Cabo San Lucas is nestled on the southernmost tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula, basically an extension of Southern California. Arrive in the Los Cabos airport and weave your way through the largest population of timeshare sales people in North America along with multiple outdoor bars and you're on your way to an outdoor playground.
The appeal to Cabo for golfers and non golfers alike is the quite ideal weather during most of the months of the year. Cabo receives less than a inch of a rain each month January through June. If you like the sun during the winter, this may be your place. Highs in the upper 70's feel a lot warmer with dry air and no cloud cover.
Cabo is somewhat of a booming golf course mecca with many of the courses in the Cabo area built in the past 25-30 years and includes the likes of Quivira Golf Club, Diamante, and The Ocean Course at Cabo Del Sol. The Cabo San Lucas area is home to around 18 different courses, and from what I could tell, each course likely entails spectacular view. Head south from the airport and the number of golf courses start to appear about like the Cabo cacti. I counted at least six courses visible from the road. The area really has a unique topography, with rugged desert mountains, dipping hills and large cacti all nestled along a spectacular backdrop of pristine blue water in the form of the Sea of Cortez and the Atlantic Ocean. Not a bad mix to build a course and provides justification to the number of big names who have designed courses in the area including the likes of Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Davis Love III, and Tiger Woods.
Cabo Del Sol is home to two golf courses, the public Desert Course and the private very renowned Ocean Course, now known as the Cove Course (I guess they got tired of the name?). You will find the Jack Nicklaus-designed Cove Course near the top of every Mexico top golf course list. Naturally when I checked in for our Desert Course tee time, I re-confirmed the Cove Course was private/we could not play it; it never hurts to ask.
Golf in Cabo isn't cheap, greens fees for the Desert Course were $250 per golfer, which based on research of the area seemed about average for public courses. The Desert Course is a visual dream. Designed by Tom Weiskop, the course offers stunning desert and ocean views throughout the round along with some hilly holes and a few tee shots that leave you contemplating strategy off the box. Reviewing Weiskop's course design list, it would appear he has a knack for the desert course design with several high name courses in Arizona and also of note the recent redesign of Torrey Pines North Course
The Desert Course plays 7,049 yards from the tips. We played the blues, which carried a very manageable 6,142 yards. The course opens with a moderate dogleg part four and right away you're greeted with many of Cabo's signature cacti and bunkers in which to navigate. If you find yourself navigating cacti on more than one hole, you are in for a long round most likely. Clear the bunkers on the left and your setup for a manageable 130 yard or less approach shot.
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| The opening hole of the Desert course proves if nothing else it will live up to its name |
The second hole leads you to a short par three that was played around 154. A manageable par 5 third and par 4 4th lead to what I thought was one of the signature holes on the course, the par 3 5th. In terms of visual appeal, it offers it all: rocks, sand, cactus, palm trees, water and a pretty splendid mountain view. Add all these factors up along with a brisk headwind and you get the number 1 hole handicap on the course.
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| The par 3 5th is one of the more visually appealing holes on the course and can carry a element of intimidation no doubt designed to distract the golfer from his or her shot preparation |
Like much of the round, I found myself long off the green on the 5th hole with a misjudgment in yardage for the conditions despite learning early on that the ball was really flying. My previous round had been in Atlanta with a wet course and temperatures in the low 40's so it was quite a drastic change. I will note that it was really nice to play a completely dry course. In Atlanta winter golf mostly consists of courses that do not often fully dry out over the course of the winter months.
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| The par 4 sixth was a memorable hole with one of the tighter fairways on the course |
The front nine closes with a fun set of holes including one of Weiskop's signature drivable par 4's; an uphill 230 yard shot that should leave you no worse than par. Number nine is a uphill dogleg par 5. A very manageable hole with a generous sized fairway, I missed about a five foot putt for birdie. Forgiving fairways are the case for many of the par 4's and 5's on The Desert Course.
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| The short par 4 6th is one of the very manageable front nine par 4's |
The back nine snakes its way back towards the Sea of Cortez and the views become more and more stunning with each hole. I found the front nine slightly easier with several short par fours, I also played better on the front so that could have something to do with why the back nine hole by hole detail is brief.
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| The long par 3 17th offers wide views of the Sea of Cortez |
The Desert course closes with a long slightly downhill par four and two par fours to end it. The 18th hole provides a spectacular downhill view of the area and pristine waters of the Sea of Cortez.
Course management is key to success at the Desert course. Throughout the round I probably had 4 to 6 50 to 70 yard shots, which should be shots you provide yourself with birdie chances more times than not. I found myself hitting the backs of greens or in the rough for a lot of the round. I should have picked this up early on in the round and adjusted accordingly but I found myself making the same mistakes all day. A few simple thoughts going into the round reminding myself of the warm temperatures and dry ground likely would have saved a few shots on the round.
I found myself in real trouble on 2 holes for that day and that was simply due to poor tee shots where I found myself dropping and playing from behind, pressing to try and manage a salvageable score. The generous sized fairways can provide opportunity to put up some low numbers. There are a few demanding holes where a smaller landing area for a in bounds tee shot is required. Keep it in the short grass and out of the desert.
If I go to Cabo again, I won't play the Desert Course again simply because there are so many great course options in this area. Overall, I really enjoyed The Desert Course. It's a fair challenge if you're playing the tees that align with your skill and handicap, but not overwhelming difficult. The blues have a slope rating of 130. Make sure to stop and take note of the scenery and a special views of the ocean on the closing holes of the course. The course staff and amenities were top notch. Put it on your list to play when you're in the area and make sure you have more than one day to hit the links if you make the trek to Cabo.
