Going south, a little more than half an hour from La Paz, capital of Baja California, on the always spectacular Transpeninsular Highway—a long gray ribbon that links the entire peninsula—, there is a true haven for golfers longing to try new courses.

In Los Cabos, a 33-kilometer area located between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, great designers of the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones and Tom Weiskopf, among others, gave themselves the task of designing true golf gems in a desert where there was nothing but the local fauna that came out at moonlight when the harsh sun had already set.

 

In the middle of the desert there is a true golfers' paradise, with some of the best courses in the world

 

Perfectly trimmed greens, lakes transformed into true oasis and wide, green fairways await players wanting to try their luck on one of these seven stages. Enormous saguaros and a great variety of cacti adorn the setting. 

Technology plays a very important role in these courses, which are playable at any time of the year. They are watered by satellite, in order to utilize the last drop of water- so scarse in this region—, and they are planted with hybrid grass that withstands the salinity of the sea. The greens and fairways are maintained in optimum condition year ‘round, just waiting for golfers to play them.

 

 

From some holes players have a pleasant view of the Sea of Cortes, where you can watch the gray whales, while others overlook the desert and others, the mountains.

 

On the top 20 in the world

The seven courses in Los Cabos have made it one of the 20 top golf destinations in the world, and thousands of rounds are played here every year.

The first place to tee off is the San José Golf Club, which has been the property of the Mayan Palace since last year. Located in the tranquil town of San José del Cabo, this is where Mario Schjetnan and Joe Finger designed a 3,141-yard, par 35 course.

Golfers began arriving at Los Cabos in their boats to Los Cabos. US millionaire Don Koll bought the Palmilla hotel (today the One&Only Palmilla), and hired Jack 

Nicklaus to design a 27-hole golf setting—sea, stream and mountain— that gives the game another dimention, which is why it has been ranked as one of the 100 best in the world by a renowned golf magazine.

Nicklaus was fascinated by the beauty of Los Cabos, and created Cabo del Sol’s Ocean Course, known as the “Pebble Beach” of Baja, because it is sculpted between the craggy cliffs, and this includes the “three last best,” for obvious reasons.

 

 

In the desert

But that was not the end for Cabo del Sol. Tom Weiskopf was hired to create another course, the Desert Course, in the middle of canyons and streams, with wide fairways that wind throught the desert.

Expert in Los Cabos topography, he culminated all his experience in El Dorado Golf Club, rounding off his presence on the peninsula. With six holes with sea views, a round becomes a truly unique experience.

 

The great designers took advantage of the topography to create real architectural gems.

 

More or less in the same manner, Robert Trent Jones II was hired to create Cabo Real Golf Club, a setting 

in which the first six holes—some at the edge ofo the sea— are truly outstanding.

Dye Corporation joined sea and mountain along the 18 holes of the Raven Golf Club in Cabo San Lucas. Tom Fazio, on the other hand, was hired to create La Querencia, two private courses, one 18 holes and a ninehole short course. And given the success of golf here, Puerto Los Cabos, in Punta Gorda, is being designed and will be inaugurated in 2007.

 

 

The club houses of all the courses offer top quality services, including restaurant, bar, clubhouse, cart rental, clubs, practice course, putting green, and there are professionals available who will gladly give you a lesson if you want to improve—or correct— some part of your game. There is also the advantage that it almost never rains during the year and there is always the possibility that the family—in case they do not play—falls in love with golf, just by looking at these courses.

So the next time you are thinking of taking a trip to La Paz, do not forget to take your golf bag and clubs and prepare to enjoy a unique golfing experience, in which you can try out a new course to play, every day.  

 

 

Text: Laura Velázquez ± Photo: Carlos Sánchez Peryda