Stick your tee in the ground, place the ball, back away and look down the fairway – that gust that almost took your breath away was a squall of brainpower indecision—much like an afternoon thunderstorm on the fairways of the brand-new Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club in steamy Puerto Rico.
“Dad always said create some indecision in the middle of a back swing,” said Robert Trent Jones, Jr., golf-architect extraordinaire, while sizing up his approach on the 468-yard, par four sixth. Water hugs a majority of the left boundary of this daunting hole with a charitable bailout zone right.
At Bahía Beach, Bobby, as his peers call him, did precisely that – he produced indecisiveness that can slow you down on many tees. Managed by Troon Golf, you will face lagoons left throughout this 7,014-yard, par-72 excursion through lush corridors of vegetation.
This new master planned resort community, once a coconut plantation, is just 25 minutes from San Juan in Rio Grande, bounded by the sparkling blue sea, the Espiritu Santo and Herrera Rivers, amid 483 acres of pristine 100-foot coconut palms, thick growths of almond, flamboyan trees and seagrape. Views also appear of the mountainous El Yunque National Rainforest and the occasional scampering iguana.
Forty years after “dad” Robert Trent Jones, Sr. established the famous Dorado Beach Resort & Club for Laurance Rockefeller, the son returned to Puerto Rico for his first design on the Caribbean island. “I guess it was in my genes,” he said, “when I was here before as a youngster with my dad I was an apprentice, carrying his luggage, and learning the business in the dirt, on the ground.”
Now, with his portfolio bulging past 250 designs throughout the world, Jones has numerous famous Caribbean designs. Bahía Beach just adds to the superlatives. Jones’ vision included contours that mimic the waves of the ocean – defining the rolls and dips of the fairways, greens, bunkers and mounds.
When there’s an absence of cavernous bunkers, Jones uses greenside walls as a defense, creating tough lobs or bump-and-run options. Huge greens, some with hollows or long, tubular shapes, enforces more difficulty.
“Bahía Beach is a haven of golf that will challenge but also delight your
soul and spirit,” said Jones. “The site is spectacular, with two miles of beach, a native maritime forest and views of El Yunque rainforest from nearly every hole.”
“We selected Robert Trent Jones, Jr. to create the Bahía Beach Golf
Course because he’s the pre-eminent designer of tropical courses in the world today,” said Federico Sánchez-Ortíz, president of Interlink Group, the
development managers of Bahía Beach. “The courses he’s designed in other seaside settings such as Princeville Resort in Hawaii, Royal Westmoreland in Barbados and the Four Seasons Nevis represent the exact blend of beauty and playability we seek here.”
Bahía Beach’s clubhouse will feature tropical plantation architecture, accented by exposed stone and woodwork. Inside one will find an upscale casual restaurant, as well as a private activity room, bar and golf shop. Members will have access to men’s and ladies’ lounges and locker rooms offering a variety of amenities and services. Outside, the club will offer a full-size beachfront swimming pool and patio areas overlooking the ocean for dining and entertaining.
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts will operate the planned St. Regis Resort, scheduled to open in 2009. Development of residential offerings such as the luxurious St. Regis Residences Las Estancias, golf villas, and oceanfront town homes, are also underway.
Hotel guests will have accommodations featuring panoramic views from private open terraces of the ocean to the north or the mountainous El Yunque tropical rainforest to the south. It will also offer its signature St. Regis Butler and St. Regis Concierge, a world-class Remède Spa and Fitness Center, fine and casual dining restaurants, retail shops and oceanfront swimming pools.
The Las Estancias residences will offer 26 estate homes introducing a tropical plantation architectural style on spacious lots overlooking the golf course and ocean. Six different models offer floor plans with large verandas, three-car garages and separate maid quarters. Homes are sized from 6,000- to 10,000- square feet and built on lots of half acre to 1.3 acres with the backdrop of El Yunque. Owners will enjoy full access to St. Regis Resort amenities including the signature St. Regis Butler and St. Regis Concierge.
When opened, the 10,000 square-foot Remède Spa will offer restorative body wraps, facials and massages combined with signature touches such as chilled champagne, Jacques Torres truffles and cashmere throws in a stylish tropical spa environment. Or perhaps an energizing steam treatment followed by a brisk dip in a cold plunge pool.
By far, the best thing about Puerto Rico is its’ ties to the United States. As a Commonwealth of the USA, there’s no need for passports. And most everyone speaks English.
Don’t miss Old San Juan for its history, shops and restaurants. This section of the city consists of 400 restored buildings from the 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial period. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement and is buried in the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista.
Book a stay in the Art Deco Normandie Hotel, built in 1942 to resemble the S.S. Normandie ocean liner. This 173-room boutique hotel, newly polished and renovated, has ocean views, private beach access, wireless internet, spa, restaurant and continental breakfast.
For Puerto Rican cuisine try The Parrot Club, located in the trendy district around South Fortaleza Street. Nuevo Latino and Caribbean dishes are served here such as deep-fried chicharrones over a bed of a fresh Caesar salad. Ajili Mojili specializes in Omofongos, green plantains stuffed with chicken, shrimp, veal or pork. Many seafood choices are also on the menu.
Tourists also head for The Bacardi Rum Factory or cool off in the El Yunque Rain Forest, where the temperatures dip into the sixties and the views of the island are amazing.
Golf in Puerto Rico has blossomed, no doubt, from the sand greens of the first golf course, to the 23 now spread throughout this garden isle of green parrots. And Bahía Beach might just be the prettiest spot on Puerto Rico’s northeastern coast where the Atlantic Ocean blends with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea.
(David R. Holland is a former sportswriter for The Dallas Morning News and author of The Colorado Golf Bible. He writes for four regional golf magazines, one national golf magazine and one international golf magazine.)
Anyone played this course yet?
From Fairway to Green Magazine, United Kingdom
http://www.fairwaytogreen.com
Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club
By David R. Holland
Stick your tee in the ground, place the ball, back away and look down the fairway – that gust that almost took your breath away was a squall of brainpower indecision—much like an afternoon thunderstorm on the fairways of the brand-new Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club in steamy Puerto Rico.
“Dad always said create some indecision in the middle of a back swing,” said Robert Trent Jones, Jr., golf-architect extraordinaire, while sizing up his approach on the 468-yard, par four sixth. Water hugs a majority of the left boundary of this daunting hole with a charitable bailout zone right.
At Bahía Beach, Bobby, as his peers call him, did precisely that – he produced indecisiveness that can slow you down on many tees. Managed by Troon Golf, you will face lagoons left throughout this 7,014-yard, par-72 excursion through lush corridors of vegetation.
This new master planned resort community, once a coconut plantation, is just 25 minutes from San Juan in Rio Grande, bounded by the sparkling blue sea, the Espiritu Santo and Herrera Rivers, amid 483 acres of pristine 100-foot coconut palms, thick growths of almond, flamboyan trees and seagrape. Views also appear of the mountainous El Yunque National Rainforest and the occasional scampering iguana.
Forty years after “dad” Robert Trent Jones, Sr. established the famous Dorado Beach Resort & Club for Laurance Rockefeller, the son returned to Puerto Rico for his first design on the Caribbean island. “I guess it was in my genes,” he said, “when I was here before as a youngster with my dad I was an apprentice, carrying his luggage, and learning the business in the dirt, on the ground.”
Now, with his portfolio bulging past 250 designs throughout the world, Jones has numerous famous Caribbean designs. Bahía Beach just adds to the superlatives. Jones’ vision included contours that mimic the waves of the ocean – defining the rolls and dips of the fairways, greens, bunkers and mounds.
When there’s an absence of cavernous bunkers, Jones uses greenside walls as a defense, creating tough lobs or bump-and-run options. Huge greens, some with hollows or long, tubular shapes, enforces more difficulty.
“Bahía Beach is a haven of golf that will challenge but also delight your soul and spirit,” said Jones. “The site is spectacular, with two miles of beach, a native maritime forest and views of El Yunque rainforest from nearly every hole.”
“We selected Robert Trent Jones, Jr. to create the Bahía Beach Golf Course because he’s the pre-eminent designer of tropical courses in the world today,” said Federico Sánchez-Ortíz, president of Interlink Group, the development managers of Bahía Beach. “The courses he’s designed in other seaside settings such as Princeville Resort in Hawaii, Royal Westmoreland in Barbados and the Four Seasons Nevis represent the exact blend of beauty and playability we seek here.”
Bahía Beach’s clubhouse will feature tropical plantation architecture, accented by exposed stone and woodwork. Inside one will find an upscale casual restaurant, as well as a private activity room, bar and golf shop. Members will have access to men’s and ladies’ lounges and locker rooms offering a variety of amenities and services. Outside, the club will offer a full-size beachfront swimming pool and patio areas overlooking the ocean for dining and entertaining.
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts will operate the planned St. Regis Resort, scheduled to open in 2009. Development of residential offerings such as the luxurious St. Regis Residences Las Estancias, golf villas, and oceanfront town homes, are also underway.
Hotel guests will have accommodations featuring panoramic views from private open terraces of the ocean to the north or the mountainous El Yunque tropical rainforest to the south. It will also offer its signature St. Regis Butler and St. Regis Concierge, a world-class Remède Spa and Fitness Center, fine and casual dining restaurants, retail shops and oceanfront swimming pools.
The Las Estancias residences will offer 26 estate homes introducing a tropical plantation architectural style on spacious lots overlooking the golf course and ocean. Six different models offer floor plans with large verandas, three-car garages and separate maid quarters. Homes are sized from 6,000- to 10,000- square feet and built on lots of half acre to 1.3 acres with the backdrop of El Yunque. Owners will enjoy full access to St. Regis Resort amenities including the signature St. Regis Butler and St. Regis Concierge.
When opened, the 10,000 square-foot Remède Spa will offer restorative body wraps, facials and massages combined with signature touches such as chilled champagne, Jacques Torres truffles and cashmere throws in a stylish tropical spa environment. Or perhaps an energizing steam treatment followed by a brisk dip in a cold plunge pool. By far, the best thing about Puerto Rico is its’ ties to the United States. As a Commonwealth of the USA, there’s no need for passports. And most everyone speaks English. Don’t miss Old San Juan for its history, shops and restaurants. This section of the city consists of 400 restored buildings from the 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial period. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement and is buried in the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista.
Book a stay in the Art Deco Normandie Hotel, built in 1942 to resemble the S.S. Normandie ocean liner. This 173-room boutique hotel, newly polished and renovated, has ocean views, private beach access, wireless internet, spa, restaurant and continental breakfast. For Puerto Rican cuisine try The Parrot Club, located in the trendy district around South Fortaleza Street. Nuevo Latino and Caribbean dishes are served here such as deep-fried chicharrones over a bed of a fresh Caesar salad. Ajili Mojili specializes in Omofongos, green plantains stuffed with chicken, shrimp, veal or pork. Many seafood choices are also on the menu.
Tourists also head for The Bacardi Rum Factory or cool off in the El Yunque Rain Forest, where the temperatures dip into the sixties and the views of the island are amazing.
Golf in Puerto Rico has blossomed, no doubt, from the sand greens of the first golf course, to the 23 now spread throughout this garden isle of green parrots. And Bahía Beach might just be the prettiest spot on Puerto Rico’s northeastern coast where the Atlantic Ocean blends with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea.
(David R. Holland is a former sportswriter for The Dallas Morning News and author of The Colorado Golf Bible. He writes for four regional golf magazines, one national golf magazine and one international golf magazine.)
Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club Toll free: (866) 529-3996 www.bahiabeachpuertorico.com
Puerto Rico www.gotopuertorico.com
Normandie Hotel 499 Avenida Munoz Rivera esq. Rosales San Juan, Puerto Rico Phone: (787) 729-2929 www.normandiepr.com