At Cabo Reál, at the tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, Robert Trent Jones II delivered a world-class golf course on a narrow, difficult piece of land. Although the design job was originally awarded to another golf course architect, developers turned to us when they realized that a nearby development had employed a well-known golf course designer for its course. Cabo Reál recognized the value of the RTJ II name in a competitive marketplace.
We created a target golf course on which every hole offers a view of the Sea of Cortez. The desert sun produces an intensity of light and shadow that sometimes distorts perception and creates a mirage effect. The first six holes at Cabo Reál climb steadily through Sonoran desert topography at the foot of rugged mountain peaks. Free-form bunkers and small, elevated greens combine with fairways that play along ridge tops to provide an expansive feel. The fifth hole, at 454 yards, runs along the edge of a steep canyon to a green sandwiched between canyon and sea at the course's highest point-460 feet above the water. The eighth hole is a study in clean lines-a dogleg left punctuated by two large fairway bunkers and a cactus as hazards, and a small green perched at the base of a hill.
Cabo Reál's back nine is gentler, with wide fairways running down to the sea at the fourteenth hole. The 168-yard fifteenth plays over the beach to an elevated green. The final holes journey back uphill toward the welcoming comfort of the clubhouse. Five sets of tees stretch the course from 5,198 to 7,058 yards, with a maximum slope rating of 141
th plays over the beach to an elevated green. The final holes journey back uphill toward the welcoming comfort of the clubhouse. Five sets of tees stretch the course from 5198 to 7058 yards, with a maximum slope rating of 141.
|
