JESSIE BROOKS
Blog: September/October 2013
“Traveling Golfer”
Los Cabos, Mexico
Two words to describe Los Cabos, Mexico: LUXURY and ROMANCE. There are a swath of 3, 4, and 5 diamond hotels with romantic settings on the bank of the Sea of Cortes. It’s a great place to visit for west coast residents, being just 1,000 miles south of San Diego.
Above: Writer Jessie Brooks overlooking hole #3 on the Diamante Golf Course.
If you’re a golfer, or not, you’ll love every minute you spend in this scenic location. You can spend hours walking secluded beaches, enjoying a variety of five-star cuisine, and, of course, playing golf on some of the world’s best championship courses. For the fishermen (and fisher ladies) try your hand at reeling in a trophy game fish aboard a charter ship and sourcing the variety of species that inhabit these bountiful waters off the coast.
Los Cabos is a wonderful place for discovering the rugged beauty of the spectacular countryside.
For urbanites, the cultural heritage of the cities is awesome and showcases the many ethnic groups–all whom I found to be friendly and courteous to visitors.
I had the pleasure of staying at the beautiful Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar, a AAA four diamond hotel property. To start me off, I enjoyed lunch at the on-property Tomato Restaurant and it was scrumptiously good. A fulfilling breakfast buffet had a plethora of choices to select from. (Photo above: Brooks enjoys lunch at Tomato Restaurant.)
Hospitality was super every place at the Sheraton. I remember well a bell hop saying, “we will get your golf clubs, you are on vacation.” This was a pleasure to experience.
Photo left: Swimming pool with a stunning seaside view.
Later in the evening, I had a satisfying dinner at De Cortez, also located on-property. It was amazing eating outside, under the stars while listening to the crashing waves of the Sea; a very romantic setting to say the least.
On another evening, I thoroughly enjoyed Dinner at Don Sanchez, a beautiful restaurant located off-property in downtown Los Cabos. It is an outdoor venue with a romantic atmosphere.
GOLFING in Los Cabos was a great experience. It was like golfing in Arizona with one exception, the Sea of Cortes. There were plenty of desert and arroyos to carry from tee to fairway or tee to green. Each course had desert, mountains, and Sea of Cortes in view which made for beautiful but challenging golf.
Above: Cabo del Sol Ocean Course #3 green
Golfing at Cabo Del Sol’s ocean course was quite an experience. The course has extremely wide fairways that are mostly favoring a left-to-right shot. The greens are immaculate, however, are surrounded by bunkers or water; which requires accuracy on the approach shot.
Cabo Del Sol, ocean course is a Jack Nicklaus design. #1 is mostly straight, a few holes are right to left, most holes favor a fade. The fairway bunkers can be avoided with a good tee shot. Where you need accuracy is the approach shot. Bunkers come into play on every hole except #5 which is a long par 4, 447 yards from the blue tees. The bunkers are to be avoided at all cost, the sand is very soft. My tee shot on #17 landed in the bunker, I could barely see the ball. #18 is pattern after #18 at pebble beach. A fade is good, slice, no good. Greg Tallman, Director of Golf, saved me a stroke or two on certain holes by telling me which club to pull on my approach shot. Thanks Greg.
Above: Cabo del Sol Ocean Course #6
Cabo Real Golf Course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. Draw, fade and straight shots are needed on this course. #1 is a straight away par 5, not much trouble: you will need to putt well to score par or better on this course. #3 is a 185 yard par 3, the green slope back to front.
Short on this hole is big trouble, arroyos and bunkers short and one bunker long right. Once on the green it is a fast put above the hole.
The Cabo Real fairways truly does test all of your shot making skills to the limit. But there is no time for intimidation here,–a draw, a fade and straight, shots are good. Be sure to have all of your confidence ready to command. The greens are fast with a lot of slope.
Above: Cabo Real hole #18
Above: Cabo Real hole #17
The Diamante is a private course with beautiful fairways and more immaculate greens. The course was designed by Davis Love III. #1 is an intimidating par 5; it is a long carry to reach the fairway. #14 is the #1 handicap hole. With the mounds on both sides of the fairway, reminded me of skiing down a chute. With the strong head wind off the Sea make this a long 544 yard par 5 from the blue tees. The greens were immaculate, fairways like carpet, and fringe soft and lush. No bumping into the fringe and rolling onto the green.
Tiger Woods have a golf course under construction at this facility.
All three courses were challenging, beautiful and worth the trip to Los Cabos. To use the word Luxury here is a definite understatement in describing this course. The breeze wind of of the Pacific Ocean adds to the challenge of these beautiful courses.
Talk to you again, soon.
Jessie
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