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Keith Phillips

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3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« on: October 30, 2019, 09:52:54 AM »
Will be at Casa de Campo for 5 days over Christmas - traveling with 2 golfing sons and non-golfing wife - hoping to play 3x on site and not interested in the excursion to Punta Espada or elsewhere (will play those destinations on a future trip).  Question is 'how to divide up 3 rounds'?  1x each Teeth of the Dog, Dye Four, and Links? 2x TOD 1x D4; or 3x TOD?  Also, are caddies available / recommended at CDC?

Jason Topp

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2019, 10:21:35 AM »
I have only played Teeth of the Dog. 


Unless something extremely surprising happened when they rebuilt it a few years ago, I would skip the Links.
Dye Fore looked interesting so if you are going to play course other than Teeth of the Dog, I would play there. 

Have fun and report back!  Opinions seem to vary on the greatness of Teeth of the Dog.  I loved it but I might have been swayed by years of looking at it in the World Atlas of Golf.

Jay Flemma

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2019, 10:22:07 AM »
Since you only have three rounds, pass on the Links and replay your favorite of Dye Four or Teeth. La Romana is excellent as well. Dye Four is out of this world. I think it's even stronger and more fun and interesting than Teeth, but that's like comparing a double porterhouse to a chateaubriand! Great either way!
« Last Edit: October 30, 2019, 10:23:45 AM by Jay Flemma »
Mackenzie, MacRayBanks, Maxwell, Doak, Dye, Strantz. @JayGolfUSA, GNN Radio Host of Jay's Plays www.cybergolf.com/writerscorner

Mike Nuzzo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2019, 11:31:29 AM »
3X Teeth of the Dog


If you had 10 rounds I'd play 10X TOD
If you had 1,000 rounds I'd play 1,000X TOD
...


Have fun
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Gene Greco

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2019, 11:35:21 AM »
3X Teeth of the Dog


If you had 10 rounds I'd play 10X TOD
If you had 1,000 rounds I'd play 1,000X TOD
...


Have fun




I agree with Mike!


(Though Dye Fore has some nice vistas)
"...I don't believe it is impossible to build a modern course as good as Pine Valley.  To me, Sand Hills is just as good as Pine Valley..."    TOM DOAK  November 6th, 2010

Jay Flemma

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2019, 12:23:31 PM »
Oh...and I had a terrific caddie named Rafi! I kept him all four days!
Mackenzie, MacRayBanks, Maxwell, Doak, Dye, Strantz. @JayGolfUSA, GNN Radio Host of Jay's Plays www.cybergolf.com/writerscorner

Billsteele

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2019, 12:42:51 PM »
Keith-I spent several days at Casa de Campo last November. I would skip the Links if you are limiting yourself to three rounds.. It's a pleasant golf course but by far the least interesting of those on the property. Teeth of the Dog is Pete Dye at his best. Great angles, stunning use of the ocean and an amazing set of par threes (the one inland par three is a bit pedestrian but the oceanside holes are fantastic). I cannot remember a hole that I thought was bad.  Dye Fore does traverse some dramatic and severe terrain and offers 27 holes of golf. The hole that plays down toward the marina is awfully good. There are just some holes that are a bit mundane and some that I just didn't care for.  I would play it once and Teeth twice. I don't think you can play Teeth without a caddie but the cost is very reasonable.

Jim_Coleman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2019, 04:17:06 PM »
   Having played there three months a year for twenty years, I would recommend 2 Teeth and 1 Dye Fore.  Teeth is a wonderful experience, but Dye Fore is worth seeing. 
   Yes there will be caddies. They are required at the Teeth. They usually will not carry your bag, but they will drive the cart if you prefer to walk.
   As for food, I enjoy leaving the campus and eating in town. Chiringuito (sp.?) is good for pizza and pasta. Bayahibi (20 miles east) is fun and has lots of choices.  On campus, RBG at the Marina is probably the best. The restaurant at the beach is also nice.
   Enjoy. Please report back.

David_Elvins

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2019, 07:12:38 PM »
My advice would be to play 3 rounds over the first 3 days and then proclaim TOD so good you need to play it a 4th and 5th time.
Ask not what GolfClubAtlas can do for you; ask what you can do for GolfClubAtlas.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2019, 04:35:28 AM »
Since you only have three rounds, pass on the Links and replay your favorite of Dye Four or Teeth.


I like this part of Jay's advice.


If you like Dye Fore better, you should replay it.  And when you are finished you should throw yourself off the cliff beside the 18th green, for having made such a poor choice.

Keith Phillips

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2019, 11:12:40 AM »
Thanks everyone!  So I've booked 2 rounds on Teeth of the Dog and 1 on Dye Four (I'll stay far away from the cliffs), and have just learned that I can get on La Romana, the private course - have others played that?  Recommend that over Dye Four?  Or need to tell my dear wife that a fourth round is mandatory?

Jay Flemma

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2019, 02:45:35 PM »
I love La Romana and you will too! You can count out your angles off the tee! Beautiful.
Tom Doak, you are way out of line :):) ***wags finger magisterically)*** That 18th hole is one of Dye's "jokes," as Shackleford might put it - as in every great architec t is allowed one per course. I love how on the tee the eye is drawn into the danger zone, and it takes patience and clear planning to hit well safely to the right! Dye is all world precisely because it 1) shatters expectations and 2) is based solidly on Mac-Raynor-Banks principles!
Mackenzie, MacRayBanks, Maxwell, Doak, Dye, Strantz. @JayGolfUSA, GNN Radio Host of Jay's Plays www.cybergolf.com/writerscorner

David Bowen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #12 on: November 02, 2019, 07:29:15 PM »
Been to Casa many times.  Dye Fore is worth a play simply for the grand scale of the course and polar opposite character in relation to Teeth.  Its a BIG course with a lot of room, but specific preferred lines off the tee.  The back 9 is pretty special, playing closer to the Chavon River gorge and on higher ground.  Its not Teeth, but then nothing else is.


La Romana is easily accessed and well worth a play.  Members tend to play in the afternoon when its less humid and breezier, thus "cooler."  Its the second best course on the property IMO and has 27 holes.  You will likely get a morning tee time and should be able to get around quickly.  The third nine was added later, abuts the front 9 of Dye Fore at the start, and is of a similar wider scale, and longer than the original 18.  La Romana is a course that grows on you with each loop.  Very solid and enjoyable.


If your wife allows, play 4 1/2 rounds, Teeth, Teeth, all 27 at La Romana, and Dye Fore.  If you have to toss one, I'd throw out Dye Fore.  If you play 27 at La Romana the newer 9 will at least give you a flavor of what you missed at DF.


If you like Dye, there is no better place to indulge yourself than Casa de Campo.  72 holes and each course is different.   

David Bowen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #13 on: November 02, 2019, 07:42:35 PM »
Sorry, bad arithmetic.  Make that 90 holes on property.  Dye Fore has 27 now, too, but haven't played the newer 9 up there.  A friend says it was rather unremarkable relative to the rest, but again, different.  It seems Pete avoided repetition.  Hope to get around that one sometime.


Enjoy your trip.  Save time for the pool and beach.  I hear the main pool complex at the hotel is under re-construction right now, but there is now an infinity pool at the beach, too.  An embarrassment of riches. If you want to go rogue, swim the "bitsy beach" on the 15 tee of Teeth during your round.

Jim_Coleman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2019, 10:22:25 AM »
    Yes, Kieth, LRCC is definitely worth asking for a favor from your wife.  Maybe a different tactic is in order. Sell it as a favor from you - stay an extra day.  I agree it is the second best course at CdC.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2019, 11:29:48 AM by Jim_Coleman »

Ross Harmon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2019, 10:31:12 PM »
I’ve been to Casa de Campo many times and have played all the courses extensively. I took a group of first timers in February and we played 3 rounds at Teeth and 1 at Dye Fore. Then hit up La Cana early the last day of our trip before an afternoon flight out of PUJ. I’d recommend something similar for you Keith - that was a really perfect run of golf!


The best thing at La Romana CC is the Friday evening buffet - try to snag an invite to that!

Keith Phillips

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #16 on: December 29, 2019, 07:32:27 AM »
Just returned from Casa de Campo.  We stuck to the original plan and played twice at Teeth of the Dog and once at Dye Fore and had a fantastic time.


Teeth of the Dog lived up to its reputation and I think is well-placed in the second 50 of the Golf's Top 100 World, though for me it would probably be closer to 100 than its current 59.  The oceanfront holes are obviously the highlights and are as good as they are spectacular.  We played in a 2-club wind the first day and holes 15-17 were all anyone could ask for into the wind. The set of par 3s is world-class, including the inland 13th with a very difficult green to hold.  Highlights for me include the short par-5 3rd with a small elevated green, the dogleg 4th approaching the sea, 6, 8, 15 and 17 along the water, and the overall width of the course which was a pleasant surprise.  Conditioning was solid but the green speeds were disappointing (6 or 7; maybe they were keeping them healthy for the coming high season?), and many of the inland holes were mundane and wouldn't be out of place at many average Florida courses, though the strategic values were high given the angles into many of the greens.  Also, the rocky hazard on the left side of 2 was unattractive and I thought bizarre, leading to random outcomes - over 8 tee shots for our group (4 players 2 days) 3 found the hazard, and my smother-hook on day 2 ended up in fine spot between two rocks whereas my two sons had near misses that were completely unplayable.


Dye Fore was completely different but we loved it.  The scale of the place is huge, the massive heaving fairways presented many options and interesting lies, and the greens complexes were really good.  The views of the marina and the Chavon River were fantastic.  We played in a 3-club wind which had a big impact, but the fairways are wide enough for the conditions so the course is challenging without ever being penal.  Highlights include the well-bunkered par-3 3rd playing 30 yards longer into the wind than the 170 on the card, the long 4th and 5th playing down toward the marina in the distance, the (almost-) driveable (downwind) par-4 7th, and the back nine tee shots on holes such as 10 and 18 that appear intimidating from the tee but actually have large landing areas.


2 + 1 was the right mix but if we played a 4th round it may have been back at Dye Fore - we liked it that much.  For a longer trip we'd definitely try the Country Club, and the renovated Links actually showed some promise as we were driving to dinner each night.  Overall the resort is spectacular and exceeded my expectations.  We will definitely be back, and may actually visit as a 'boys golf trip' in shoulder season when we can make it back to Punta Cana to play the great courses in that area.

Jim_Coleman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 3 rounds at Casa de Campo
« Reply #17 on: December 29, 2019, 08:58:34 AM »
Kieth:
   Glad you enjoyed it.  The greens at the Teeth are never very fast,  but I would say they usually play between 9-10 - a nice resort speed.  Maybe they were saving them for the high season, which starts on Christmas.  I agree there are a few mundane "Florida holes," but way less than, say, Pebble.  One and ten are "gentleman's handshake" openers, especially because they're short.  But both have angles to greens that are much better approached from a particular side of the fairway (#1 from the left; #10 from the right).  Numbers 9 and 11 are pretty mundane par fives.  But that's about it for mundane holes.  I like #2 a lot, but it should be played from the gold tee (which is only 20 yards longer than the blue and still less than 400 yards).  The view over the rocks is fun and a little intimidating, and you get a view of early Dye railroad ties, albeit very rustic.
  I have a dog in the hunt, but I think the ranking is justified.  Many years ago it was in the top 40, but with the addition of many new courses I think it has fallen appropriately.  It is kept in much better shape now.
  I agree with your assessment of Dye Fore.  It's bigness is what first stands out.  It is fun, pretty, and has interesting green complexes.  It is certainly a fun second course, but I would still recommend a 3-1 ratio for first time visitors.  La Romana Country Club is considered by most to be the second best course at CdC, and a 2-1-1 ratio is recommended.  I describe the Links as a good Florida course, and would play it on a second visit.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2019, 09:25:16 AM by Jim_Coleman »

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