Apart from cricket, some of former New Zealand captain and current England Test head coach Brendon McCullum‘s interests include Golf, Horse Racing and Wine. During the COVID-19 lockdown, McCullum booked a house in a luxury project worth $750 million in Gibbston Valley. 18 months down the line, he thought of planning a Golf and Adventure Camp for the England cricket team on the same property.
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With New Zealand being under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, the citizens were forced to explore interests inside the country for both leisure and investment purposes. Therefore, McCullum considered it as the perfect opportunity to book a house for him in the above mentioned project.
McCullum was one of the first ones to express interest in the Gibbston Valley project, near an already picturesque Queenstown. For the uninitiated, the city’s John Davies Oval is one of the most scenic cricketing grounds in the world. Even former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key had reserved a home for himself in the first release sold in December 2020.
“Gibbston Valley Winery has a very rich history and this is about experiencing the finest of what Central Otago has to offer in a safe and relaxing environment,” Key was quoted saying by stuff.co.uk at the time.
Brendon McCullum Had Bought Home In $750,000,000 Luxury Project With Nine-Hole Golf Course
While the exact details of McCullum’s house and its price are not known yet, it is said that the houses under this luxury project will cost anywhere between $1.2 million to $4 million. The astonishing project is located on the 40-hectare Gibbston Valley Station.
The high-profile project features a nine-hole golf course, country club, spa, wellness center, restaurant, gym and a village with artisan shops, cafe and a garden centre. As mentioned above, a golf course was one of the chief reasons why McCullum was attracted to this project. Furthermore, Queenstown’s charm, wine and the high country also played a part in him spending an opulent amount on this home.
It is to be noted that the project will take around a decade to be entirely completed. It’s said that a lot of interest for the project has not only come from Auckland but even Australia. There are two, three and four-bedroom properties available on the location. The early buyers also got exclusive perks like a personalized wine label, their own area in the wine cave, etc.
Brendon McCullum Had Organized A Golf Adventure For England Cricket Team
Coaching England was McCullum’s first such assignment in the international arena. Not known for taking refuge in conventional methods as a cricketer, he showed the same in his coaching methods as well.
With England sealing four run-chases in a row right at the start of McCullum’s tenure as a head coach during last year’s home summer, he had announced a week-long camp in the same luxurious property during England’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year.
No media were allowed in the camp which comprised a lot of non-cricketing activities for the Test players. McCullum also made a warm-up rule change for the players where they can reach the ground only 30 minutes before the match on batting days. Captain Ben Stokes was the one who talked with McCullum about the change.
“The warmup thing was me saying: ‘Why are we going to warm up when we’re batting? What is the point of doing a few run-throughs to go up and sit in my training kit again?’ It has taken away all the external pressures that playing international sport gives you,” Stokes had said as quoted by The Guardian.
Readers must note that McCullum has been clear from the first day that his job is to manage players rather than coach them. He has been quite successful in his approach thus far. The whole world has admired the way England have approached Test cricket under McCullum’s coaching and Stokes’ captaincy.
