farm. One thing I want to do some day is go back and build it.”
Packages for a “Weekend with Tom” are now available through the Rosewood Hotels website, but according to Ray Geffre, director of golf at Cape Kidnappers GC, access to the “limited field event” will be granted on a first-come/first-served basis.
Doak will lead interactive course tours, play, dine and generally hobnob alongside fellow design aficionados. Guests will also be treated to at least one intimate tour of The Farm.
Cape Kidnappers remains a working cattle and sheep farm and lodge and is also home to Cape Sanctuary, the largest privately funded wildlife restoration project in New Zealand.
