Opened in 1974, The Links at Casa de Campo was the 2nd course at Casa de Campo (Dominican Republic) after Teeth of the Dog, with which it also shares a clubhouse and practice facility. It is 18 of the now 90 holes which Pete Dye has designed for the famed resort, alongside the 18 at Teeth, 27 at La Romana Country Club and 27 at Dye Fore. I’ll post more about the new 9 holes at Dye Fore coming soon as I also got over there for a tour. The Links is the “locals favorite” course at Casa de Campo and gets roughly the same number of rounds each year as its famous next door neighbor.
The Links has been under renovation since May 2011 by Pete Dye and his onsite, longtime associate, Chris Lutzke. Chris has worked with Pete on projects for 25+ years, including French Lick, Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run. While I was at Casa de Campo two weeks ago, Chris was gracious enough to spend a few hours showing me around the almost finished course and noting what was changed/ added/ removed on the course. This was my 2nd annual trip to Casa de Campo, so I had the opportunity to play the “original” Links last year and now see the improvements this year. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this mini-tour as much as I did! I apologize in advance for my amateur photography skills and poor lighting when I took some of the pics, which are below the notes for each hole.
First off, Chris pointed out a number of changes that are universal throughout the project, so I’ll note those first as to not be repetitive through the hole-by-hole notes. All of the greens and tee boxes are new, with grass being changed from Bermuda to Paspalum. All of the greenside bunkers have been completely rebuilt as have all strategic fairway bunkers. The native grass in the 2nd cut and around the tee boxes/ greens is being changed from a thick native grass to Pajon, which is much easier to locate a ball in. Chris also noted how nice the silver seedheads of the Pajon look when they blow in the wind, it is indeed quite nice! The greens were re-contoured in areas to allow for more drainage points.
While Chris didn’t specifically note these summary pieces, my opinion was that these changes will certainly make the golf course much more strategic, more enjoyable, quicker drying greens, more challenging from the Gold tees, easier to find balls in the native and easier to maintain by the staff.
Hole-by-Hole Description of Changes (NEW Yardages from the Gold/ Blue/ White/ Red tees) Hole #1 (397/ 349/ 321/ 273) - One of the least changed holes on the front 9
- Tees were lengthened
- Fairway landing zone widened to minimize change of hitting through the fairway
Hole #2 (534/ 487/ 443/ 389) - New, larger bunker right of green encourages carry of the fairway bunker on left side of fairway to approach green from the left side of fairway
Hole #3 (423/ 363/ 327/ 223) - Cleared out tall grass by right tree
- Brought right side bunker closer to green
- Made bunkers sand visual from the tees
- Softened up green contour (front right)
Hole #4 (331/ 307/ 281/ 223) - New fairway bunker complex on right side (seen under radio towers in pic)
- New potential tight pin placement in the back right of the green
Hole #5 (189/ 151/ 131/ 95) - Lengthened back tee
- Few new pot bunkers added near the green
Hole #6 (443/ 401/ 341/ 291) - New gold tee box adds 40 yards
- Cleared out right side of fairway and added bunkers
Hole #7 (565/ 527/ 479/ 397) - New right fairway bunkers replaced waste area
- Created more of a hard-line, “cape” style hole
Hole #8 (214/ 173/ 153/ 107) - New pot bunker front left
- Relocated/ rebuilt all existing bunkers
- New cart path on the right side as well to accommodate anyone who hits it right and to get them closer to the 9th tee
Hole #9 (491/ 441/ 382/ 281) - Moved gold tee back 45 yards
- All new fairway bunkers
Total yardage for Front 9 – 3587/ 3199/ 2858/ 2335 (PAR 36) [/i]
Hole #10 (433/ 393/ 313/ 257) - No significant changes, still a very small green with false front in the center
(That’s Chris in this photo.)
Hole #11 (447/ 411/ 349/ 317) - New gold tee box adds 45 yards
- New fairway bunkers on the right side to force tee shot left
- New back plateau added to the back of the green for a “Sunday pin” possible placement
Hole #12 (391/ 355/ 317/ 241) - New, large fairway bunker up the right side of the fairway catches balls that used to roll into the lake
Hole #13 (178/ 137/ 118/ 91) - Larger white tee box to accommodate divots
- “Opened the hole” up by trimming trees and other growth
- Added front, small pot bunker on the right side of the green
- New ladies tee box with no forced carry
Hole #14 (427/ 387/ 323/ 249) - New golf tee box adds 30 yards
- New left fairway bunker
- New bunker in front of green
Hole #15 (402/ 353/ 307/ 245) - Added yardage to the hole
- Moved cart paths near the tees away from villas
- All new bunkers around green complex
Hole #16 (167/ 143/ 121/ 95) - Complete renovation left side of green
- New cart path on the right for ladies and right tee shots
Hole #17 (554/ 513/ 471/ 402) - Most changed hole on course
- New tee boxes aligned with center of the hole and further from villas
- New left side fairway bunkering complex forces players to either carry the bunkers or bail out right
- New greenside bunkers
Hole #18 (417/ 373/ 331/ 283) - All tee boxes relocated
- New fairway cross bunkers
- Reoriented the green right to left
- Enlarged left greenside bunker
Total yardage for Back 9 – 3416/ 3065/ 2650/ 2180 (PAR 35) [/i]
Total yardage for 18 holes – 7003/ 6264/ 5508/ 4515 (PAR 71) [/i]
While Chris isn’t on GCA (yet), he would be happy to answer any specific questions that GCA might have about The Links renovation. Please post them below and I’ll get answers from him. Hope you enjoyed the tour and maybe you’ll get to check out The Links if you visit Casa de Campo.