On a recent visit to what is now known as Rosewood Kauri Cliffs (main image), my wife and I were the only guests on property. We were ably catered to by a cadre of servers, chefs, golf pros, and other staff, and each night a fresh tasting menu with wine pairings awaited us. Most significantly, we also had one of the best golf courses in the world virtually to ourselves.

Such an intimate, exclusive golf experience—one that you won’t find at Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, or other top golf resorts—owes to the vision of billionaire American hedge-fund manager, developer, and philanthropist Julian Robertson. When he opened Kauri Cliffs in 1999, Robertson essentially created a new class of golf experience, one that he and other developers have since used as a model for New Zealand’s elite lineup of luxury golf resorts.

“Golf travelers everywhere owe a debt to the Robertsons,” says Ray Geffree, director of golf at Cape Kidnappers, which Robertson opened in 2004 outside of Hawkes Bay. “Others have since followed and riffed on their example, but the Robertsons almost single-handedly created this country’s luxury destination golf brand.”

The Robertson family bought the 6,000-acre property that would become Kauri Cliffs in 1995. The site lies in the northern Bay of Islands and rolls across high cliffs hiding three private beaches below, including the unmissable Pink Beach, where the colorful sands are made of millions of broken-down shells.

Golf architect Dave Harmon visited more than three-dozen times to design an inspired and unusual collection of golf holes in this unique setting. At various times the course brings to mind Lowcountry golf in the Carolinas; windy oceanside holes in Hawaii; Irish links complete with spectating sheep; and Western mountain golf where using the terrain to move the ball toward the hole may be your most successful strategy. The par 3s, all requiring ravine crossings, are especially dramatic. And best of all, even with the ample attention it has received since opening a quarter century ago, Kauri Cliffs hosts a mere 50 rounds on a busy day.

Robertson followed on the success of Kauri Cliffs by purchasing 6,000 acres on a peninsula in prime New Zealand wine country. There, he built Cape Kidnappers, a country retreat on a working sheep and cattle farm. He also created a wildlife sanctuary to protect native species, a collection of villas and suites, and a Tom Doak golf course that, like its predecessor, would soon rank among the top layouts in the world.

“The play is seaside golf at its finest,” Doak says. “The surface is firm and fast, the conditions can be windy, and the player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course. You’ll hit shots over the tops of tea trees and play along the edges of deep ravines.”

Robertson bought the final property in his masterful triumvirate, Matakauri Lodge, in 2009. The resort, outside of the adventure capital of Queenstown on the South Island, lacks a golf course but serves as an ideal first or last stop on a journey through the Robertson portfolio.

That portfolio, now managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, stretches from Queenstown to the northern tip of the North Island, where Kauri Cliffs’ plantation-style suites and villas overlook the Pacific from a high promontory. In addition to golf, the resorts offer hiking, tennis, fishing, sailing, wine tasting, cultural experiences, and more. And if you’re lucky, you might just have it all to yourself.