Golfing in Mexico

Today, over 100 billion dollars worth of golf-related resort and real estate development is taking place all around Mexico, making golf one of the fastest growing and most important segments of Mexico’s tourism and real estate industries. In the last quarter of 2008 alone, as many as 30 new golf courses were under development, with openings expected in the months to come.

Recent surveys show Mexico is now the No. 1 destination outside of the continental United States for US golfers. This popularity is due in no small part to the fact that many of the top names in the world of golf design — including Jack Nicklaus, Robert von Hagge, Robert Trent Jones, Tom Fazio, Tom Doak, a couple of Dyes, Gary Player, Davis Love and a David Duval redo in Loreto — are behind Mexico’s best courses.

Baja

Los Cabos has been the leader in the development of world-class golf in Mexico. This burgeoning resort located at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula recently ranked 14th in a listing of the 50 most popular golf destinations in the world. Los Cabos’ climate and setting are perfect, like Palm Springs on the ocean. A 20-mile stretch of coast between the two towns of Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, is home to some of the world’s best ocean-side courses, carved out of a landscape where stark desert meets an azure sea.

There are now five Nicklaus courses, two of them signature layouts, along the Los Cabos corridor, including the top-rated Cabo del Sol, ranked 88 in 2007 in Golf Magazine’s top 100 courses in the world. The course boasts five oceanfront holes, including the “finest three finishing holes in golf,” according to its designer. Cabo del Sol hosted the 1995 and 1998 PGA Senior Slams as well as Shell’s 1996 Wonderful World of Golf match featuring Lee Treviño and Nicklaus himself. These made-for-TV events brought Los Cabos into the homes of millions of viewers who then flocked to play golf south of the border.

Hot spots San Felipe and Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point), in north Baja, are huge success stories geared to the drive market of California and Arizona, respectively.

Mexican Caribbean

Mexico’s most popular golf destination, the Cancun/Riviera Maya region has surpassed Los Cabos in registering the most rounds of golf played in Mexico. It all started with the Trent Jones-designed Pok-Ta-Pok course (now called the Cancun Golf Club), which was part of the resort’s original development plan in the early 1970s. Today, this area is exploding with top-quality golf.

Playa del Carmen, the Riviera Maya’s main destination, has the highly rated Von Hagge course at Playacar, managed by Palace Resorts, which also manages its own 27-hole Moon Palace signature course by Nicklaus. Greg Norman is making a huge name for himself by creating two of the area’s best new courses: El Camaleon at Mayakoba, site of the first PGA tour event in Mexico, and the first of two immaculate 18-hole layouts at Playa Mujeres, near Cancun and Punta Sam.

Off the coast, the island of Cozumel has unveiled its first golf course, the Cozumel Country Club designed by Nicklaus. Having been granted the first permit in almost 20 years for golf construction in the Yucatan, ClubCorp in conjunction with Diamond Golf Construction fashioned a championship course that is expected to serve as the ecological model for all future golf development in the Yucatan Peninsula. For years, Cozumel has been known for its world-class reef diving, but this new course will encourage any diver to trade in his fins for a set of clubs.

Mexican Riviera

Good golf travel advice wouldn’t be complete without a few words about the Mexican Riviera on Mexico’s Pacific coast. From Manzanillo to Puerto Vallarta and beyond, top-notch courses combined with reasonable prices are set to make the Mexican Riviera a fast growth area for golf.

More than 31 years ago, billionaire tin magnate Antenor Patiño gave us a golf course rated “10” at Las Hadas. Designed in 1969 by Roy Dye, La Mantarraya began the move to hire top-rated US golf architects to design courses in Mexico. An addition to the original plan is the famous million-dollar hole, a 144-yard par-three 18th hole with the green positioned on a manmade island built in the ocean. The view from the tee is spectacular, with the all-white Las Hadas resort in the background. The best advice is to take a couple of extra balls! Next door, the all-inclusive Barcelo Karmina Palace shares the spectacular view of the 18th hole and offers a super package that includes golf and many other activities for the entire family.

Heading north up the coast is the “kingdom” of Isla Navidad and its deluxe Grand Bay Hotel, one of only two properties in Mexico to receive Golf Magazine’s Gold Award (the other is Los Cabos’ One&Only Palmilla). Nearby, El Tamarindo is Mexico’s No. 3 resort course. A spectacular, modern wonder in the world of golf with an ocean-side golf course in the jungle designed by David Fleming and a villagelike hideaway, this destination may not be for everyone. But sophisticated and adventurous golfers will be able to brag to friends about their experience of a lifetime after a round at El Tamarindo.

Puerto Vallarta hosted the PGA-sponsored World Cup in December 2002 and The Champions tour in 2006. Puerto Vallarta is no longer just a lazy one-course town. The opening of the Vista Vallarta Golf Club and its two dynamic championship courses established Vallarta as the next major golf destination in Mexico. One of the most promising newer courses is 40 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta at Punta de Mita. Operated by the Four Seasons Resort, this Nicklaus signature venue designed as a private club for hotel guests, resort residents and their invited guests has 19 holes. No typo here: when water or tide conditions prevent players from reaching the unique par-three third hole, called “The Tale of the Whale,” with its green situated on a natural island 180 yards off the coast, then an optional par three is played.

Farther north, Mazatlan offers two good options. At El Cid, a mega resort with more than a thousand rooms to meet your budget needs, Lee Treviño has built nine new holes and plans to redesign the existing 18. Down the beach, Estrella del Mar boasts a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. masterpiece, and a vacation and second home development along with upscale hotel accommodations.

Acapulco is regaining its luster as a wonderful destination due in part to the top-rated Tres Vidas Golf Club, a Von Hagge top 10 design and site of the Chrysler Cup Championship, and The Fairmont Acapulco Princess and Pierre Marques hotels which, along with their respective courses, have been renovated and revamped. These courses have famous histories: renowned golfer-architect Ted Robinson designed the Princess and Robert Trent Jones redesigned the Pierre Marques, which served as the site of the 1960 World Cup. Plus, Acapulco offers great daytime golf followed by the best nightlife in Mexico.

Inland

Among inland resorts, Guadalajara is considered the golf capital of Mexico. Often overlooked in favor of beach locations, this city is home to six outstanding private country clubs with an open door policy for foreign golfers. Guadalajara offers golfers the opportunity to play the Riviera Country Clubs or Oak Hills of Mexico, and they jump at the chance. Add friendly veteran caddies and the intimate country club environment, and you have a golf vacation that can’t be matched.

Needless to say, golf in Mexico is growing and attracting top investors and adventurous golfers from around the globe.
For golf packages, visit www.BEST4GOLF.com.

This article was written by Charles Kinder, publisher of Best Golf Guides to Mexico