Mexico
Golf in Mexico isn’t as storied as it is in Scotland or
Ireland. It isn’t as sexy as it is in Hawaii or as dreamy
as its Caribbean counterpart. But this much is true: South of
the border, the game and all of its resort trappings attract
more American and Canadian golfers than any other international
golf destination. In 2003, nearly three-quarter-million determined
duffers made their way to first tees from Los Cabos to Cancun.
And these aren’t tee-shirt-and-denim short courses they’re
showing up to see and play. Mexico boasts a burgeoning collection
of high-end resort tracks designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus,
Robert von Hagge, Robert Trent Jones II and Tom Weiskopf. And
with a government committed to promoting tourism via fairways
and greens, you can bet your bottom peso there are dozens more
on the way.
A trip through Mexico’s golf history is a short ride,
beginning in the mid-’70s when the enterprising von Hagge
made his way to San Luis Potosi to design nine new holes for
the Punta Verde Golf Club. Over the next 20 years, the Houston,
Texas-based architect would go on to design or co-design 12
courses in Mexico, opening the door for larger firms to sink
their claws into the white-hot market.
One such firm was Nicklaus Design. The Golden Bear’s expansive
architectural shop got involved with its first Mexico-based
project back in 1992 at Palmilla
Resort in San Jose del Cabo in the Baja California Sur.
Just two years later, Nicklaus designed the Ocean Course at
Cabo del
Sol and the Mexican golf renaissance began in earnest. |
Click Map to Enlarge |
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Los Cabos quickly became the epicenter of the explosion.
In 1999, Corona beer heir Eduardo Sanchez Navarro struck while
the iron was hot and hired Nicklaus to build a second course
at tiny Cabo Real Resort. The ensuing track, El Dorado, eclipsed
the original Rees Jones-designed Cabo
Real course and went on to be mentioned in the same breath
as the Ocean Course.
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While in town, so to speak, Nicklaus added a new
nine (Ocean) at Palmilla. In 2001, fellow Ohio State alum Tom
Weiskopf arrived to craft the Desert Course amid Cabo del Sol’s
craggy mountains and towering saguaro cacti. When the desert
dust settled, Los Cabos had firmly cemented itself as a world-class
golf destination.
The golf boom in Los Cabos created something of a geographical
trickle down effect that spread to points south and east. The
next metro area to take the little white ball and run with it
was Puerto Vallarta. Named the world’s friendliest international
city by readers of Condé Nast Traveler in 2001, Puerto
Vallarta is also the beneficiary of one of the most postcard-ready
settings in Mexico. The picturesque ciudad is snuggled against
shimmering Banderas Bay with the hulking Sierra Madres Mountains
serving as the backdrop.
With its enviable setting, a climate similar to Hawaii and a
newfound focus on tourism, it was only a question of time before
high-end resort golf made its way to PV. Five courses opened
between 1999 and 2003: a seaside Nicklaus design at Four
Seasons Resort Punta Mita; the 36-hole Nicklaus/Weiskopf
collaboration at Vista
Vallarta; the Mayan Palace Golf Club; and most recently,
El Tigre at Paradise Village Resort, a sporty von Hagge/Rick
Baril creation with three of the toughest finishing holes in
all of Mexico.
Taken collectively, the golf inventory of Los Cabos and Puerto
Vallarta would merit Mexico a reputation rivaled by only a fistful
of international golf destinations. That traditional tourist
cities like Acapulco and Cancun have bought into the "Mexico
as golfing hotbed concept" is simply the sauce on the enchilada.
Cancun is capitalizing on its reputation as a party town with
few rivals and its quasi-Caribbean location to bolster its golf
present and future. Looking for a sure sign that the Yucatan
Peninsula is taking this golf thing seriously? The opening of
a Nicklaus course should eliminate any doubt. The Golf Club
at Moon
Palace opened just over a year ago, paying compliment to
the existing Golf Club at Playacar.
Other notables include the Hilton Cancun Beach and Golf Club
and Cancun’s elder statesman of golf, Pok-ta-Pok Golf
Club. In a trend that defies just about every golf market in
the world, 18 new courses are in the permit or construction
phases, according to local golf officials, including three Greg
Norman credits at the $1.35-billion Playa Mujeres Resort.
“The future for golf (and new courses) for Mexico is virtually
unlimited," says von Hagge. "This is due to the magnificent
properties still available in abundance and the present ease
of the political and environmental permit process.”
—Shane Sharp |
