The Hills - Parkland Products

NZ OPenNZ OPenMark Hill alongside his weta sculpture on The Hills’ first fairway.High achieversMichael and Christine Hill are immensely proud of the jewellerybusiness they have developed and the golf course theyhave created. They can also be mightily proud of their twotalented children.Emma, who has a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an MBA,is a board member of the Michael Hill Jewellers chain. She spentfour years in Canada where she oversaw the opening of 16new stores.Mark, who studied graphic design at the Queensland Collegeof Art in Brisbane, is a gifted photographer and sculptor whoseworks not only feature in Wanaka, Queenstown and Arrowtownbut along the fairways of The Hills course.Particularly striking is the five-metre tall weta (constructed fromstainless steel and corten steel) that lurks beside the pine treesbordering the first fairway.Enhancing the sixth fairway is the Dragonfly Lake, featuringstriking dragonfly sculptures, some of Mark’s earliest works.Mark, who taught himself to weld and has developed a uniquestyle, staged a successful exhibition of giant welded steel insectsin 2001. He is currently working on a piece of sculpture forQueenstown Airport.Emma’s Canadian-born husband Doug Jacques oversees thefamily’s non-retail assets while Mark’s wife Monika, who isof Polish descent, is also artistic and designed the new golfcourse’s logo.there is a largely clay base, water accumulates in bunkers after heavy rain.Not here. Hill lavishes praise on Mead who, he says, has sculpted thembrilliantly, to the extent that Sir Bob Charles is on record as declaring themthe best bunkers on any course in New Zealand.One invaluable natural resource that will ensure The Hills is alwayslush and in pristine condition is the water course that flows freely from themountains behind Arrowtown. It has allowed the designers to create creeks,ponds and water hazards galore and ensure that every tree on the propertyis irrigated.By the time nine holes had been constructed (starting with No 6), Hillwas concerned the project cost was spiralling out of control. Using Kiwido-it-yourself ingenuity he went and bought a front-end loader, 24- and18-ton diggers, a truck, some tractors and cultivators, and hired a massiveearth scraper, plus a D8 bulldozer that was used to shape the fairways. Heappointed Ian Douglas as Operations Manager and changed the modusoperandi. The construction project lasted four and a half years and it wasDouglas who kept the troops motivated through the long, monotonous daysas deer farm metamorphosed into world-class golf course.Darby takes the credit for designing the holes, several of which aredestined to rate among New Zealand’s greatest golf holes the moment thecourse is opened. However, there were times when he was overseas and,as Hill puts it, “executive decisions had to be made” regarding the course’sconfiguration. Whenever that happened, those making the decisionsadhered to the basic philosophy of ensuring the course always blended inwith the flow of the land. “We have been blessed with naturally undulatingland,” says Hill, “ and we’ve built the course around it.”Only one hole didn’t measure up. Hill the perfectionist didn’t hesitate.“It wasn’t working so we ripped it up and started again. Now I can proudlyboast there is not a weak hole on the course.”As the project draws to a close – with the official opening scheduled tocoincide with the New Zealand Open that commences on November 29– Michael extends praise to his band of workers, some of whom pulled outthe deer fences four and half years ago when the property was nothing butsprawling farmland. Roger Fleck has spent four years on a digger helping tosculpt the course. “He was brought on board to be the workshop engineerbut he got on the digger and never got off,” says Hill. “He probably knowsthe course better than anyone.”Others who merit a special mention are greenkeeper Ryan Topper,second-in-charge Ashley Cameron and assistant greenkeepers Shane Taylor,Guy Vinsen, Craig McFarlane, Regan Marfell and Nathan Lindsay. Theywere bound by confidentiality during construction, not allowed to takephotos or talk about happenings outside work hours, although Marfelldid reveal to local newspaper Mountain Scene that the course was prettyspecial. “Most courses have two or three memorable holes,” he proudlydeclared. “At The Hills there are probably a dozen that are special.”Professionals Tataurangi, Turner and John Griffin (who is now The Hill’sresident pro, with Hill declaring himself his worst pupil) provided valuabletechnical input for Darby in the designing of the course. One essentialrequirement they stressed, says Hill, was that for the course to be of trueinternational championship standard it had to be long, because most toprankingpros are driving the ball at least 300 metres.The landscaping was completed with the introduction of 50,000 red andsilver tussock plants from Central Otago, most of them painstakingly plantedby Hill, Christine and the family.If Hill wanted confirmation he had created something special, it cameafter Bob Tuohy, the boss of Tuohy Associates Ltd, the Australian companyAbove left: dragonfly sculptures by Mark Hill appear to be skimming across the lake that borders the sixth fairway and, above right, New Zealand golferMichael Campbell, Michael Hill and The Hills’ club pro John Griffin cast appreciative eyes across the new course.appointed to market the new Zealand open, had played three holes.“australians are slow to praise anything to do with new Zealand,” hill says,“but after three holes Bob was absolutely fizzing.”such a stunning course would not have been complete without aclubhouse to match, and auckland architect andrew Patterson has done hill(not to mention arrowtown and new Zealand Golf) proud.Patterson’s creation almost defies description. It is an exceptionalarchitectural achievement moulded perfectly into the landscape. somehow,he has got 200 tons of concrete to float. and somehow he has blendedfairway and clubhouse into such absolute harmony that the undulatingvelvety turf extends through from the fairway, over the trundler shed andon to the roof of the clubhouse. yes, grass flourishes on the clubhouseroof! not only that, but if a wayward approach to the 18th green shouldland on the clubhouse roof, the competitor is obliged to play his next shotfrom there.the building is constructed of Grc (glass reinforced concrete), a newproduct that is strong and light and can be moulded into complex shapes. anew Zealand first is the use of frameless double-glazed glass walls to takemaximum advantage of the views.hill is beside himself with joy at what Patterson has created. “Whenplayers and spectators visit here, I want them go away saying, ‘Wow, waittill you see the clubhouse!’”It won’t be just the clubhouse itself that blows their socks off. themassive glass windows in the lounge afford breathtaking views of theremarkables and coronet Peak. “When the open is played at the end ofnovember,” says hill, “there will still be snow on the mountain tops. Weare, after all, 1200ft above sea level. you get amazingly different moodsand colours here. Visitors will be gobsmacked.”creating a golf course (that stretches to more than 6500 metres) in yourbackyard is one thing. having the national body allocate its precious open,an event of sufficient status to be co-sanctioned with the australasian PGaand the european tour, to the course is quite another.so how did hill pull off this amazing coup, one that is surely unparalleledin new Zealand sport?“to be honest, I’m not sure,” he admits. “I didn’t approach new ZealandGolf, they came to me. I’ve heard that sir Bob charles was so impressedafter he played here that he went to them singing the course’s praises. But,honestly, I haven’t had that confirmed. I’m just thrilled that after all our effortswe’ve created a course worthy of the open.”hill said that on more than one occasion during the construction of thecourse he asked himself, “Why the hell am I doing this?”and what answer did he give himself? “Well, I considered I was in so deep,I just had to keep going! the encouragement of great golfers like sir Bobcertainly helped. and my philosophy through life has been that if you knuckledown and put the energy into a project, something great can happen.”Who came up with the name the hills? hill’s wife christine can take thecredit for that. “It probably seems obvious now,” he says, “but it wasn’t easy.We considered all sorts of names before christine crystallised matters for us.the logo was designed by our daughter-in-law monika, who like her husbandmark, is very artistic.”even before it is completed, it is apparent the hills is going to become anational treasure, a course that will rate among the finest, not just in newZealand but in the world.hill believes bringing the open to the Queenstown region – it is 22 yearssince the south Island hosted the event – will be the catalyst for a surge in golftourism. Queenstown is already internationally recognised as a ski retreat andhe is positive it will rate even higher as a golf destination.“We have a fantastic opportunity to market Queenstown to the worldduring the open when millions of golf fans will be able to watch 21 hoursof live action. one thing I intend to do is market our fantastic region to theworld. We’ll make it so appealing, everyone will want to come.”yes, golf, skiing and music – three attractions to lure visitors toQueenstown. oh, did we mention hill is passionate about music as well,in particular the violin? he was once a budding concert violinist and he hascreated the michael hill World Violin competition, a major internationalevent for emerging violinists that is staged in Queenstown each Queen’sBirthday weekend.no wonder the man was awarded the country’s top honour, theDistinguished companion of new Zealand order of merit, in 2001.22 the CUt June 2007June 2007 the CUt 23CT Jun07 MichaelHill.indd 227/4/07 9:17:43 AMCT Jun07 MichaelHill.indd 237/4/07 9:17:50 AM10 11www.parkland.co.nz Reproduced from The Cut magazine Reproduced from The Cut magazine www.parkland.co.nz