Diamante Cabo San Lucas - Photo Tour

[Matt_Ward]

Anthony:

Curious to know -- but how wide are the fairways -- because unless they are less than 30 yards across such native brush looks from the photos I have seen to be more of eye-candy element than a strategic consideration. The dunes, as George has mentioned, really do like impressive.

[Anthony Gray]

Anthony:

Curious to know -- but how wide are the fairways -- because unless they are less than 30 yards across such native brush looks from the photos I have seen to be more of eye-candy element than a strategic consideration. The dunes, as George has mentioned, really do like impressive.

   Matt,

   I found them often.Some holes are generous off the tee and others are tight.This course offers great variety and has some very unique holes.It is the Cruden Bay of Mexico.

   Anthony

 

[Anthony Gray]

  Also,I do not think this course is walkable.You need shade in Cabo to start with.Plus the distance between holes is noticable.The elevation change on the property is significant.The walk from the 18th green up to the clubhouse would be an after round killer.

  Anthony

[George Freeman]

George:

Help me out here / the 6th. How high is the tee elevated above the fairway ?

Curious to know why the course would have a par-5 that is THAT short.

Matt,

It appears that the routing of the course took the predominant wind direction heavily into consideration.  This hole plays pretty much directly into the wind and from the 2nd shot on, the hole plays uphill quite a bit.

The tees are elevated maybe 30 feet (?).  But the thing is, due to the angle and slight dogleg of the hole, the wind is in your face and quartering from the left, which means tee shots are pushed further right, which makes the hole play much larger.

Nothing wrong with a reachable par 5 in my book.  I really like the hole.

[Matt_Ward]

Anthony:

Define "tight."

Define "generous."

When you say "unique" - what does that mean to you ?

What makes it the "Cruden Bay of Mexico?" Interesting comparison.

[George Freeman]

  Also,I do not think this course is walkable.You need shade in Cabo to start with.Plus the distance between holes is noticable.The elevation change on the property is significant.The walk from the 18th green up to the clubhouse would be an after round killer.

  Anthony

I guess it all depends on what your definition of walkable is.  Like I said, I saw 2-3 different groups walking when I played.  There are some decent green to tee walks (quite a few uphill too), but with a caddy, which I believe is mandatory, I think it is quite doable.

Now, in 100 degree August heat it might be a different story...

[Anthony Gray]

  Matt,

  The Cruden Bay of Mexico.The holes fit the terrian very well.Each hole is unique but the course has a nice flow.The land has ridges,dunes and flat inland areas and allows for a nice variety of holes and landscapes with a touch of quirk.Wait til you see 17.It belongs at CB.

  Anthony

[George Freeman]

#7
The seventh is a very long par 3 playing from one ridge top across a low lying area to a green (sorta) benched into the side of a hill.  This hole plays directly downwind so the effective yardage is quite a bit less than the card.  There is tons of room to miss the green, and a hill behind the green will bring balls back to it if you put too much club on it.  Nice small internal contours in the green.



The tee shot, with the third fairway to the right (going the opposite direction)

[Jud_T]

George,

Do you happen to know what type of grass they used here?  How were the turf conditions?  I only ask because the land down here at first glance seems phenomenal for golf if one can achieve the right kind of turf conditions in the heat...

[George Freeman]

George,

Do you happen to know what type of grass they used here?  How were the turf conditions?  I only ask because the land down here at first glance seems phenomenal for golf if one can achieve the right kind of turf conditions in the heat...

Jud,

I believe the entire course is grassed in Paspalum, which is able to be watered with salt water (however, the club doesn't).  The course was in immaculate condition and quite firm.  Paspalum seems to be a little more sticky or grabby than, say, fescue and for that reason I don't think will ever play as firm as fescue, but the course was firm enough for the ground ball and balls bounced off the many undulations throughout the course.

[Jim Tang]

George -

Great pictures!  Diamante just seems like a visual feast throughout the entire round.

Was it very crowded when you were there?  Also, is the course part of a resort or is it a stand alone golf course?

-Jim

[George Freeman]

George -

Great pictures!  Diamante just seems like a visual feast throughout the entire round.

Was it very crowded when you were there?  Also, is the course part of a resort or is it a stand alone golf course?

-Jim

Jim,

The course wasn't too crowed, but they seemed to have a pretty decent flow of tee times in the morning when we were there.

The course is part of a planned private housing development.  Thankfully, the future homes site will have little effect on the course.  Not so great is that the course is planning on going private in 2011.  The development has a hotel development in the plans (not sure how many years out), and other than owners/members, people staying at the hotel will be the only people allowed access.  That is what I was told, but we'll see how it plays out.   

[George Freeman]

#8
The eighth hole is a sleeper as one of the better holes on the course.  The hole heads away from the dune system and is therefore on some of the less interesting ground.  However, the hole is chalk full of strategic interest.  The fairway is HUGE.  Probably 70 yds at its widest if I had to guess.  Also, the hole is only 374 from the tips and it plays more or less downwind.  You can either play out to the right away from the fairway bunkers and leave yourself with a longer, but visible second.  Or you can try to cut the corner to shorten the hole.  If you don't hit it far enough or accurate enough, your ball will stay short of a steep ridge that runs perpendicular to the line of play about 100 yds from the green, leaving a blind second.



Tons of room on the tee shot.  Left or right?


You can see the ridge past the first bunker on the left


And this is the shot you're faced with if you don't clear the ridge


The view as you crest the ridge.  There is a nice pin placement on a finger of green that extends behind and left of the bunker on the right.

[Ronald Montesano]

Am I the only one who noticed the attractive female golfer before I even looked at the golf course?  George, who is the attractive female golfer and why is she not in more pictures?

I have some golf course commentary, but first things first.

Ron M.

[George Freeman]

Am I the only one who noticed the attractive female golfer before I even looked at the golf course?  George, who is the attractive female golfer and why is she not in more pictures?

I have some golf course commentary, but first things first.

Ron M.

Ronald,

That is my lovely Fiancé    And she had only been my Fiancé for about 4 days when these pictures were taken.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

George,

Is there anything there there- clubhouse, houses, houses under construction? What is the travel time from Palmilla? How much is the round trip taxi? I'm thinking of a trip this winter.

Thanks.

[George Freeman]

George,

Is there anything there there- clubhouse, houses, houses under construction? What is the travel time from Palmilla? How much is the round trip taxi? I'm thinking of a trip this winter.

Thanks.

Steve,

They have a "temporary" club house (in quotations b/c the temp clubhouse is nicer than half of the real clubhouses I have been to) and a few homes are under construction.  I'm not sure how far it is from Palmilla, but it is about a 20 min ride from the harbor in Cabo.  The taxi ride is about $25 each way from there.

[George Freeman]

#9
The ninth is probably my least favorite hole on the course after my one and only play (which isn't saying much), although I do like how the bunkers behind the green tie into the surrounds.  Pretty straightforward tee shot to a slight dogleg right.  The second shot must clear the arroyo as well as a huge false front in order to safely hold the putting surface.

 


The large false front


A pic of the green prior to the false front?  From Greg T.'s pics.  Story behind this Paul?

[Eric_Terhorst]

Add my thanks for the pics and tour George, very enjoyable.  The diagrams and your notes are a big plus.

The course doesn't look as hard in the pics as those course and slope ratings would seem to imply--or maybe I'm trying to say it looks like more fun than difficult.  What did you think about it from the tees you played on the Goldilocks scale  -too hard, just right, or too easy?  I note the front has 3 par 3s, so is it a tale of two nines, one that's a lot of fun, and one that requires you to bear down?

How did your lovely bride-to-be like it?

[George Freeman]

Add my thanks for the pics and tour George, very enjoyable.  The diagrams and your notes are a big plus.

The course doesn't look as hard in the pics as those course and slope ratings would seem to imply--or maybe I'm trying to say it looks like more fun than difficult.  What did you think about it from the tees you played on the Goldilocks scale  -too hard, just right, or too easy?  I note the front has 3 par 3s, so is it a tale of two nines, one that's a lot of fun, and one that requires you to bear down?

How did your lovely bride-to-be like it?

Eric,

It all comes down to the wind.  With the wind up (which is very normal; sailing south from the beach, the next body of land is the south pole), the tips at 7,300 yards would be all anyone could ever want from a difficulty standpoint.  I think the course plays pretty wide to help counter the high winds that they see.  Plus, many of the long holes play predominantly downwind and a lot of the shorter holes play into the wind.

And yes, the back nine is much longer than the front (Tee I: 3,290 yards front, 4,010 yards back; Tee II: 3,060 yards front; 3,697 yards back).  I played II on the front and III on the back to get to about 6,500 yards. 

[JC Urbina]

George,

Your pictures as well as others I have seen have me very curious.  Other then going to see more Mackenzie, Maxwell, Raynor and other golden oldies.  My goal  In 2011 will be to see this course and what  Nuzzo and Mahaffey did in Texas. 

[Sean_A]

George

I like how some of the tees are spread in diagonal/width pattern.  This sort of thing is not done enough. 

The look of this par 3 is awesome.  The extended course view is fantastic.  Where does that fairway lead to?


Ciao

[paul cowley]

Sean...it leads to the next tees which you can see on the rear edge of the dune. Part of the grassing was to help with dune stabilization as this was one of the more exposed locations, but just too good of an area not to explore. The entire hole is as minimal as  it gets...just a little clearing and added irrigation. The next hole was built entirely from scratch.

[paul cowley]

George,

Your pictures as well as others I have seen have me very curious.  Other then going to see more Mackenzie, Maxwell, Raynor and other golden oldies.  My goal  In 2011 will be to see this course and what  Nuzzo and Mahaffey did in Texas. 

Jim...coincidentally Old Mac is on my list to see as well. Let me know when you might go.

[Greg Tallman]

George:
Walkable?

Yes, it is walkable.  We didn't walk, but I wish we had.  I met a gentleman later in the trip who played quite a few rounds at Diamante during the week and walked all of them.  He said other than one or two decent walks from green to tee, the course was very walkable.

Negatory - I am as big of a fan of Diamante as any but for anyone to label it walkable would be a pretty good stretch. 9 green to 10 tee is probably more than a half mile and from 13 green to 14 tee another major excursion. 6 to 7 is no picnic either.