A trip to Puerto Rico is a little like a Latin-themed smorgasbord – with the mountains, the rainforest and the ocean available there is a heck of a lot to choose from and everything is really good and mostly spicy.
Golf has always been one of the key tourism calling cards for the islands of Puerto Rico, which, thanks to their relative proximity to the East Coast of the United States and year-round tropical climate and terrain, is perfect for building memorable courses – especially on its topographically varied coastline.
The breezes that blow almost constantly in from the Atlantic range from the balmy to decidedly blustery, adding to the challenge, although the courses themselves offer their fair share of twist and turns.
Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, meaning you don’t need a passport to travel there from the United States to enjoy one of the Caribbean’s great destinations. It’s a place where the Old World is mashed up with the new on an main island that is small but offers an immense bounty of one-of-a-kind experiences.
Many of the resorts here are world-class, with golf courses as good as you’ll find anywhere in tropical climes. And the folks on the islands understand how to treat tourists – there’s never a doubt in your mind that you are wanted and appreciated as visitors to the local’s own slice of heaven.
Puerto Rico has been named the No. 1 Caribbean Island by readers of AFAR magazine in the travel company’s annual Traveler Awards. The Islands hit the mark with their travel attributes, which include being bilingual, the air hub of the Caribbean, and offering a bushel full of activities and amenities to enjoy within their tropical setting.
There are 18 golf courses In Puerto Rico, along with thousands of restaurants, scenic beaches, a vibrant nightlife, biodiversity, and culinary options that ensure visitors discover the Islands in diverse, unforgettable ways. Let’s take a look at six of the courses at four resorts – just a sampling of what the islands have to offer.
Royal Isabela raised the bar in the Northwest
Puerto Rico has many great golf destinations, and most are focused near the bustling territorial capital of San Juan or on the northeast coastline. Royal Isabela, located about 75 miles west of San Juan near Aguadilla, brought attention to the more relaxed northwest corner of the main island which, until the resort’s opening, had been a somewhat remote destination for surfing, bicycling, fishing and those seeking a more laid-back culture.
Royal Isabela is a resort community lined by jungle and defined by high cliffs above crashing waves, a place where green, blue and sandstone hues all work in harmony with nature. Here, luxury is the norm and no expense has been spared to provide guests and residents lifelong memories.
The centerpiece of the 426-acre property is its challenging and dramatic golf course perched on cliffs that soar from 150 to 350 feet above the Caribbean Sea. Royal Isabela’s layout was loosely modeled on those in the British Isles, routed by the late, noted golf architect David Pfaff (who formerly worked with Pete Dye) on land that required little manipulation.
The course is a demanding test, with a hilly front nine routed through jungle-like flora, and an attention-grabbing home half bearing a links-like feel with three holes perched high on a cliff that rank among the best ocean-side holes in the world.
Royal Isabela’s natural rises and falls accentuate the setting, as wide fairways stretch over various undulations, hugging the edges of the Caribbean. Along the way, numerous vertical sod-faced bunkers add a Scottish flair in this tropical paradise. With the nearly always-blowing trade winds, these elements are integral to the course’s personality.
Many elements enhance Royal Isabela’s entertainment value.
At the sixth hole, there are two separate fairways and greens, resulting in a par-4 and a par-5 on the same hole. Starting from the same tee box, the hole shares a landing area but then splits into two directions, with the par-4 heading to the right on an uphill route and a par-5 that veers left along a canyon.
The visually daunting 12th, a 435-yard par-4 that plays across the sea below, has a special tee at the 300-yard mark that entices golfers to drive the green. Then there’s the par-3 17th, which seems suspended over the ocean and involves an all-or-nothing carry.
Royal Isabela also welcomes visitors with its 20 plush, 1,500-square-foot casitas, each with a private terrace, a salt-water plunge pool on the deck and indoor/outdoor spaces with vistas of the blue water and waves breaking on the beach below. I’ve never stayed at any place finer – a trip here is truly a memorable experience.
Jones Jr. hit all the right notes at Bahia Beach
The first thing that strikes you if you’re lucky enough to play the fabulous course at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort and Club is just how little designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. needed to uncover to reveal a great track.
It helps that course Bahia Beach was carved out of mature tropical forest and routed through wetlands with sweeping views of El Yunque rainforest preserve. Jones steered the course around and over saltwater lagoons on 15 holes and added scads of bunkers to frame holes and swell the level of difficulty and playability.
Jones also had the great sense to leave the best for last, as the course’s 16th and 18th holes play right along the crystal-blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, with just a line of palm trees and a narrow strip of sand separating the final two fairways from the waves.
“We designed the course at Bahia Beach to be a haven of golf that will challenge but also delight your soul and spirit,” Jones said, poetically. “The site is spectacular, with views of El Yunque from nearly every hole.”
Bahia Beach is the centerpiece of the intimate St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club and an encompassing residential development. Located on 483 acres in Rio Grande on the site of a former coconut plantation, the community boasts a magnificent two-mile crescent of sandy beach along the Atlantic, world-class golf and beach clubhouses, and a charming seaside village.
The meat of Bahia Beach’s front nine is its middle holes, Nos. 5-8. The 568-yard par-5 fifth turns hard right to left off the tee and two of the three shots needed to reach the green must cross a lagoon. Along the way you must cope with bunkers left and right of the landing area and another spot pinched by water left and sand right on the third shot.
The massive 468-yard par-4 sixth is a slight dogleg-left that winds past a huge bunker left in the landing area. The approach here is to an elevated green with water left and a large bailout right.
Called “Bitter Brew,” the 554-yard seventh stretches over water to a valley-like landing area. The fairway rolls and turns left, then right, before heading up to the three-tiered green surrounded by bunkers on three sides.
No. 8 is the 405-yard par-4 8th hole that sports a lagoon along the left side and a bunker right in the landing area. Once on the green a look back toward the tee provides a spectacular view of El Yunque, hovering in the mist above the jungles and wetlands below.
While the front side at Bahia Beach GC is fun and a real test, the course’s most memorable holes are on the inward nine, beginning with the 316-yard par-4 10th, which has a green that’s is one of the smallest on the course. No. 11 is a tough 463-yard par-4 with perhaps Bahia Beach’s most demanding tee shot. But you’ll get a little help from a landing area that’s slightly concave and collects balls.
The finishing hole is a challenging 458-yard par 4, with a lagoon flanking its entire left side. The landing area is broad, allowing a clear shot into the oversized, undulating green. Don’t go right as the entire starboard side is a fairway bunker with four large palms.
While Mother Nature has to be complimented for her handiwork at Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club, you must tip your hat to the design efforts of Jones Jr. The course should be on any short must-play list on La Isla Bonita.
Grand Reserve GC shows the Puerto Rico experience in microcosm
Playing golf at the Tom Kite-designed Grand Reserve Golf Club is like the Puerto Rico experience in microcosm thanks to 27 holes of top-notch golf split into two courses differentiated by three distinct nine-hole routings.
Set some 30 minutes east of San Juan in Rio Grande, the courses were the first design project for Kite outside the mainland United States.
Using a punta extending into the Atlantic Ocean as the course’s backbone, Kite routed the courses around protected wetlands, through the jungle, over foothills of the ever-present El Yunque rain forest and along the beach.
The Lakes and Ocean nines form the Championship Course, and is the site for the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour. The International Course which was recently reduced to nine holes, is a track many believe to be more scenic and fun to play than the Championship Course.
Located on approximately 200 acres of the property, nurtured by the El Yunque and blanketed by warm ocean breezes and bright sunshine, Grand Reserve Golf Club’s two courses are an integral part of a complete golf experience in Puerto Rico.
The front side of the Championship Course (the Lakes nine) skirts man-made lakes while the back nine is nearer the ocean (thus the Ocean moniker), with the 12th hole playing toward the blue Atlantic, its green mere steps from waves.
Seven of the 10 par-4s on the Championship Course weigh in at 430 yards or longer. The toughest of these two-shotters might be the 455-yard fourth, as its fairway rolls right in the landing area toward a bunker seems to pull in your ball. The green is slightly elevated and protected at the front right by a deep bunker.
Two of the Championship Course’s par 5s play at least 600 yards and both of them are on the incoming nine. The 600-yard 15th plays with the wind in your face and you’ll definitely need three shots to get to the green. The 630-yard closer borders Ensenada Bay and is played with the wind to your back. Two fairway bunkers on the right are very much in play off the tee, so favor the left side.
“If you play the golf course from the proper tees, then it’s really quite playable for the average player,” Kite said. “We have to be cognizant that 51 weeks out of the year there are a lot of people playing this golf course who are not on the PGA Tour and we’ve got to get them around and we want them to have a good time.”
In addition to the two courses, the facility offers an expansive and ornate clubhouse and an excellent practice facility with two putting greens, a chipping area and a driving range.
Grand Reserve Golf Club is one of the most complete and diverse golf properties in the Caribbean and a joy for all who play it.
Venerable Rio Mar retain its charm
Any trip to Puerto Rico is chock-full of sights and sounds that will linger for the long term. But the experience golfers have grown to expect from staying and playing at the venerable Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort on the northeast corner of the “Isle of Enchantment” is truly grand and unforgettable.
Rio Mar is also set in Rio Grande, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the El Yunque Caribbean National Forest in a lush hideaway. This spectacular Puerto Rico venue was born as the Caribbean’s premier destination, and – thanks to continual upgrades – remains as one of the island’s top places for golf and leisure.
Some visitors remember their trip to Rio Mar for its winding, hilly entrance road through stands of tall palms. For others, memories linger of the massive resort hotel – so full of life and music and celebration at virtually all hours – or the resort’s secluded, mile-long beach, or its two oceanfront swimming pools. Some go all in at the onsite 7,000-square-foot casino and walk out winners.
For our purposes, the two golf courses at Rio Mar, one designed by George and Tom Fazio and the other by Greg Norman, are the resort’s drawing card.
Don’t be fooled by the name, Rio Mar’s Ocean Course is not a links-style experience played along the dunes alongside the Atlantic. In fact, the track has just one hole along the beach, but it’s one of the island’s best tests and is good enough to provide the course’s moniker.
Said to be the first design upon which the younger Fazio laid his now-famous signature, its wide and forgiving fairways can be deceiving if you spray the ball, and numerous bunkers and elevated greens are other hallmarks.
The Ocean Course is the more forgiving of the resort’s two tracks, but don’t be surprised if you’re not as successful as you think; it will sneak up on you. And like many great resort tracks, it gradually builds to a climactic close. The final four holes, highlighted by the signature 16th (a beach-hugging 238-yards par-3 rated by many as among the Caribbean’s best), will make or break your round.
Rio Mar’s River Course, opened in 1997, was Norman’s first contribution to Caribbean golf. The layout meanders some 6,902 yards through mangrove swamps and along the Mameyes River against a spectacular backdrop of cloud-topped mountains and the El Yunque rainforest to the south.
As always, Norman designed the layout while preserving the environment, so the natural wetlands and native foliage are always on the golfer’s mind. On the River Course, Norman let the natural terrain determine placement of the holes.
It’s certainly tighter than the Fazio design, but the fairways are wide — a bit of a departure for the “Great White Shark” — and the greens are open with shallow bunkers and light rough. It’s an ideal course for all skill levels.
The opening hole (a 435-yard, uphill par-4) sets the stage for the ensuing 17. All demand accuracy off the tee and on approaches to greens that, for the most part, are generous in size and gentle in nature. The river demands a heroic carry off the tee of the 392-yard 17th, which also lines the entire left side of the 448-yard 18th, with bunkers along the right catching any timid swings.
Norman designed a very good routing at the River Course, a track that rewards superlative shots without harshly punishing the merely respectable. It’s an exciting course that maximizes the aesthetic gifts of the land.
Rio Mar’s clubhouse is a magnificent 35,000-square-foot edifice that, when built, was considered to be the centerpiece of Puerto Rico’s most prestigious country club. The stately facility now provides every amenity and service expected of a premier resort and complements the array of recreational activities at Rio Mar.
Recommendation
We love the fact that you can so easily get to Puerto Rico without needing a passport, and with a variety of top-level golf here you can see why this is such a popular destination for golfers. The summer can be quite hot here, but so can the deals so if you’re looking to save a few dollars and still experience all the great golf the area has to offer, picking the offseason could be a good way to go for you and your crew.