How Te Arai Links became a South Pacific golfing paradise

When you are building two of the top golf courses in the country on some of the most stunning land imaginable you need to be putting a lot of attention to detail.

Good job then that Jim Rohrstaff, managing director of Te Arai Links, is very much a details man. Walking around the world-class golf resort near Mangawhai, it shows.

The two 18-hole golf courses feature breathtaking views of the coast, with large sand dunes and forests providing variety for golfers.

Rohrstaff was instrumental in this creation alongside fund manager Ric Kayne, with the pair pulling off what many thought was impossible during a global pandemic.

Since October 2020 they have built two golf courses, 10 water bores, three high-quality restaurants, 48 accommodation suites, 19 two-bedroom ocean cottages and six four-bedroom villas.

“I have a hard time reflecting and understanding how big this really is, this project, the scale and the importance of it,” Rohrstaff said when BusinessDesk visited recently.

“When we were making decisions for this, we were actually making decisions for not just our lifetime, not our children’s lifetimes, but for hundreds of years.

“And so, you do things differently, you behave differently when you’ve got that viewpoint.”

Jim Rohrstaff from Legacy Partners is the managing director of Te Arai Links. Photo / Greg Bowker.

After the clubhouse and restaurant opened in November, almost all the facilities are now in place. The final plan involves building a spa and gym complex while more land is being opened up for private residences.

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