Golf Course Architecture - Issue 59, January 2020

29 TEE BOX Costa Palmas unveils ‘golf symphony’ The new Robert Trent Jones II course at Costa Palmas Golf Club near Los Cabos, Mexico, is open for play. The 7,221-yard layout will be part of a 1,000-acre resort community, developed by Los-Angeles-based real estate development firm Irongate. Costa Palmas is located on the East Cape of Los Cabos, where there are miles of white sand beaches running alongside the western shores of the Sea of Cortez. Jones describes the course as “a golf symphony composed of three movements and two transitions.” The opening six holes have been designed as a links-inspired “dunescape” with players able to play bump-and-run shots to the greens. These holes feature seamless transitions between putting surfaces and the next hole’s tee boxes. The main obstacles that players face are sand dunes. The par-five seventh, with its natural arroyo, serves as a transition to the course’s second movement – six “upland” holes that include views of the Sierra de la Laguna mountains. These holes provide players with wide landing areas, but trees and bunkers mean golfers will have to choose club and shot selection carefully. Following the 224-yard par-three thirteenth, the final four holes play along coves, harbours and channels. The par-four eighteenth sweeps from left to right and brings golfers back to the sea and the resort community’s private marina close to the recently opened Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas – the first hotel to open within the community. A second hotel, Amanvari, is set to open within the community in 2021. The design of the course into these three ‘movements’ also makes it possible to play shorter loops of, for example, five and six holes. “We were given a spectacular site and shaped a golf course generous to the golfer that takes advantage of ocean views without being right on the water,” said Jones. “The challenge will come into play as the contouring around the green complexes can either be forgiving or rejecting. It will take an imaginative short game to get the ball on the green.” A full report on the Costa Palmas golf course will appear in our April 2020 issue. Photo: Evan Schiller