This course is in our GSPro library — pull it up in any bay and play it wall to wall.

"Firm, fiery turf demands a ground-game approach first-timers underestimate. Note on flags: is_in_fsx refers to Foresight Sports' FSX simulator software (Tara Iti is a licensed $250 premium add-on there), not Microsoft Flight Simulator. In GSPro it's available under its real name (TekBud build)."

American investor Richard Kayne bought 570 acres of pine plantation on New Zealand's Te Arai coast in 2012 and handed Tom Doak a once-in-a-career sandscape. Opened in 2015, Tara Iti debuted at No. 6 on Golf Digest's World 100 — the highest debut in the ranking's history — and has since climbed as high as No. 2. There isn't a blade of rough in the conventional sense: fairway melts into fescue-flecked sand, the Pacific glitters beyond seven miles of empty beach, and every hole feels found rather than built. It is many good judges' pick for the most beautiful modern links on earth.

Anyone chasing the world top-10 list, Doak devotees, and golfers who want proof that great golf needs no rough, no cart paths and no par-5 gimmicks — just sand, fescue and wind.

The par-3 17th along the beach may be the most photographed short hole of the modern era. The drivable 4th and the ocean-framed closing run show Doak's gift: half the course tempts you to take on heroic lines the wind then vetoes.

Architecturally forgiving — enormous playing corridors, no water, no true rough — but the wind, the sandy waste and the wildly contoured greens will humble new players. A beginner could get it around; they just won't score.

In GSPro via Tekbud's recreation — which makes the bay the only realistic way most golfers will ever play it. It rewards the ground game: run approaches into slopes rather than flying flags. Set a real wind. Essential queue-up for anyone working through the world top 10 from Wesley Chapel.

Extremely private — roughly as hard as golf access gets. Unaccompanied play is no longer offered; realistic routes are a member's guest invitation or, historically, staying on property. This is a bucket-list door that rarely opens.