Explore Puerto Rico's Picture Perfect Golf Resorts
With nearly two-dozen championship golf courses stretching from coast to coast, Puerto Rico is recognized as the Golf Capital of the Caribbean. With year-round temperatures averaging 80 degrees, no hassle with customs or money exchange, it’s the perfect venue to taste global golf at its best. For those who resort to only the very best—here are some of Puerto Rico’s finest golf resorts, which combine superlative game play with world-class lodging, fabulous beaches, tantalizing cuisine, casino gaming and sizzling nightlife.
Trump International Golf Club (www.trumpgolfpuertorico.com)
Located on the northeastern shore, a short drive from San Juan, the newly inaugurated Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande (formerly Coco Beach Golf & Country Club), is the host venue of the Puerto Rico Open, a PGA Tour event. Golf course renovation of the former Coco Beach Golf Club converted four Tom Kite designed nines into two 18-hole championship-grade courses. Stretching over 1200 acres of dazzling waterfront property, each course meanders through mountains, palm groves, lakes and along ocean bluffs, offering panoramic views at every turn.
Linked to the Gran Melia family of resorts, this halcyon haven offers a cornucopia of pleasures for golfers and nongolfers alike: a lagoon-style swimming pool, in-house casino, and world-class Spa.
Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa (www.wyndhamriomar.com)
A short drive east from the Trump will land you on the doorstep of the Rio Mar Beach Resort, which lies at the base of El Yunque, the only rainforest of its kind in the US National Forest system. This Windham Grand Resort provides a total family vacation package on their magnificent 500-acre beachfront estate. Its complete with two oceanfront swimming pools, spa, tennis, casino, array of culinary delights and of course, golf!
Rio Mar features two 18-hole championship courses. The Ocean Course, a Tom & George Fazio design, is continually rated as one of the top courses in PR by Golf Digest. It lays claim to a par-3, 240-yard signature hole (#16) that runs along the Atlantic, and is cited as one of the most beautiful yet challenging in the Caribbean, because fierce trade winds make golfers struggle with club choice. The wider, parallel fairways make the Ocean course more appealing to beginner golfers. Its sister course, designed by Greg Norman, aptly named The River Course, follows the twisting Mameyes River, which comes into play on several holes. Although the corkscrew fairways and numerous water features offer picturesque scenery, they demand precision ball striking, making this course one of the most challenging on the island.
El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa (www.elconresort.com)
The island boasts a number of excellent resort courses, but by far, I found El Conquistador the most dramatic. This upmarket facility located near the eastern coastal town of Fajardo, sits atop a 300-foot bluff overlooking the ocean. Among the many amenities that top-shelf resorts offer, this resort boasts top-shelf entertainment, private villas, catamarans that whisk guests to the private Palomino Island for sunbathing, water sports, horseback riding, and recently constructed Conqui Water Park.
However, the first dramatic sight you see upon entering this guarded facility is the uniquely designed golf course. This swank Arthur Hills layout moves you 200 vertical feet from start to finish--rare among typically flat Caribbean golf courses--with inspiring views of the majestic El Yunque Rainforest and crystal blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean (which you can see from fifteen holes). El Conquistador is not a course for beginners. The daunting hills, never-ending array of sloped fairways, uneven lies and complicated green complexes challenge the most accomplished golfer. With its dramatic elevation change and climactic 18th hole where splashing fountains lead to a waterfall over which the last shot of the game is made, El Conquistador delivers golf with a flash-and-fanfare few courses in the Caribbean can rival. It recently was voted among Conde Nast Traveler’s “75 Top Golf Resorts.
This resort sits close to some thrilling adventures available on the island -- the tropical El Yunque Rainforest, Rio Camuy Cave Park, and Laguna Grand, a bioluminescent bay known for its glow-in-the-dark waters.
Palmas Del Mar Country Club (www.palmasdelmar.com)
Situated on six miles of PR’s eastern coastline in the town of Humacao, Palmas Del Mar Country Club offers the ultimate golf lifestyle. A self-contained community with its own schools, marina, 18 restaurants, exclusive beach club, tennis club, nine pools and equestrian center is a home-away-from-home for some. Guest lodging includes oceanfront villas or Four Points Sheraton Hotel, which embraces its own amenities including an in-house casino.
The two 18-hole courses at Palmas Del Mar were cunningly crafted to challenge a pro, but laid out so that even beginners can enjoy. The Flamboyan Course, a links-style designed by Rees Jones, and the Palm Course, a Gary Player creation, meander through wetlands, undulating palm-lined fairways and along the ocean creating different looks amid a tropical splendor. The Palm Course, the more difficult one, features more oceanside holes, multiple elevation changes, deceptively sloping greens and steady trade winds that test players’ skill from drives to the short game.
Decide to explore beyond our shore… make Puerto Rico your next golf travel destination!
Pam Borges is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America and International Network of Golf. She is a regular contributor for New England Golf Monthly (formally Bay State Golf) and a freelance writer for the Golf Reporter and Golf Insider.
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