2013 Golfweek's Best Courses of Caribbean and Mexico

[Mark Saltzman]

http://golfweek.com/news/2012/oct/31/golfweeks-best-courses-caribbean-mexico-2013/

[Tom_Doak]

Querencia is at least twenty spots too high on that list.

[Jud_T]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

[Carl Nichols]

Dorado Beach East below Dorado Beach West?  Must be pre-renovation voting.....East is really good right now, West is currently closed. 

[Chris Munoz]

How is Playa Grande ranked so high.  They are barely open and condition wise, not in very good shape.  I mean the views are out of this world, but come on, we need to be a little bit more realistic, when it comes to these rankings. 

[Jim_Coleman]

     I like Playa Grande's ranking, notwithstanding that it's a dump.  It is an amazing course.  The lack of conditioning (not to mention carts with no breaks), only adds to its mystique.

[Gary Slatter]

#20 Canouan Island:  it truly is a superb golf course, one most will never get to visit, one I can't forget.  
The Raffles Hotel connection was cut in 2010 and I also think the Trump connection ceased to exist in 2010.    
They are building new facilities with new partners from Sandy Lane.

I feel there should be two lists, Caribbean Courses, including Mexican courses on the Caribbean Sea,  and Mexican Courses including those on the Pacific and Gulf of California.  As good as Mid Ocean Club is, it is a long way from the Caribbean!   Doral is closer.

My favourite two are still Cinammon Hill (Montego Bay, 1971 & 2000) and Manchester Golf Club (Manderville, 1867).

[Jud_T]

Gary,

It's fairly slim pickings as it is for a top 50.  Diluting it even further makes zero sense IMO...

[Tom_Doak]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

Jud:

At the moment, the Bay of Dreams has 18 holes of dead turf, except for the greens which they've saved.

I met a gentlemen in Newport Beach the other day who is working to close on the property by the end of the year.  He is a veteran of development in Cabo and has ambitious plans for the place ... which start with irrigating the grass!  He has asked us to help bring it back to life assuming that the deal goes through.  So, hopefully a year from now this list will be wrong to omit the course, but right now, it's not.

[Jud_T]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

Jud:

At the moment, the Bay of Dreams has 18 holes of dead turf, except for the greens which they've saved.

I met a gentlemen in Newport Beach the other day who is working to close on the property by the end of the year.  He is a veteran of development in Cabo and has ambitious plans for the place ... which start with irrigating the grass!  He has asked us to help bring it back to life assuming that the deal goes through.  So, hopefully a year from now this list will be wrong to omit the course, but right now, it's not.

Tom,

Thanks.  I was afraid something like that was going on.  It seems odd to me that Diamante is selling premium lots and bringing in Tiger for course number two when this place sits idly by a couple hours away.  I guess it's tougher to swing by for a weekend from LA and pick up chicks at the Beach Bar than it is in Cabo...

[Emile Bonfiglio]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

Jud:

At the moment, the Bay of Dreams has 18 holes of dead turf, except for the greens which they've saved.

I met a gentlemen in Newport Beach the other day who is working to close on the property by the end of the year.  He is a veteran of development in Cabo and has ambitious plans for the place ... which start with irrigating the grass!  He has asked us to help bring it back to life assuming that the deal goes through.  So, hopefully a year from now this list will be wrong to omit the course, but right now, it's not.

Tom,

Thanks.  I was afraid something like that was going on.  It seems odd to me that Diamante is selling premium lots and bringing in Tiger for course number two when this place sits idly by a couple hours away.  I guess it's tougher to swing by for a weekend from LA and pick up chicks at the Beach Bar than it is in Cabo...

Down with the brown right...

[Jud_T]

Emile.  I'm for firm, fast and brown as much as anyone you'll ever meet.  But unless I'm mistaken, it's the desert, without water sh*t dies...

[paul cowley]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

Jud:

At the moment, the Bay of Dreams has 18 holes of dead turf, except for the greens which they've saved.

I met a gentlemen in Newport Beach the other day who is working to close on the property by the end of the year.  He is a veteran of development in Cabo and has ambitious plans for the place ... which start with irrigating the grass!  He has asked us to help bring it back to life assuming that the deal goes through.  So, hopefully a year from now this list will be wrong to omit the course, but right now, it's not.

That's good news Tom. I was hoping to get up to see the finished product but have held off because of the lack of conditioning. I was last there pre grassing.

Give me a call when you're in town.

[J Sadowsky]

Playa Paraiso is a very nice course (it was the last course I played as a single man, and the first I played as a married one, as I got married at the resort).  Not on the water, and you can easily lose several balls, but nice greens and a lot of different, fun shots.

[Peter Le]

I'm don't think Corales belongs as high as #12 given some of the courses ranked below it, but I venture to say that Punta Espada deserves the top spot.  Fantastic routing and more than a handful of memorable holes.  Great courses don't need to be by the water, but it doesn't hurt either...

[Greg Tallman]

50 courses better than Bahia de los Suenos?

Jud:

At the moment, the Bay of Dreams has 18 holes of dead turf, except for the greens which they've saved.

I met a gentlemen in Newport Beach the other day who is working to close on the property by the end of the year.  He is a veteran of development in Cabo and has ambitious plans for the place ... which start with irrigating the grass!  He has asked us to help bring it back to life assuming that the deal goes through.  So, hopefully a year from now this list will be wrong to omit the course, but right now, it's not.

Tom,

Thanks.  I was afraid something like that was going on.  It seems odd to me that Diamante is selling premium lots and bringing in Tiger for course number two when this place sits idly by a couple hours away.  I guess it's tougher to swing by for a weekend from LA and pick up chicks at the Beach Bar than it is in Cabo...

Nevermind that place sitting idly by a very tough 2 hour drive away... the best piece of property in Cabo complete with a pretty darn good Fazio course 90% finished is doing much the same. Bay of Dreams was ambitious during good times. That said the guy looking to take it over knows what he is doing so we shall see.

This list, as always, has some head scratchers. Tom nailed the biggest.

Additionally I have spoken to perhaps hundreds of people having played both Vista Vallarta courses in Puerto Vallarta and do not recall a single person preferring the Nicklaus course, ranked here at #5 and a dozen spots ahead of the course everyone prefers.