The Best Caribbean Island Destination For Your Perfect Golf Vacation – Forbes

Royal Isabela may just be the best golf course you can play in the Caribbean - but it is just one of ... [+] eighteen great choices around Puerto Rico.

When it comes to planning an island vacation in the Caribbean, there are tons of choices, big and small, with arguments to be made for just about every spot. But if you are a golfer, the options thin out dramatically. There are several smaller islands with one or two good courses, but when it comes to critical mass, the kind of assortment that makes places like Scottsdale or Pinehurst golf destinations, there are really only two contenders, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

For the traveling golfer who likes variety and wants to play multiple courses rather than the same one over and over again, the win goes to Puerto Rico. I love the DR and it has some standout golf resorts, but they tend to be isolated as most Americans dont want to drive around, so the vast majority of golf travelers here just go to one place to stay and play. While there are multiple courses at different locales, this variety goes underutilized. But when you compare how easy it is to rent a car, drive around Puerto Rico and hit multiple spots, the appeal grows significantly, and in addition all, of Puerto Ricos courses are accessible to the public, while the single best golf course in the DR, Playa Grande, once a resort course, went totally private and no longer allows any non-members. Even famed golf resort Casa de Campo includes a private layout its hotel visitors cannot access.

The East Course at TPC Dorado beach is the island's most famous layout, known for hugging the ocean ... [+] at the start and finish.

Puerto Rico is easy to navigate and very easy to get to, with lots of non-stops to San Juan, whereas many travelers to other Caribbean destinations have to fly here anyway and then make another connection. That means many travelers can arrive in time to play golf the same afternoon, or play a final morning round before heading to the airport, a much more efficient way to vacation. It is especially user-friendly in the age of COVID as it requires no testing to go to or return home from (no risk of getting stuck there in quarantine, unlike every other Caribbean golf destination except the US Virgin Islands) and it has the highest vaccination rate of any place in the U.S.

Ive been to Puerto Rico several times and just visited again, and it was a stark reminder of how good and varied the lodging, entertainment and especially food is on top of the golf, with something for every taste and budget - there are more than 4,000 restaurants here and I didnt have a less than standout meal my entire trip. In addition, there are tons of non-golf attractions, from the historic to the worlds largest rum distillery (Bacardi) to the natural wonders, most notably the only rainforest within the U.S. Forest Service (El Yunque), rare bioluminescent bays, and of course, beaches.

Costa Caribe Golf & Country Club has 27-holes, but its signature island green is the most famous.

But when it comes to golf the island has a whopping 18 courses, many of them on the ocean, while El Yunque, the spectacular rain forest, can be seen from several top layouts. Designers read like a Whos Who of great golf architects, including Greg Norman, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Robert Trent Jones Jr., Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Fazio, Tom Kite, Rees Jones, and Gary Player. Here are some highlights:

Historically the biggest golf resort on the island used to be the Dorado Beach resort complex, originally built by Laurance Rockefeller as part of his Rockresorts brand, and for a long time it was home to two sibling Hyatt resorts and four 18-hole courses. It has been reborn in recent years as the only Ritz-Carlton Reserve property in the U.S., Reserve being the luxury brands highest tier with just five locations worldwide. Today the Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is an exceptional luxury resort that is home to two courses comprising the 36-hole TPC Dorado Beach, the only member of the PGA Tours TPC network in the entire Caribbean. A radical growth in residents and members (including several Major League Baseball stars) has forced the resort to limit play to its overnight guests, so you have to stay here to play these. If you can swing that its worth doing, because the East Course, always the most famous of the original four, has one of the most memorable starts in all of golf with a long oceanfront drive in the cart to the first tee, and wonderful ocean vistas from the get-go, whereas many coastal designs wait three plus hours to reach the sea. It also returns to the same great views at the finish. TPC Dorado Beach is a first-rate operation with forecaddies and excellent conditions, and construction is under way on a third eighteen here, which will put it in a tie as the largest golf resort slate in the Caribbean.

In my informed opinion, the single best course on the island is the stunning Royal Isabela, part of a boutique resort on the less visited northwestern shore. This is wonderful resort with its own farm growing produce for the restaurant, and all lodging in standalone casitas with private plunge pools and terraces. The golf course is as close as you can get to a links in the region, exquisite with many dramatic clifftop holes hugging the ocean, you can walk it with caddies which is rare, and when it opened a decade ago I wrote about it in detail here at Forbes (which may be dated). I said then that is like Pebble Beach Golf Links transported to an even more scenic setting, and I stand by that assessment - no matter how much golf you have played around the globe, you will find this an exceptional course.

Major winner and former World Number One golfer Jason Day is one of many stars who have played in ... [+] the PGA TOUR's Puerto Rico Open. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

The PGA Tours Puerto Rico Open (historically held in late February/early March) has brought superstars such as Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Speith, and Tony Finau to the island, and is held on the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserves Championship Course. The Hyatt is a step down in price from the Ritz-Carlton and neighboring St. Regis Bahia Beach, but is an excellent full-service resort with great dining options, first rate lodging, a huge lagoon style pool complex with cabanas, and a stunning beach - so stunning that the new version of TV show Fantasy Island was filmed here. Ive stayed at the property and would be quite happy to return. The Hyatt has two of Puerto Ricos better golf courses, both designed by Tom Kite. These are a little more Florida-style with lots of water within the courses, sometimes on both sides of the fairway, in addition to ocean views.

The St. Regis Bahia Beach is the other top-tier luxury golf resort here, and like the Ritz-Carlton Reserve, part of Marriotts industry leading Bonvoy rewards programs. Many golfers are familiar with the Audubon International Sanctuary program that certifies eco-friendly golf courses that use less chemicals, protect wildlife and meet many other standards. But the group has expanded to certify entire communities and resorts as well, and Bahia Beach was one of the first to earn this, and it is evident in the lush greenery and tropical flowers at every turn through the attractive property. About 65% of the nearly 500 acres are preserved as green areas, sanctuaries or nature trails, and there is a very extensive trail network throughout. The golf course is much different from its neighbors, winding through thick jungle-like foliage with some tight fairways when it strays away from the two-mile long beach, set at the foothills of the 28,00-acre El Yunque National Rain Forest.

The Wyndham Grand Rio Mar's Tom Fazio-designed Ocean Course is aptly named.

I have not stayed myself, but another top pick for a Puerto Rico golf vacation is the more affordable Wyndham Grand Rio Mar, a very full-service resort with two standout courses. The Wyndham is big with about 400-rooms, multiple restaurants, a full casino, and is set on two-miles of uncrowded beach. It is has the most going on under one roof in Puerto Rico, and the golf is especially varied, featuring the Tom Fazio-designed Ocean Course with is famed coastal 16th hole, and the Greg Norman-designed River course, which has deceptively wide fairways, a plus given that the river is well utilized throughout, and it has stunning El Yunque views. I had one of my favorite meals on the island in the clubhouse here, and the Ocean Course also has a beloved open-air bar/eatery, Hole in One, in its center, overlooking one and ten.

There are many other options, and I havent gotten to all of them yet. El Conquistador is another well-known golf resort with an Arthur Hills course (and private island and waterpark). Punta Borinquen is Puerto Ricos oldest full-sized golf course, built by the Army in 1940 as part of a base and said to be a favorite of President Eisenhowers. When the base closed in 1973 it became an accessible public course and is perched atop dramatic seaside cliffs near Royal Isabela. There are many other standalone courses including the 27-hole Costa Caribe Golf & Country Club with its signature island green. While I regret not playing some of these, its nice to have reasons to go back to this tropical golf paradise again.

Discover Puerto Rico, the islands visitor bureau, has several helpful articles about golf grouped by subject such as near San Juan, most affordable and individual resort profiles, all of which can be found here.

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The Best Caribbean Island Destination For Your Perfect Golf Vacation - Forbes