Cabo, Mexico, January 21-28, 2017
About three years ago, Pat and I
joined ISAGS (International Seniors Amateur Golf Society). ISAGS runs two major events per year, each
about a week long. In 2015 we attended
their event at Fancourt Resort in South Africa and signed up for this year’s Cabo
del Sol in Cabo, Mexico.
ISAGS truly is an international
organization with member from USA, Canada, Mexico, GB&I, Continental
Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Australia, South Africa, and many other
countries. These trips are superbly
organized and run and we have made a good number of friends on them.
Cabo is located at the southern
tip is the Baja Peninsula which I would guess is the longest peninsula in the
world (about 1000 miles driving and 800 miles as the crow flies). Baja consists mostly of mountains and desert
and for years attracted ocean fishermen who trolled off Baja’s western coast
fishing for Marlin, etc. The Cabo area
was “discovered” as an ideal resort area for golf due princibally to fabulous
weather. Prior to the 1990’s, there was
not much going on in Cabo. Today it is a
Mexican version of the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area in California. American started flocking to the Cabo area in
the 1990’s (both as second homes and permanent retirement locations) as golf
courses proliferated. You should note
that Mexicans will generally advise that it is far from typical of the country
of Mexico.
Cabo del Sol is a 36 holes
resort sitting on the Bay of Cortez (eastern coast of Baja) with two courses,
the Ocean Course designed by Jack Nicklaus (opened in 1994) and the Desert
Course designed by Tom Weiskopf (opened in 2001)…and plenty of room for more. While a couple of courses existed in the area
before the Ocean Course opened, it really started the boom.
Our plan for the Cabo portion of
the trip was to stay at the Sheraton near Cabo del Sol for 7 days while playing
in the ISAGS event and then move about 10 miles southwest to Diamante (on
Baja’s Pacific or western coast) to play its Dunes Course (designed by Davis
Love III) and its El Cardonal Course (Tiger Woods’ first course). More on Diamante later.
I had previously made two
previous trips to Cabo for golf. The
first was in November 2013, when I flew in and stayed on the ground for 25
hours during which time I was able to play Diamante-Dunes and the Ocean Course
(both of which were included on the Golf Magazine 2013 World 100 and which were
my 92nd and 93rd on my quest to complete my first World
100). Then in April 2016, Cabo was my
first stop (to play JWN’s Quivera and Tom Fazio’s Querencia) on a round the
world trip that took me to Cabo, Australia (to play Ellerston), China’s Hainin
Island (Shanqin Bay and Mission Hills-Lava Fields), UAE (Abu Dhabi GC), and
Edinburgh Scotland (Gleneagles-Centenary and Dalmahoy-East).
Cabo-Ocean Course, January
22, 2017: After opening in 2004,
Ocean premiered as #68 on the next GM’s World Top 100 (1995) and while it has
continued on the list ever since, it position has dropped and most recently was
#100 in 2015. Among all World Top 100
lists tracked by moi, its highest position was #60 on the initial (2006)
www.top100golfcourses.com listing (where Ocean has also seen a slow drop to its
current #95). Golf Digest’s 2016 World
Top 100 rated Ocean as #70. From the
tips it plays 7091 yards (par 72).
Based on my three rounds this
trip, I believe Ocean is one of Jack Nicklaus’ best designs. It is built both on the desert sitting well
above the Sea of Cortez and down along the shore. Holes 5-7 and 16-18 flow down to or sit
alongside the shore and are very very dramatic (and well designed). The course starts well up in the desert for
holes 1-3, then 4 is a downhill par 5 that “transitions” from the desert to the
shore. At that point, the course moves
uphill into the desert, when it starts heading back down to the beach on
another downhill par 5 transition hole #15.
My favorite holes were the two
par 5 transition holes (#4 and 15), the six shoreline holes (#5-7 and #16-18),
as well as # 10 and, 11, 13, and 14.
Photos and explanations are below.
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| Third shot over arroyo on Ocean #4 transition hole |
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| From back tee on 490 yd par 4 Ocean 5th hole downhill turning right and heading toward Sea of Cortez |
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| Ocean #6 par 3 184 yards with Sea of Cortex to left |
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| Ocean #13 par 3 213 yards downhill to wide but shallow green with arroyo in front |
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| Ocean #14 366 yards with arroyo to left, tight driving area, and small green |
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| Tee shot on 447 yard #16 Ocean heading down to Sea of Cortez |
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| Dramatic (and challenging) tee shot on par 3 178 yard #17 Ocean |
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| Tee shot on Ocean #18 430 yard par 4 |
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| Approach shot on Ocean #18 |
I walked away liking Ocean more
than my reaction when I played here in 2013.
My sense is that it belongs somewhere around #90-100 in the world. While I hit the ball fairly well, I had real
issues reading the greens and my putting was poor at best. Lowest score was 81.
Cabo-Desert Course, January
23, 2017: Sitting above the Nickaus
Ocean Course is Weiskopf’s Desert Course (should the resort be renamed Cabo del
OSU, and should John Cook be asked to design the next course?). It has never been included on any World 100
or any of Golf Digest’s Top 100 Overseas lists.
It stretches out to 7049 yards. While
the course never gets within 200 yards of the shoreline, there are views of the
somewhat distant Sea of Cortez from most holes.
I liked the course but it
certainly is not of World 100 potential.
It is a good Weiskopf course but not one of his best. Sorry about this but no pictures taken. Best holes are:
#6—uphill
par 4 of 403 yds. Drive should be over
desert and rocks on left edge of fairway to blind part of fairway. Then uphill to a deep but narrow green with a
false front;
#9—dogleg
left uphill 502 yd par 5 to highest point on the course…going for it in two
requires your drive to carry a bunker at the inside of the dogleg and carry 270
yards…green is raised with false front and well bunkered;
#16---234
yd slightly downhill par 3 to very large green expending to back left (and
sloping from back-left to front-right); front of green’s left side is protected
by a desert arroyo and three bunkers;
#18---downhill
427 yd par 4 with creek crossing the fairway in two places and water front and
left of green…and a wonderful view of the Sea of Cortez in the distance.
Diamante-Dunes, January 28,
2017: Back in May 2016 I had
arranged for the developer of Diamante (Ken J.) to play Brookline with Roger
Clemens and a friend from Houston.
Clemens was in Boston for a Red Sox event and he and Ken are long time
friends. Ken is a fellow member of the Golf Magazine panel. Ken reciprocated by allowing Pat and me to
play both Diamante courses this weekend (with two other friends) and housing us in
one of their villas for two nights. We
invited a fellow ISAGS member, Ron L. of Hong Kong to join us ands asked Ron to
pick a 4th player for both days (as Ron’s wife does not play golf). As Ron had set up my play at Ellerston last
April, and had hosted me at Hong Kong GC a year ago, it was good to be able to
reciprocate.
On Saturday we played Dunes
along with another ISAGS member, Steve H. from Sydney, Australia. In small world category, Steve had hosted
Fergal O’Leary at The Australian a month earlier.
The Dunes Course, which opened
in 2010, was designed by Davis Love III and has been a “regular” on most World
Top 100 listings since its opening, with its rating (#38) being on the 2015
Golf Magazine list. From the tips it
plays to 7022 yards (par 71). It is
challenging, fun, and spectacular.
Featuring wide fairways, positioning is still critically important if
the player wants a decent shot at the pin on his approach. Since my visit in late 2013, there have been
a few changes made to the course, related to the elimination of #18. A new short par 3 (172 yards) was added and
this one is a beauty. The small multi
level green also slopes from back right to front left and can be accessed by
playing right on your tee shot and letting the ball trundle down to the green
surface…however, a recently added
deep pot bunker at the green’s right front corner means you had been be sure
you clear that bunker with you approach shot…and that leaves a landing area
about 15 yards deep.
Started really playing well
here…went out in 36 (1 over par), but the ugly twin showed up on the back and
ended with a 45 on the back.
Frustrating!! But despite this, I
have a group of favorite holes, including some that beat me up badly
(remember…golf’s primary purpose is to satisfy one’s masochistic needs). These favorites include:
#3—par
4 of 394 yards, downhill off tee and then uphill to heavily sloped green
perched on top of a sand dune; hole
turns left but fairway slopes left to right (reverse camber);
#4—376
yard par 4, can be played two ways…drivable with helping wind (tornado might
make this work for me) with tough risk/reward equation by playing directly
toward green, or play on left fairway then uphill to semi blind green (that is
shallow from that angle) but do not be long as your recovery will be almost
impossible to stop;
#7—292
par 3 (no typo…I played from 223), slightly downhill to green sitting in a dune
and open and inviting; green slopes from back left to front right (see pic);
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| Diamante Dunes #7 par 3 292 yards (no typo) |
#10—see
above
#12—211
yard uphill par 3 to a green perched on the highest dune on the property…see
pic which says it all;
 |
| Diamante Dunes #12 uphill par 3 |
#13—516
yd par 5 which is wild and not perfect…uphill off tee and at top of slope (in
driving area), player looks down at fairway sloping sharply from right to left
and then uphill to a wide but shallow green; me thinks the fairway slope from
left to right needs to be dampened as most second shots end in the same place
(see pics);
 |
| Dunes #13 uphill blind tee shot leading to... |
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| Second shot #13--too much right to left slope?? |
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| Third shot to elevated shallow green on #13 |
#15—587
yard straightaway par 5 (played directly into wind); very narrow with trouble
in the dunes on both sides…calls for three superb shots to hit green in
regulation (I hit 2.8 and ended with a double bogey, but still love the hole);
#18—590
yard par 5 with Pacific Ocean and beach to the right and green sitting high on
dune; plays with the wind and very playable but tough; slope behind green
designed to cause long approach shots to come back onto the green, but somehow
this “mechanism” did not work on my approach L
All in all a true World Top 50!!
Diamante-El Cardonal, January
29, 2017: When I played Dunes in
November 2013 I could see the bulldozers shaping El Cardonal in the
distance. The course was finished and
officially opened in December 2014 and is Tiger Woods’ first completed design
anywhere (two earlier courses that were started or announces…in Dubai and South
Carolina were killed by the combined punches of the 2008 financial crisis and
the 2009 fire hydrant crisis. As a side
note, readers will recall that in late October 2016 I played Tiger’s second
completed course, Bluejack National outside of Houston and loved both the
course and the club.
First the name…El Cardonal is a
form of cactus prevalent in Baja (see picture).
Second the course…it is a very good design. The fairways are generally wide and the
course is strategic in design.
However, there is no question that the Dunes Course was built on a
better piece of land. The dunes closer
to the ocean provide a much more dramatic environment both visually and in
terms of shot values. More importantly,
the condition of the fairways at El Cardonal left something to be desired. The fairways are bein g watered with an
automated sprinkler system, but they were built with dramatic rolls and
bumps. As a result, it appears that the
water is running off the elevated spots and the valleys between are very soft
and wet. The course was clearly designed
to be played firm and fast but these conditions are not present.
Best holes include:
#2—208
yard par 3 (see pic) slightly downhill to large green protected by a deep front
bunker; green slopes back right to front left;
#4—483
par 4 doglegs right and proceeds uphill to raised green; tee shot must shirt
two fairway bunkers and long approach must avoid bunker on right side (and of
course make it up the hill);
#13—475
yard par 4 dogleg right…superb cape hole leaving player with the quandary of
how much too chew on his or her drive
#16—154
yard par 3 over deep arroyo to wide but shallow green with only a small bailout
zone just over the center of the green…very “cute “ hole (and that is meant as
a compliment) that is quite unexpected on this 7363 yard course.
Hopefully the conditioning
issues will be resolved….as the basic design here is very good.
After the round, Pat and I had a
chance to meet with Ken J. over lunch.
Hearing how he sheparded this development through the 2008 financial
crisis was nothing short of fascinating (his bank was Lehman Brothers!!).
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