Lusk: Five new golf courses I can’t wait to see in 2022, from Nebraska to New Zealand

Designers: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw
Where: North Island, New Zealand (about a 90-minute drive north of Auckland)

While Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were given a stunning tropical site with unique challenges at the aforementioned Cabot St. Lucia, they were handed a much more traditional links setting – perhaps one of the best recent sites for golf development in the world, by some accounts – at Te Arai.

Their South Course will be part of a 36-hole public access facility at Te Arai, with Tom Doak slated to begin construction on the accompanying North Course in 2022. Nearby is Tara Iti Golf Club, also designed by Doak, that one a private layout described by many as one of the best courses on the planet.

For the South at Te Arai, Coore and Crenshaw worked on a large dune ridge that runs parallel to the ocean. The routing crosses that ridge several times, presenting players with holes on the inland side of the dune before crossing the ridge and playing tight to the ocean.

Expectations are huge from developer Ric Kayne – who also founded Tara Iti – and his staff, because the land is so beautifully perfect for golf.

Te Arai, a new course being constructed by the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in New Zealand (Courtesy of Robinson Studios NZ)

“Think of Tara Iti as our version of Cypress Point. It’s for a private membership. Now we’re building our Pebble Beach and Spyglass along 17-Mile Drive with a hotel and the various amenities for the public to enjoy,” Jim Rohrstaff, managing partner of Te Arai Links, told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak.

Can Te Arai live up to those kinds of comparisons? Coore and Crenshaw have a track record that responds with a definitive “yes,” and the golf world should be champing at the bit to find out in 2022.