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Steve Lapper

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Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« on: March 23, 2015, 08:15:23 PM »
Ahhhh... landing back in Newark this am was but the second shock of the last eight days! First and foremost: The wonderful quality of golf and its host(s) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Diamante Dunes to CDS Ocean to Chlieno Bay, the caliber of golf only continues to improve and improve to world-class status.


PART 1: CDS OCEAN & CHILENO BAY



Before any golf architecture can be discussed, let me remind those of us of the good fortune to have a guy like Greg Tallman frequenting these parts. He's the consummate host, offering everything from guided tour(s) and rich regional history....to much-needed swing analysis. Most importantly, he's a great guy, generous with his time and a pleasure to learn from. Only beating Golf's Most Bitter beats a day in the warm Cabo sun with Seņor Tallman!

We teed it up at Greg's Cabo Del Sol Ocean course on a breezy morning and were treated to a palate rich in of brown-green hue. We'd captured the elusive IMM......the ideal maintenance meld! Fairways were firm running about 8-9 and the greens a shade quicker, yet receptive to correct trajectories. The first four are mere warm-ups for the quintessential oceanside holes of 5-6-7. #5's greensite is opened up dramatically and the green seated diagonally onto a oblong mound ....much improved over the past, claustrophobic tree-pinched site. 6 & 7 are CDS's yin & yang, providing a sequential allegro-adagio moment for the golfer's senses. Here, wind and flight outweigh distance and and exacting aim. While no "Toppesque Ace" occurred, Seņor Tallman covered the flag on #7 for a tidy deuce. The rest of the course is no slouch and was a sheer joy to play. The finish is renown we both stepped aside to allow our "B" players the chance to fend on a high note!  

Along the way the tawny firm conditioning allowed us opportunities to play all kinds of shots; runners, aerials, bouncers and bombs. I remarked that I've never encountered a resort course so perfectly conditioned outside of the GBI or NZ. Any golfing visit to the area should absolutely include a round here. How this course doesn't sit higher in the GW Caribbean ratings is a f.....g mystery and downright perplexing??? A quick round of yes.....The Best Fish Tacos in Cabo!!..then off to Chileno Bay for the day's second 18.

While MWP and Greg have taken the time on it's own thread to outline the strengths and weaknesses of Chileno Bay, I'd add that it's handily among the most enjoyable Fazio work I've yet to see. Green sites have a nice fluid feel to them. They are much smaller than usual and sit pocketed into natural corners and other assorted landforms without the usual heavy-handed exterior contouring. The tee boxes are both intelligently situated and strategic angles well presented, both while preserving awesome views, up and down canyons.

Although I can't say unequivocally that #1 is the finest opener in Cabo, it is nonetheless a gentle handshake that doesn't scream excess of any type. The course unveils itself with charm and grace until #8. I have to strongly disagree with Adam Messix's take there. It's a poor example of a strategic or interesting short, drivable four par. The green is flanked along it's left front by relatively severe hilly bunker complex and open along the right once past a pit bunker3 0yds short on the fronting hill. Only a long lower-flighted (285 carry) draw or 290+ sky cut has a chance of holding any part of the green. NEARLY EVERY OTHER SHOT ends up in a wide grassy gully 30 feet below the green. Not much strategy or risk-reward embedded there. #11 does a much better job of giving almost any golfer better odds of successfully navigating the way to a fairer score.

The Par 5's are among the best Fazio set I've ever seen. #12 is most certainly a world class reverse Cape with a tee shot reminiscent of Sand Hills #16 and an approach to a "gravity-defying" semi-double plateau (ala Fishers Island #9). It's a gem and belongs in any discussion of Top 20 greatest par 5s on Planet Earth. The remainder of the course eases along the hillside saddles without excessive effort. I liked the native rock walls framing the other side of the retention pond along #15, but they only appeared once, leading some to perhaps conclude they might be artificial? Someone on Faz's crew went a little loco and built another bunker complex on their far side....completely over-the-top. #'s16 and 17 do a terrific job of requesting precision without punishment by length. #18 is whole different matter. This extreme 481 (gold) vs. 512 (black) downhiller wouldn't be so bad, if you weren't asked to bomb an approach to a green better sited at nearby Querencia. This roll-poly twisted and sloped double helix of grassy DNA leaves a different taste in one's mouth--even after 4+ finely-rolled Cubano cigars! I'll bet a serious softening evolves before the 100th member signs on the dotted line.

Enough writing for now for this red-eye'd lad, but I'll be back to chime in on the legacy of the marvelous Diamante Dunes....hands down the very best golf course south of the US border and one of the world's more fun places to tee it up! Quivira...watching Jack Nicklaus channel his inner Bruce McCall, and EL Cardonal.....Tiger Woods best use of heavy machinery post his driveway maneuvering at Windermere.  Cheers!

  
« Last Edit: March 31, 2015, 01:46:22 PM by Steve Lapper »
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."--John Kenneth Galbraith

Jason Topp

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Re: Cabo San Lucas......solo que mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2015, 08:52:12 PM »
I look forward to hearing more!  7 is of course the best hole at CDS Ocean!

Greg Tallman

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Re: Cabo San Lucas......solo que mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2015, 10:58:45 PM »
Covered the flag? Check

Made a deuce? Unfortunately no... missed the putt. The 2 was on six  ;)

Steve Lapper

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Re: Cabo San Lucas......solo que mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2015, 08:19:53 AM »
Covered the flag? Check

Made a deuce? Unfortunately no... missed the putt. The 2 was on six  ;)

Oops...perhaps too intoxicated by either view or cigar :D??
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."--John Kenneth Galbraith

paul cowley

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Re: Cabo San Lucas......solo que mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2015, 12:14:38 AM »
Steve - just saw this and sorry I missed you...I was back in the States last week on R&R having finally finished the post Odile cleanup, the Woods course, the construction of Dune's two new holes and a maintenance meld renovation of the entire course....which is now about as good as it has ever been. Hope you found it that way. Hasta futura - Paul  :)
paul cowley...golf course architect/asgca

Steve Lapper

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Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2015, 02:12:53 PM »
Diamante Dunes Course

  This is a golf course anyone on this board would kill to play each and every day. It's versatile, fun sporty, tough with the wind up, sexy and charming. I had the good fortune to play it under a variety of conditions and can fairly say it is the undisputed King of the Carribbean and Mexico. Set amidst towering seaside dunes, if not for the pasapalum turf and the adjacent turquoise blue water, it would be easy to mistake this for Baiting Hollow, Portrush, or Mullen. DL III was given one of natures finest raw canvases from which to work and he did a marvelous job.

  The first hole shares a set of tee boxes with a viewing audience (ala Rivieria, Merion, Bel-Air) and takes you out with a "gentle handshake" par 5. No complaint by me for the next six get sequentially, and almost exponentially, more fun and beautiful.

  #2, reveals the very special nature of the place. It's a longish single-shotter (201-229yd) longish single-shorter to a generously large redan-like green. The green is charmingly pocketed inside a massive dune yet mercifully allows for a ground-game approach if one chooses to make that play. After my first day cherry was popped, I'd find myself excited to see it before even arriving at the first tee.

  #3 was the modern iteration of a classic Ross or Tilly mid-four with the tee's offset to a fairway offset and beneath the green. Like #18 at Seminole, you bite off as much as you wish to capture the right distance and angle for almost blind sharply uphill approach. A smattering of bunkers beneath the hole on the hillside force the player to measure their trajectory and instance accordingly. Like most every green out here, it's fairly large and surrounded with closely mown chipping buffers.

  #4 is a gem. A driveable par 4 modeled similarly to #6 at LACC North, the hole has so much strategy I spent my last few rounds playing multiple balls to different areas. Between the tee and hole exists an elongated 15 foot high scrub dune that juts out parallel to the green and the immense left gullied fairway. The safe play down this fairway allows an elevated 85-130yd approach over a large bunker onto a platformed green with a nasty right-side false front. The bolder tee shot takes on the dune (240-250 to carry) and finds another, albeit smaller ,slightly concave fairway and yields a 40-70yd wedge, chip or even putt to a more receptively-angled green. A good sized backboard permits even a bank shot to get close up for birdie. Like the better drivable 4's in the world, this beauty begs to be played with a full-on smile or smirk.

 #5 is a charming mid-length par 3 affording Pacific Ocean views and the occasional distraction of a breaching Humpback whale. The shot needs a careful measure of the prevalent wind and like some of the better one-shotters I've seen in the modern era, Davis Love moved the tees along a horizontal line to achieve changes of distance instead of stacking them up aircraft-carrier style, thus changing angles along the way.

#6, a reachable par 5, bore a striking similarity, doppelgänger-style, to the fantastic and long par 4 15th at Friars Head. It plays longer than its yardage (437-475) and after comforting player on the tee with a wide downhill expanse, it moves back uphill and sharply narrows up to another pocketed green set amidst yet another large sandy dune. The green side surrounds were nicely banked and after understanding what was up there, the approaching golfer would eventually wisen up and use them to funnel the ball higher or lower to the respective pin position. Like a wickedly banked green at Ballyneal or Steamsong, you could easily entertain yourself (ala Policano style ;)) for quite some time with a few balls and a putter ;D

 #7  What does one do when you leave a margararita & taco station that is better than any Mexican restaurant in all of NJ and face a 223-290yd par slightly downhill par 3 "card wrecker?" I did what any thoughtful GCA'er would do.....went back for another margarita! :D With no one behind me on any of my early am tee times, a dose of 8am courage was my best swing lube.
     The green is huge and the backslope accommodating. A two here is magic, a three available and a four almost respectable. Like #2, the hole is beautifully framed by acres of sand, and like #5, the offset tees, make it fun to try at all the different yardage.

#'s 8 & 9 bring you back off the dunes and into the desert, and while neither undesirable or poor holes, they couple with #10 to provide almost an "intermission" to the show. That said, it should be noted that #9 is the course's sole par 4.5 with a wickedly delightful and rejecting false front...think #2 at Sand Hills.

    It should be noted that the first nine is routed "cluster-style" mostly (with the exception of #5) on a dead North-South axis. Give DL 3 credit for not wasting an inch of the property and making most of the sand dunes. The front is eminently walkable and while laden with good views, far more golf centric an aesthetic than the back nine.

#10 Starts the back out far out on the South side of the clubhouse to once again take advantage of the dunes. Shuttle carts exist for the walker, but few walk, Instead preferring the knobby-tired carts that bounce along the wooden-tied cart paths. I wanted to believe it was some sort of homage to Pete Dye, but the course is entirely too natural to confirm it!

#11 An uphill mid-length (150-210) one-shotter that is brilliant and nearly world-class. Another large, undulating green that remains mostly hidden by elevation. It's front has a 20 yd apron and another, yet subtle, false front.Borrowed perhaps from C&C, this one has a greens-within
-a green playability.

 A potential knock on Diamante is that it's greens are one size: Large. They are (save for #17), but they have respectable undulations that help compartmentalize them and ask the player to gauge the right shot in order to get close. #'s 11, 12 and 15 are clearly the best examples of this.

#12  GCA's very own Paul Cowley should be commended (with other than a plague in a bunker ;) ) for re-routing and building (so long as Mother Nature allows him to keep it) an excellent new hole here. The previous 12 (&13) went back into desert flats away from the dunes and water. The new #12 offers a semi-blind "8 lane wide" driving zone left of the immense dune along the risk-reward line on the right providing the ultimate in strategic choice. Play it close to or over the dune's edge and an eagle might await. Down the left, there's room to spare and narrow-waisted lay-up is an easy iron. The hole is visually dramatic perched alongside another mammoth dune.

#13 Another Cowley work, this partially-blinded hole works brilliantly to skip back over the dune's spine. The hole's tee-to-green routing could've been found dozen's of places in the GB&I and the golfer's disorientation is complete until finished. The driving zone is split at 230ish by a pot bunker, scrub dune and pile of rocks. To the player's right lies a wide valley that bowls out and accepts most any shot short of 285. Between it and the green lies another scrub dune that is above the valley, thus obscuring the hole and blinding the shot. Off the tee to the players left is a narrow (but not excessively so...maybe 20 yes wide) gap fairway that enjoys an open view to the green under a 100 yds in. Obviously the preferred line of charm, the green, while bowled out a bit, sits 10-12 ft beneath the fairway and optically closer than it is. Another hole I really enjoyed playing several different balls to.

The earlier (and initial) #'s 12 & 13 were nice, but nondescript and shared a (storm water detention ??) pond that when viewed in the context of the rest of the golf property, were visually out of place and untrue to the dunescape nature of the balance of the course. The new holes are a vast improvement and will likely push this course even higher in it's world rank.

After yet another margarita and snack comfort (courage) station, the 14th awaited. A long (544-600+yd) wildly heaving par 5, narrows a bit as it goes down a gully and ultimately arrives at the course's wildest green (save for #9). This beauty is perched up amidst the dunes on a natural saddle and heaves across a tilted spine that bisects the green in its center. It's easy to hit two perfect shots from the tee and miss by just a tad and make bogey or worse. The wind also seems to intensify making it even sterner. Very tough, but eminently fair.

#15 Another big favorite with a split-like fairway that tumbles down towards the beach. Imagine a downhill and even wider version of Streamsong Blue's #1. Any ball pushed out right faces an uphill, blind, into the prevailing wind approach. The sandy waste pushes in from the left and helps create another splendid and strategic mid-4 par. The green is deep (and large) further testing one's meddle for any chance of a good number.

#16 A terrific little short with an optically confusing raised front with large pot bunker and peek-a-boo left opening on the left. The wind's strength and direction is the key to any score. Again, there is a considerably wide collar of shortly-mown collar that isn't all together obvious from the tee, but allows for some hope of recovery. The green has one of the more dramatic tiers found out here and longer putts likely yield more bogeys than pars.

#17 A really sporty and strategically appealing uphill Par 5 that has several diagonals to surmount before putting a putter in your hands. The first, an arroyo of waste demands carrying and a warning to not bite off more than you can chew. DL 3 wisely kept the tee height just high enough to see the fairway, but low enough to perplex a player about how much can be safely bitten off. A safe 225 carry down the left side reveals a line of diagonally large bunkers that again  asks the question of how much to bite off. A better, 250+ carry catches a slope and leaves an easy perpendicular 2nd, or even a chance at the severely elevated green. It's worth noting here that yet another row of diagonally-placed bunkers lies just below the green to catch most missed final approaches, and the 17th's green is (finally) the smallest on the course.

#18 Some feel let down by this heaving uphill blind tee shot, hard 90 degree dog leg finisher. Understandable, but I really enjoyed it, finding it supremely challenging when asked to muster up a draw on my final tee shot to bend around the huge sandy pit down the left side. A fade flirts with danger or leaves the playing grounds. The fairway is among the widest on the course before narrowing and tumbling down to a green that plays front-to-back. This configuration allows for a ground-game option that yielded more birdies and pars than not when using the slope to feed a shot onto the green.

  In summary the course, though set amidst massive dunes and understandably grassed in Pasapalum, was masterfully routed and plays and feels more links-like than any other Carribean course I've yet to see. Only the recent tawniness  and water abutting holes of nearby Cabo Del Sol even remotely competes on those terms anywhere south of the border.

    In addition, the experience of the club, it's musical and perfect practice grounds, its multiple "comfort" stations and the exemplary standard of service and cheerful attitude found among its employees sets it apart from most of its peers. Not even the most hardened old-school stuffed-shirt purist can help but appreciate and warm up to its charms. For those of you who want to see what its like to "get it right," add this one to your list.

   Diamante Dunes is, in my estimation, a legitimate Top 50 course in the World. It's that good! Ken Jowdy, Davis Love 3, Paul Cowley, Len Zamora et.al should feel mighty proud.

   Next Up....EL Cardonal & Quivira....Adios por ahora!
« Last Edit: April 04, 2015, 10:31:00 AM by Steve Lapper »
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."--John Kenneth Galbraith

Jim Nugent

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Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2015, 02:29:38 PM »
Diamante Dunes Course

  This is a golf course anyone on this board would kill to play each and every day... DL III was given one of natures finest raw canvases from which to work and he did a marvelous job.

 

By DL III don't you really mean Paul Cowley? 

Steve Lapper

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2015, 02:34:10 PM »
Jim,

   I give Paul all the credit in the world for his efforts. Even after that, there is a little left over for Mr. Love ;D
The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."--John Kenneth Galbraith

paul cowley

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Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2015, 04:10:46 PM »
Thanks Steve for sharing your insight and observations...its easily one of the best write ups we have received...right up there with the Shulzmaster! I am also glad you were able to play the new 12 and 13 in their finished form. As I am sure you now know we were forced to open them early in an unfinished state, a consequence of the Cat 4 hurricane that hit us in September forcing us to focus our efforts to open the Woods course by December. After the first of the year we were able to resume construction of the new holes and perform a maintenance revamp of the entire course, and we finished in mid March....just in time for your visit. Personally I don't think that the course has played or looked better than it does now.

Now as for course credits I want to reiterate that Davis, Mark and I have worked together the last 22 years as a design TEAM, and without going into who designed what, lets just say the course is much stronger as a result of all of our parts. I will say as a teaser that #16 would not be there without Davis, and that #17 would be a par 4 without Ken Jowdy...good stories about both of these holes!

I would be happy to share them with you on your next trip...lets try to not miss each other. Thanks Steve.



 
« Last Edit: April 02, 2015, 04:16:21 PM by paul cowley »
paul cowley...golf course architect/asgca

Greg Tallman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2015, 05:15:09 PM »
Thanks Steve for sharing your insight and observations...its easily one of the best write ups we have received...right up there with the Shulzmaster! I am also glad you were able to play the new 12 and 13 in their finished form. As I am sure you now know we were forced to open them early in an unfinished state, a consequence of the Cat 4 hurricane that hit us in September forcing us to focus our efforts to open the Woods course by December. After the first of the year we were able to resume construction of the new holes and perform a maintenance revamp of the entire course, and we finished in mid March....just in time for your visit. Personally I don't think that the course has played or looked better than it does now.

Now as for course credits I want to reiterate that Davis, Mark and I have worked together the last 22 years as a design TEAM, and without going into who designed what, lets just say the course is much stronger as a result of all of our parts. I will say as a teaser that #16 would not be there without Davis, and that #17 would be a par 4 without Ken Jowdy...good stories about both of these holes!

I would be happy to share them with you on your next trip...lets try to not miss each other. Thanks Steve.


PC, Seems I've heard of this maintenance revamp somewhere before??? Would love to get over there and have a look see soon as well as check out the finished product at #12.

paul cowley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2015, 11:50:21 PM »
Si Greg...thx Steve
paul cowley...golf course architect/asgca

Michael Wharton-Palmer

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Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2015, 03:44:15 AM »
Currently in Australia but will comment later on Steves post..suffice to say I agree world top 50 without a doubt and that the work Paul et al have done on #12/13 enhance that position
By the  way NOT with the Golfweek group😉

Greg Tallman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cabo San Lucas....Aun mejor!!! Si! Si!
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2015, 01:40:24 PM »
Ahhhh... landing back in Newark this am was but the second shock of the last eight days! First and foremost: The wonderful quality of golf and its host(s) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Diamante Dunes to CDS Ocean to Chlieno Bay, the caliber of golf only continues to improve and improve to world-class status.


PART 1: CDS OCEAN & CHILENO BAY



Before any golf architecture can be discussed, let me remind those of us of the good fortune to have a guy like Greg Tallman frequenting these parts. He's the consummate host, offering everything from guided tour(s) and rich regional history....to much-needed swing analysis. Most importantly, he's a great guy, generous with his time and a pleasure to learn from. Only beating Golf's Most Bitter beats a day in the warm Cabo sun with Seņor Tallman!
Stop, you'll make me blush. Honestly it is a breath of fresh air hosting true golfers versus the daily dose of "retail golfers"... just had a group show up, pay the $365 and announce "we really don't play golf, can someone show us the ropes?" Golf's Most Bitter is due for a butt whoopin' south of the border style in the near future and the hickories would not make it through customs I'm afraid.

We teed it up at Greg's Cabo Del Sol Ocean course on a breezy morning and were treated to a palate rich in of brown-green hue. We'd captured the elusive IMM......the ideal maintenance meld! Fairways were firm running about 8-9 and the greens a shade quicker, yet receptive to correct trajectories. Amazingly enough the course continued to get better in the subsequent weeks, particularly the approaches, as I commented to your it is the best, playability wise, I have seen the courses in 10+ years. Quite fun.

The first four are mere warm-ups for the quintessential oceanside holes of 5-6-7. While the opening quartet do not provide the beauty of those that follow, calling them a warm up does them a bit of a disservice, particularly when the third is the best short par 4 in the region, the second a solid three shot hole for most mortals and the fourth offering the ultimate risk/reward scenario on a reachable par 5.

#5's greensite is opened up dramatically and the green seated diagonally onto a oblong mound ....much improved over the past, claustrophobic tree-pinched site. 6 & 7 are CDS's yin & yang, providing a sequential allegro-adagio moment for the golfer's senses. Here, wind and flight outweigh distance and and exacting aim. While no "Toppesque Ace" occurred, Seņor Tallman covered the flag on #7 for a tidy deuce. The rest of the course is no slouch and was a sheer joy to play. The finish is renown we both stepped aside to allow our "B" players the chance to fend on a high note!  After the changes a few years ago I enjoy the stretch of 5-6-7 more so than the more famed finishing stretch. #7 is still one of the more underappreciated great short holes around.


Along the way the tawny firm conditioning allowed us opportunities to play all kinds of shots; runners, aerials, bouncers and bombs. I remarked that I've never encountered a resort course so perfectly conditioned outside of the GBI or NZ. Any golfing visit to the area should absolutely include a round here. How this course doesn't sit higher in the GW Caribbean ratings is a f.....g mystery and downright perplexing??? Maybe next time I should ignore all business sense and cater to the "rater retreat" with a bit more... uh... pampering.

A quick round of yes.....The Best Fish Tacos in Cabo!!..then off to Chileno Bay for the day's second 18.

While MWP and Greg have taken the time on it's own thread to outline the strengths and weaknesses of Chileno Bay, I'd add that it's handily among the most enjoyable Fazio work I've yet to see. Green sites have a nice fluid feel to them. They are much smaller than usual and sit pocketed into natural corners and other assorted landforms without the usual heavy-handed exterior contouring. The tee boxes are both intelligently situated and strategic angles well presented, both while preserving awesome views, up and down canyons.

Although I can't say unequivocally that #1 is the finest opener in Cabo, it is nonetheless a gentle handshake that doesn't scream excess of any type. Being labeled the finest opener hole in Cabo isn't that tough when you stop and think about the introductory holes we have... none are great, Heck I could make a case for the opener at Club Campestre as the best. Of course if we make the planned changes to The Ocean Course...

The course unveils itself with charm and grace until #8. I have to strongly disagree with Adam Messix's take there. It's a poor example of a strategic or interesting short, drivable four par. The green is flanked along it's left front by relatively severe hilly bunker complex and open along the right once past a pit bunker3 0yds short on the fronting hill. Only a long lower-flighted (285 carry) draw or 290+ sky cut has a chance of holding any part of the green. NEARLY EVERY OTHER SHOT ends up in a wide grassy gully 30 feet below the green. Not much strategy or risk-reward embedded there. #11 does a much better job of giving almost any golfer better odds of successfully navigating the way to a fairer score. Wholeheartedly agree. #11 offers a chance while #8 is just an illusion. Again, the stretch of 10-12 are wonderful, fun and maddening. Have birdied each and carded the dreaded X on 2 of the 3. 

The Par 5's are among the best Fazio set I've ever seen. #12 is most certainly a world class reverse Cape with a tee shot reminiscent of Sand Hills #16 and an approach to a "gravity-defying" semi-double plateau (ala Fishers Island #9). It's a gem and belongs in any discussion of Top 20 greatest par 5s on Planet Earth. Would agree and certainly the best par 5 in Cabo. Even if I did 3 putt after a career best hybrid to hit it in 2.  :(... a quality version of this type hole after Fazio's horrifically failed attempt at the same hole at Querencia #4 (GolfWeek obviously likes it though) 

The remainder of the course eases along the hillside saddles without excessive effort. I liked the native rock walls framing the other side of the retention pond along #15, but they only appeared once, leading some to perhaps conclude they might be artificial? Someone on Faz's crew went a little loco and built another bunker complex on their far side....completely over-the-top.Artificial? No. Dynamite employed? Absolutely, that rock stretched across the fairway at one time. Still a cool feature marred by the questionable bunkering.

#'s16 and 17 do a terrific job of requesting precision without punishment by length. 15-17 is another fun stretch on an entertaining back nine. Chileno is a wonderful example of a course that seems tough, offering plenty of challenging, thought provoking shots without beating you up. The tough holes 2,4,9,13,14 are, generally speaking, "hard par, easy bogey" holes while there are a ton of birdie holes that you may wind up "in pocket" as well. Just a easy flowing, fun golf course until... 

#18 is whole different matter. Boom! as MWP says "You've been Fazioed!"... Why oh why?

This extreme 481 (gold) vs. 512 (black) downhiller wouldn't be so bad, if you weren't asked to bomb an approach to a green better sited at nearby Querencia. This roll-poly twisted and sloped double helix of grassy DNA leaves a different taste in one's mouth--even after 4+ finely-rolled Cubano cigars! I'll bet a serious softening evolves before the 100th member signs on the dotted line. Other than poorly sited tees, overkill in the central hazard and one of the worst green complexes in Fazio history this hole has a lot going for it! As Steve, MWP and I have each stated this hole belongs at nearby Querencia... best summation of what that means? I have hosted perhaps a dozen of so knowledgeable golfers playing "the Q" and heard nearly the exact same quote from each... "who plays golf there one day and wants to go back the next?" That said the club itself is wonderful and the "clubhouse village" about as well done as any I have seen.

Enough writing for now for this red-eye'd lad, but I'll be back to chime in on the legacy of the marvelous Diamante Dunes....hands down the very best golf course south of the US border and one of the world's more fun places to tee it up! Quivira...watching Jack Nicklaus channel his inner Bruce McCall, and EL Cardonal.....Tiger Woods best use of heavy machinery post his driveway maneuvering at Windermere.  Cheers!

  

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