Los Cabos Magazine article – Issue #10 – January 2006 – By: Jack Gibson
It’s hard to write about golf in Los Cabos without it looking like I am being paid by the Chamber of Commerce. Sure, the green fees are expensive here, but so is Pebble Beach, and the weather in Los Cabos is a lot more predictable.
There really isn’t a “best time” to schedule a trip to Los Cabos, as the days are always warm and usually sunny. You might need a sweater for an early tee time in the winter months, but I can guarantee you won’t need it by ten a.m. What little rain falls is usually during August and September. Unlike the high season from mid-October to May, there’s less need to reserve tee times or hotel rooms far in advance for July through September, as there are plenty of tee times and hotels available.
Many feel that the ideal time to golf Los Cabos is from about mid-April to mid-October, when green fees are reduced and tee times are plentiful. Besides checking on the weather, remember that normal golf course maintenance is done in the summer so it is a good idea to check with each golf course in person for their normal sanding and aeration schedule.
Another good reason to call the pro shops, in person, as soon as you arrive in Los Cabos, is that occasionally, your U.S.-booked tee time may not have made it to the course in México. If you don’t have the reservation you thought you had, the folks in the golf shops will do all they can to help you. Just be nice, and remember, it wasn’t their fault.
Unlike some of the courses in Puerta Vallarta, you will find a cooler full of bottled water and ice on your cart in Los Cabos. Marshals and beverage cart drivers will be happy to replenish your supply if you run out. The very helpful and honest ball boys (caddies), knowledgeable marshals, and friendly beverage cart drivers all add to your Los Cabos golf experience. Range balls are provided before your tee time and for the more serious player, are available on an hourly basis, when not playing. Golf instruction is available at all courses. Don’t forget that the caddies live mostly off tips, so a fifty-peso tip (about five dollars) would be about the minimum each time your clubs are handled, more if they are cleaned.
In 2004, there were six championship golf courses and one nine-hole course available for the tourist to play. With El Dorado, one of the most popular courses, now private since mid-2005, this means that there will be six to eight more groups per day competing for the best tee times during the season, from October 15 to April 15.
Starting in Cabo San Lucas and traveling northeast through the Tourist Corridor, here’s the rundown on golf courses in Los Cabos.
Cabo San Lucas Country Club
If you are looking for more bang for your buck, this challenging golf course may be the answer. This well maintained and difficult course offers lower green fees others during the season and twilight fees as low as $95 U.S. after 2:30 p.m. Season passes and memberships are available to further reduce costs. This Dye-designed course opened in 1995 and the course record, from the championship tees, is still 71. Thankfully, there are four more sets of tees for the rest of us. Prevailing southwest winds, undulating greens, lakes, big bunkers and a lot of transition area makes the course interesting from any length. A favorite of locals and a good junior golf program give this club a warm, family oriented feel. Call (624) 143-4654.
Cabo del Sol
A few miles down the highway in the Cabo del Sol resort is the best-known, and world-ranked, Cabo del Sol Ocean Course by Jack Nicklaus, and the newer Tom Weiskopf-designed Desert Course. Green fees on the Ocean Course are the highest in Los Cabos, but anyone letting that keep them away will be missing the golf experience of a lifetime. The Ocean Course, ranked in the top 100 in the world, opened in 1994 and has been the site of two Senior Slam tournaments. The course has been revamped in the last two years to provide more and better views of the Sea of Cortés. Six holes are right on the water and the par-3 seventeenth signature hole calls for a 185-yard carry over rocks, water and beach, from the back tees. Four sets of tees help make the Ocean Course fun for any player and the typical Nicklaus design provides safe landing areas for the more conservative golfer while more risky shots reward more aggressive golfers for their success. Nicklaus has called sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen, “the best three finishing holes in all of golf,” and the statement is hard to argue with. A “must play” for anyone who really enjoys the game of golf.
From the name, you might envision the Weiskopf-designed Desert Course as sand and cactus. Nothing could be further from fact as this perfect compliment to the Ocean Course winds through hills of native plants, trees, and boulders, while always maintaining a view of the Sea of Cortés. The course combines long and short holes, many with false fronts and severely undulating greens combining to make it more difficult to score on than the scorecard would indicate. This course, too, has undergone some major alterations in the last year, primarily to provide home sites, but the changes don’t seem to affect the playability of the course. Green fees are lower than the Ocean Course and tee times are more available, as the course has not yet gained the recognition it deserves.
The 40,000 square foot Cabo del Sol Clubhouse is, presently, the only real clubhouse in the Los Cabos area and is a beautiful spot to relax after a round. The large pro shop and fully stocked with the latest golf fashions, all with the distinctive Cabo del Sol logo. Call (624) 145-8200 for tee times at either course.
Cabo Real
Midway to San José del Cabo and visible on both sides of the highway, the Robert Trent Jones II-designed Cabo Real Golf Course has been a favorite for locals since 1994. Also a site for Senior Slam tournaments, the course plays long and intimidating from the back tees but fairly easy and pleasant from the front or middle tees. The course features fairly long carries over ravines, hillside lies and strategically placed bunkers. On the front nine, waist-high vegetation seems to reach out and grab golf balls that get too close. While the front nine works its way from the Ocean and toward the hills, the back nine, which seems like another golf course, heads back down toward the ocean, along the beach and around the Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort. Accuracy is required from any set of tees but if you can stay out of trouble, you can score well. The pro shop is small but well stocked and the palapa snack bar is a great spot to relax with a cold beer after a round of golf. Green fees are in the mid range, for Los Cabos. Call (624) 144-0040.
El Dorado
About two miles further down the highway towards San José del Cabo is another Nicklaus-designed course, which, until sold in 2005, was a tourist favorite. Now El Dorado Golf and Beach Club, it has become a private, gated community and another major high-end development by the San Francisco-based Discovery Land Company, who also own the Hideaway in La Quinta, CA. The course is undergoing significant re-design, to learn more, visit, or call (415) 676-5800.
Palmilla
The first Nicklaus design and the only 27-hole course in Los Cabos, Palmilla remains a favorite for locals and tourists alike. The Arroyo and Mountain nines opened in 1992 with the Ocean Nine finished about five years ago. The player-friendly Arroyo Nine is a couples and ladies favorite, being less demanding than the other area courses. The Mountain Nine can be difficult, with two holes requiring fairly long carries over deep ravines and a couple of water holes. The Ocean nine features a mix of long and short holes winding among some beautiful homes. The third green seems to sit on the beach and provides a fantastic view of the ocean and boats anchored in the protected bay. Troon Golf Management has started twilight golf as early as 10:30 a.m., off-season. Call (624) 144-5250 for tee times.
Querencia
Across the canyon from Palmilla sits the first strictly private golf course in Los Cabos. Playing this Tom Fazio-designed course is like taking a tour of your own private botanical garden. Flowering bushes, cactus and native plants are everywhere, each watered by its own drip irrigation nozzle and you won’t find a divot or ball mark anywhere. Severely sloping greens which, when mowed short, can make for many three-putts and embarrassing chips that may end up further away than when you started. Querencia hosted a televised match between Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson in 2001. Dotted with homesites and villas, to learn more about memberships, visit the site, or call (624) 145-6671.
Mayan Resorts
The only nine hole, public course in Los Cabos was built in 1987 by FONATUR, the Mexican government tourist development agency. The course was purchased two years ago by Mayan Resorts, mainly for use as a sales office for their other developments, such as the thirty-six-hole resort planned at Punta Gorda on the East Cape. The short but interesting course has been completely redone and is now a pleasure to play. The old facilities have undergone badly needed remodeling, along with the addition of a first rate ocean view restaurant, Thadashi, and memberships plus reduced green fees for locals, call (624) 142-0905.
As you can see, there’s a Los Cabos course to fit any budget or golf ability. The trend is toward more private courses and large-scale developments as more and more people choose Los Cabos for their second home. Buying property and building a home in Los Cabos doesn’t have the risks of the past, with U.S. title insurance and reputable builders available. There will always be plenty of golf courses to fit the needs of the many new hotels and their guests, in fact, there are now about eleven new championship golf courses planned over the next ten years. If you haven’t been to Los Cabos to golf, what are you waiting for?
Jack Gibson, PGA Professional
Recognized as one of America’s top golf instructors, Jack’s teaching methods are based on developing a “feel” of the club head, resulting in a large following of students from all over North America and Europe. Nominated by GOLF magazine for their 2005 “Top 100 Teachers in America,” Jack’s golf articles have appeared publications in México and in California. His new book, The Swish Factor, is due out in 2006.
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