Caribbean

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Teeth of the Dog opened in 1971 and immediately became the number one course in the Caribbean, a position it has held ever since. Seven of its eighteen holes play directly along the Caribbean Sea on coral formations no more than twenty feet above the surf, the trade winds arriving from the east with no warning and no mercy. Pete Dye, not a man given to false modesty, said he created eleven holes and God created seven. The course has recently completed a full restoration, its greens sharper, its contours truer, and its ocean holes more breathtaking than ever.

Dye Fore, the resort's second championship course, takes a dramatically different approach. Seven holes play along cliff edges that drop 300 feet to the Chavón River below, with 360-degree views taking in the Caribbean Sea, the Dominican mountains, the river, the marina, and the artists' village of Altos de Chavón in a single panorama. The par-3 12th and 15th are considered two of the finest short holes in the Caribbean. The Links rounds out the trio in a more traditional style, its tree-lined fairways and water features offering a composed and strategic round that plays as a natural counterpoint to the drama of the other two.

Casa de Campo is a 7,000-acre gated resort on the southern Dominican coast, with luxury villas, private pools, a marina, polo fields, and a beach club alongside the three courses. It is the kind of place that makes a golf trip feel like something considerably more than a golf trip.

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Punta Espada is the centrepiece of Cap Cana, Jack Nicklaus's only Signature course in the Dominican Republic and the number one ranked course in the Caribbean and Mexico for eight consecutive years. Nine holes play directly along the Caribbean Sea on a layout that Nicklaus designed to incorporate the bluffs, the beach, the lagoons, and the jungle foliage into every hole. The 13th, a par-3 of 249 yards to a green surrounded on three sides by the Caribbean, is considered one of the most photographed holes in the Americas. The course hosted the PGA Champions Tour from 2008 to 2010 and has been ranked in Golf Digest's world top 100 since opening in 2006. Corales, Tom Fazio's dramatic masterpiece at the Puntacana Resort and Club, plays 7,650 yards along the cliffs, bays, and coves of the Caribbean coast. Six holes play alongside the ocean, culminating in the Devil's Elbow — three consecutive finishing holes above the sea that the course's designers called the Mother of All Finishes. Corales has hosted the Dominican Republic's first and only PGA Tour event, the Corales Puntacana Championship, since 2018, with a multi-year extension confirmed through 2027. And La Cana, Pete Dye's 27-hole design at the same resort, was the first course in the Caribbean to use paspalum grass watered by seawater, with 14 holes offering ocean views and a layout that Golf Digest once compared to Pebble Beach in its routing alongside the sea.

Cap Cana and Puntacana together offer a resort golf experience that the Caribbean cannot match for depth, quality, or sheer drama. The beaches, the restaurants, the private villas, and the warm Dominican hospitality make every hour between rounds feel as good as the rounds themselves.