Just back from four nights at this very cool resort - Hacienda Pinilla on the NW Pacific coast of Costa Rica - and can't say too many good things about what a fun place this is! Mike has built a really solid course with local labor, on a budget that would be labeled "shoestring" in the States.
The course is very wide because of the windy location on the ocean, but angles into the well-bunkered greens must be found to hit the greens in the right locations. The bunkers are deep and well placed, creating the most important defense of the greens. The greens themselves were well-contoured and had some nasty ridges and bumps, but there were some fun sideboards and backstops to play with.
Here are some photos from the crappy new Nikon “Coolpix” I bought to replace the nice little Sony my wife lost somewhere.
Tee shot on #1, nice opener where the tee shot works best with a draw (or Mike’s lefty fade). That tree on the left should be called “Willie Mays,” it catches everything, including my tee shot both rounds.
Second to #1, big fall off right so a fade works best:
Fuzzy photo of #4, mid length par 4 with a big old Lion’s Mouth bunker. Nice down hill tee shot, uphill approach. This photo was taken from the left edge of the fairway, nice angle to avoid the bunker.
#7, nice par 3 a little downhill with a fall away green and lots of trouble behind.
#8 is a lengthy par 5, mostly uphill, with unusual grass hollows/trenches out in front instead of sand. I need to ask Mike if these were natural. Another lousy photo.
Wish I had a photo of #9. It’s uphill, with a big bunker covering the right half of the fairway. Another bunker left leaves a very narrow gap for the best tee shot, as the green is elevated and 45* left front to right rear with a big drop off right. Works sort of like a bottle hole.
#14 brings us to the ocean for the first time, with a lengthy par 5 with another fall off to the right:
#15 is spectacular, a par 3 ranging from 129 to 180 yards, with the back edge of the green the rocks and ocean!
The finishing holes are strong, all with elevated greens and more or less into the prevailing wind.
Hacienda Pinilla was great, with very nice rooms in Spanish-design stucco bungalows at La Posada Hotel. Breakfast and dinner there poolside were excellent, and the margaritas were better!
Almost forgot to post a photo of the local we met on the cart path on #8, good looking guy.
This place is worth a trip.