Once a place to just soak up the sun, the Caribbean is now luring people with signature golf courses and five star resorts.
Sand Trap
Back in the days when Don't Stop the Carnival was the novel du jour and umbrella drinks were a novelty,, golf in the Caribbean was at best an afterthought. Most people were there to swim in the sea, lay on the beach and soak up the sun. A few goat ranches doubled as golf courses, but no serious player intent on touring a regulation course bothered with the Caribbean in the JFK era.
How things have changed. Spurred by the game's timeless appeal and its ability to attract upscale travelers, this vibrant chain of tropical islands has surged with exciting developments including brilliant layouts by the game's top designers.
Some courses scale the flanks of dormant volcanoes or skirt rain forests. Others are flat and firm as Scottish links, but in place of the thorny gorse and chilly wind are swaying palms and warm, sultry air. Course conditions, an iffy proposition in the past, are vastly improved thanks to agronomic advances. Upgraded hotels, cutting edge cuisine and improved service have transformed throughout the Caribbean. And based on the courses and resort slated to open through 2008, the best is yet to come.
Here is a round-up of some of the new properties:
JAMAICA
Most of Jamaica's top golf courses are found on the island's north coast outside Montego Bay. There in particular have established the area as a premier gold destination: White Witch, Cinnamon Hill and Half Moon.
Attached to The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, A lavish 428-room property, is the White Witch, its holes bellied into valleys or etched across ridgetops. Designed by Robert von Hagge and Rick Baril, the course is named for Annie Palmer, an evil plantation mistress who murdered three husbands and countless slave lovers in the early 1800s. (Locals say her ghost still roams the Rose Hall great house at night.)
The White Witch itself is a 6, 719-yard engineering marvel blasted from rock. Bounded by fruit-bearing trees and jungle-covered mountains, it beguiles, especially in the company of "golf concierges" who impact local knowledge in their lilting patois.
Next door to The Ritz-Carlton is Wyndham Rose Hall Resort & Country Club, which tapped von Hagge and Baril to overhaul its dramatic but quirky golf course. Reopened in 2001, the course is called Cinnamon Hill, after the late Johnny Cash's home on the 14th hole. A shotmarker's track, Cinnamon Hill plays nip-and -tuck with the sea. The par-4 15th drops 75 feet to a waterfall- backed green made famous in James Bond movie, Live and Let Die.
The third member of the trio is Half Moon Resort, a retreat favoured by English royalty that boasts a vintage 1961 layout by Robert Trent Jones. In the wake of a major refurbishment completed in 2005 by long-time Trent Jones protégé Roger Rulewich, Half Moon is once again an outstanding course. Rulewich redid the tees, greens and bunkers on a classic sea-level layout designed for walkers. The colonial-style clubhouse is one of the prettiest on the islands, while the resort's cottages are nicely spaced along a crescent-moon beach.
Situated near to all three courses is The Palmyra Resort & Spa at Rose Hall, Jamaica's first luxury beachfront condo hotel. Real estate offerings include villas and penthouses, with prices starting at $400,000.00.
ST. LUCIA
On St. Lucia, one of the Caribbean's most strikingly beautiful islands, Greg Norman broke ground last summer at Le Paradise, Praslin Bay, a new 554-acrea resort nestled in a pocket of the scalloped coastline on the Atlantic side. The layout offers panoramic views and climbs to 600 feet before descending to four holes around Galet Bay.
The signature par-3 14th tiptoes across a slim peninsula high above the sea. A 323-room, four-star hotel, a world-class beachside spa and 100 deluxe residential units are slated to open August 2007.
Not to be outdone, Jack Nicklaus has entered into an agreement to design his first signature course in the Eastern Caribbean at Point Hardy, on the island's northern tip. The course will be tied into a residential and resort property and is expected to begin construction this year.
ANGUILLA
Anguilla, a small British Crown Colony renowned for it's sophistication and exquisite beaches, has only a nine-hole layout. Expect that to change dramatically this November with the opening of Termenos Golf Club.
On the southwest coast, Greg Norman restored lagoons and preserved natural habitat while routing a course that is sure to boost his reputation. Temenos (Greek for "sanctuary") boasts holes etched across a ridge above a sparkling a bay. Saltwater lagoons, coupled with the wind, can make the 7,144-yard course tough. Greens are defended by cavernous bunkers, placed by Norman to snare errant shots.
Nestled along a mile-long beach will be Temenos Anguilla, a St. Regis Resort, scheduled to open in 2008. The low-rise hotel promises to "exceed five-star standards by offering luxury that doesn't exist in the Caribbean," according to the principals. Three multi-bedroom villas, named Sky, Sand and Sea, evoke a white-washed Mediterranean village.
Temenos may in time be joined by Savannah Bay, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course proposed for the eastern trip of the island.
BRISTISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Historically known for sailboating, the British Virgin Islands are beginning to make waves as a golf destination.
The biggest splash is coming from Trellis Bay Estates in Tortola, where Jack Nicklaus Signature Course is slated to begin construction soon. With island greens, carries over bays, and water coming into play on a number of holes, the course should challenge and entertain any level of golfer.
Trellis Bay will feature an internationally known luxury hotel, and for those not willing to completely abandon yachts for approach shots, the residential and resort community will also feature a sizable marina.
With so much to choose from, the Caribbean will continue to lure those from, the Caribbean will continue to lure those who seek the finest resorts and ample amenities such as world-class golf amidst some of the most spectacular handiwork that Mother Nature has to offer.
