TRUE LOVE
Below: The 588-yard 17th hole on Davis Love III’s
Dunes Course at Diamante
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IN PLAY, FALL 2013
Living
La Vida Verde
Constant sun, sparkling sea and a
wide range of verdant treasures—
Cabo delivers all that and then some.
By Chad Whistler
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C
abo is a chameleon. An easily accessible
ocean destination that morphs to suit the
desire of the beholder.
Romantic getaway? Check. Boys weekend blitz? Definitely. Family
fun with activities? For sure. Golfer’s paradise? Amen.
Our feet were firmly in the latter camp. As our plane banked right
on our final descent, we were clear how we wanted to savor this famed
resort: a three-day taste test of the town’s golfing flavor.
We were scheduled to play back-to-back days, taking in the premium daily fee experience, the classic resort course and the best
private club we could find. Combine that with a stunning oceanside
resort for dinner, drinks and spa treatments, and we figured we’d
have a strong sampling of what makes Cabo one of the world’s most
popular places to bring your clubs along.
What most people refer to as “Cabo” is actually two towns: the old
Spanish cobblestone streets of San José del Cabo and the feistier Fort
Lauderdale-esque Cabo San Lucas. These two locales are connected
by a long stretch of highway dotted with resorts.
We chose Capella Pedregal, which is on the edge of Cabo San Lucas
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MEXICAN BUFFET
Below: No. 17 at Cabo Del Sol.
Top right: Diamante spreads out over the dunes.
Bottom right: Oceanside dining at El Farralón
at Capella Pedregal.
in the swanky gated community of Pedregal. Accessed through a
¼-mile tunnel drilled through bedrock, Capella spreads out over the
beach on the Pacific side.
We arrived on a Thursday evening and checked into our digs in
time for a Pacific sunset bathed in deep oranges and powerful reds.
As is custom here, we celebrated that particular gift of nature with
a welcome margarita.
At El Farallón, the resort’s stunning seaside restaurant, we chose
from five varieties of fresh fish that were laid out on ice. Everything is
grilled simply but served family-style with tasty soups and appetizers.
Our first meal was, by far, the best dining of the trip, and it set us up
beautifully for the golf ahead.
Golf in Cabo has its own particular calling card—often carved into
desert hillsides and flirting with the Pacific. Some famous names have
built courses here including Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones II, Tom
Weiskopf, Tom Fazio and Davis Love III.
But it’s Jack Nicklaus who has dominated Cabo design with a
remarkable five courses along the shores. The best of those, and
indeed one of the very best of all of Jack’s designs, is Cabo Del Sol’s
Ocean Course. Lucky for us, it was also our first day’s track.
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I NEVER EXPECTED GOLF IN MEXICO TO REMIND ME OF IRELAND, BUT A
LOOP AROUND THE DUNES COURSE DOES JUST THAT—MINUS THE RAIN
GEAR. IT’S A MAJESTIC TRACK LAID ELEGANTLY OVER THE MASSIVE
DUNE-SCAPE ON CABO’S LESS TRAVELED SIDE.”
DAY 1
JACK’S WALK ON THE BEACH
Opened in 1994 and weighing in at No. 54 in Golf Digest’s ranking
of Best Courses Outside the U.S., the Ocean Course is a get-out-yourcamera stunner. It opens gently enough on an uphill par-4 that gives
you a hint of the decision-making that Jack has in store. The early
holes are relatively wide open, while providing the first tests of forced
carries that are de rigueur for golf in this part of the world.
In his book My Story, Jack said, “My No. 1 goal in terms of creating
individual shot values is to make the player use his mind ahead of his
muscles—to control his emotions sufficiently to really think through
his options before drawing a club from the bag.” On hole after hole
on the Ocean Course, Nicklaus tests your decision-making abilities.
In 2011, Jack redesigned No. 6 and No. 7 into back-to-back par-3s
of mind-bending beauty. Each hole runs directly along the crashing
sea. Neither is terribly long, but playing into a prevailing wind, they
can each require an extra club or two. It’s almost impossible to believe
that No. 5, 6 and 7 aren’t the signature holes of the Ocean Course.
And then you experience the drama that is the back nine. As big
finishes go, Cabo Del Sol is hard to beat. Nicklaus has called 16, 17 and
18 the finest three-hole stretch in golf and, if that sounds immodest,
consider the source.
We felt awed by the par-4 16th until arriving on the green and
catching a glimpse of 17, the course’s signature. It’s about 180 yards
from the tips, with an elevated tee box looking across the cove to a
peninsula green. Just a few ticks right, and your ball finds a watery
grave in the Pacific. As we took in the awesome view, we felt completely reaffirmed in our love of this game.
Cabo Del Sol is a daily fee course and, like much about Cabo, it’s not
cheap. Expect to shell out around $300 for a peak tee time. Expensive,
yes, but you won’t soon forget your round here.
We made our way back to Capella Pedregal for a quick dip and—big
surprise—a margarita. After Cabo Del Sol, only a Cadillac margarita
would do. Capella is a collection of seaside rooms and villas, each of
which opens wide to the warm breezes. If you can’t relax here, you
are simply wound too tight.
The deluxe accommodations deftly mix contemporary Mexican
architecture with classic elements and a dash of funky. It’s undeniably
luxurious without feeling remotely pretentious. Fountains, waterfalls
and artfully crafted succulent gardens give the grounds a laid-back
feel. The town of Cabo is just at the other end of the tunnel, but after
a day of golf, we were more than happy to simply lounge and stare
at the sea.
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IN PLAY, FALL 2013
DAY 2
LOST IN THE DUNES
If you’ve ever played in Cabo, you probably think of lush green fairways peeking out over the Sea of Cortez. There is one place however,
where traditional links play is quickly defining the best of Mexican golf.
Diamante is a 1,500-acre private oceanfront community with 1.5
miles of pristine coastline. It’s just 10 minutes outside the heart of
Cabo, but it feels completely removed. As you wind your way down
a nearly mile-long entry road, you get a sense of what Diamante is
and what it will grow to be: a private community of homes, villas
and club residences surrounding three golf courses and a world-class
clubhouse.
Diamante has a remarkably promising future. Tiger Woods’ first
completed course, El Cardonal, will open in 2014 and promises to be
“an old-style California course.” But Tiger will have his work cut out
for him in order to surpass the existing Dunes Course, Davis Love III’s
Scottish links-style design that rolls out along the beach. After a few
short years, it is already tops amoung Mexican courses in that global
Golf Digest ranking, weighing in at No. 52 in the world.
I never expected golf in Mexico to remind me of Ireland, but a loop
around the Dunes Course does just that—minus the rain gear. It’s a
majestic track laid elegantly over the massive dune-scape on Cabo’s
less traveled side.
Oceanfront real estate is at a premium in this part of the world,
and most courses are able to give you only a taste of seaside golf. But
Diamante is truly golf at the beach. The course design is rugged, but
the experience is refined.
Before teeing off, you’re treated to an open-air bar of grilled sliders
and margaritas, the first indication that you will never go hungry or
thirsty on this course. Developer Ken Jowdy wanted each foursome
to have a private practice area, so he constructed alcoves where you
can hit Pro V1s while listening to music of your choice. Nice.
Love’s design is a modern classic that uses the natural dunes to
shape holes that are instantly memorable. The front nine is on the
shorter side (3,290 yards) but is as imaginative as you’ll find anywhere. I especially liked the short par-4 4th that tempts you to fly a
dune to the green or have a blind short second shot.
The 9th is a longer par-4 back to the clubhouse that forces a carryover awash to an elevated green. It’s a classic risk/reward hole.
The back nine is even more unforgettable and, like Cabo Del Sol,
Diamante finishes strong. The 154-yard, par-3 16th is a brilliant hole
that plays over the sand to a green silhouetted by the ocean. When the
wind is blowing, this short hole becomes a bear. The 588-yard, par-5
17th turns from the ocean and presents a series of exciting choices
before culminating in a green set atop a 50-foot ridge.
The Diamante Dunes Course is a private club open to members and
property owners. Memberships and a select number of timeshares
are available.
DAY TRIPPIN’
Top to bottom: The seaside 7th green at Cabo
Del Sol; individual practice tees at Diamante;
Palmilla’s Mountain course 5th hole.
DAY 3
MOUNTAIN TO THE OCEAN
The One&Only Palmilla has long been known as one of Cabo’s best
and most famous resorts. It’s a favorite of Hollywood heavyweights
and the well-heeled from all corners of the world.
The Palmilla Los Cabos Golf Resort is one of Jack Nicklaus’ earlier
designs and his first in Cabo, completed in 1992. It spreads out over
three nines known as Mountain, Arroyo and Ocean. We played the
Mountain and the Ocean and had very different experiences on both.
The Mountain course is a beautiful, challenging nine with excellent resort conditions. Fairways are expectedly lush, and the greens
must be some of Jack’s largest. It’s a friendlier layout and, with five
tee boxes, it can suit just about anyone.
The best holes are the par-5 4th and the par-4 5th. No. 4 requires
strategy with two lakes coming into play at the tee and the green. The
5th is the signature hole and requires carrying two arroyos on your
way to a green below. It’s a terrific test.
Palmilla’s Ocean course was added in 1997, its nine holes cut
through a canyon dropping 600 feet in elevation to the 3rd hole,
which culminates at the beach. It’s the best hole on the side. What
goes down has to come back up, however, and I felt the Ocean course
ran out of steam as we crossed arroyos and climbed our way out of
the canyon.
With two holes overlooking the highway, the feeling of being away
from it all becomes challenged. That said, the Ocean’s finishing hole is
a memorable par-5 that requires a strong second shot over an arroyo
to an elevated and well-bunkered green.
Green fees reflect Palmilla’s status as a good course—but not at
the level of Jack’s Cabo Del Sol. Peak tee times go for about $210.
Surprisingly, there’s also not much in the way of a clubhouse here,
and given the spectacular luxury of the One&Only Palmilla, I expected
a bit more.
WHEELS UP
Much has been made in recent years about the perils of travel in
Mexico, but Cabo is an easy place. Pleasant, friendly and, since hosting the G20 conference last year, the tip of the Baja peninsula has
been spit-shined and gleams like the surrounding sea.
In a wonderfully relaxing three days, we sampled some of the
world’s great architects’ work along this rugged terrain with incomparable vistas and pounding surf. We also lounged, sipped, spa’d
and recalled countless shots—the good, the bad and the extremely
ugly. We left tanned and slightly tired, already planning our next
trip back. 
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