How do you design a 18-hole championship golf course without making it look man made? This is the main design philosophy of Robert Trent Jones Jr. applies when building any of his golf courses-by listening to the land. Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club which opened in 2008, is the first design in Puerto Rico by Robert Trent Jones Jr., where Mother Nature provided a spectacular canvas to work on.
Course Design
Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club is located in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, which is thirty minutes East of San Juan and was once the site of a coconut plantation whose stately palms still tower over the course. When Robert Trent Jones Jr., went to design the 18-hole par 72, 7000 yard golf course, he made painstaking efforts to preserve the natural beauty of former coconut plantation and destroying its natural beauty.
The course is carved from the mature tropical forest and routed with sweping views of El Yunque rainforest preserve, with open holes that traverse inland through the forest and 15 saltwater lagoons that frame the course along with a plethora of sand bunkers. If this sounds amazing, it is, and it just gets better, because the last three holes are routed along the Atlantic Ocean providing spectacular views of the sea and a dramatic end to your round of golf.
The fairways and rough at Bahia Beach Golf Club are planted with hardy Bermuda Tifway, the most common turf grass used in hot and humid climates, like Puerto Rico. While the greens run Tifdwarf grass for the greens, which offers a fine blade putting surface on the manicured greens at Bahia.
Front 9
Bahia Beach Golf Club has been designed with the the resort golfer in mind, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it is a cake walk. You’ll be very pleased to find it provides golfers of all abilities (newbie – scratch golfer) with a strategic and challenging golf experience.
The first tee is called “Crooked Palm,” which is a 468 yard par 4, named for the notable bent coconut palm in front of the green that has a heavily bunkered landing area. The hole is a great warm-up hole because it’s one of the few holes on the course that is not flanked by one of the saltwater lagoons and very straight and wide.
The “Green Monster” (not the left field wall in Fenway Park) is the 568 yard par 5 5th hole, that has a sharp dogleg left, where water runs along the entire left side of the hole. How you approach this hole is the difference between par and a bogey, because a well struck tee shot can have you end up in the right side fairway bunkers. Leaving you with a difficult second shot. If you do end up in the bunker, try and escape with a shot to wider portion of the fairway near the green tee box, that will leave you with about 157 yard approach shot. You might think your out of the woods, but your approach shot on five is no walk in the park, as the green is elevated and features a false front. The Green Monster, is challenging, and requires you to apply good course management skills. I suggest playing this hole conservatively.
“Tarpon’s Tale,” is the 405 yard par 4 8th hole, is fun little hole that features a lake along the left side,only one fairway bunker, and a hidden water behind the green. Playing the hole is pretty straightforward, just avoid the hazards and lay your approach shot to the green short. I decided to play approach shot right at the flag, which was placed in the top center of the green. It was a risk worth doing, because I ended up within four feet of the hole. The best part of this hole, isn’t the layout or my approach shot. It’s the spectacular view of El Yunque when you look back at the tee, which was unreal and amazing!
Back 9
The front 9 at Bahia Beach Golf Club were very fun and challenging to play, but the best holes on the course are on the back 9 at Bahia, especially 16, 17, and 18.
“Jungle Love” (not the song by the band, The Time) is a 463 yard Par 4 11th hole, has probably the most demanding tee shot, because of the slightly concave landing area of the fairway that collects your ball. If you want to play conservative go with a 3-iron off the tee, or play a risk and reward shot with your driver. I opted for driver and ended up paying the price with an uneven lie second shot. Your approach shot to the green is also very challenging because elevated and undulating green. Best bet is to aim at the middle of the large green and take your time in reading the breaks.
“Fern Valley,” is the 153 yard par 3 15th hole, has a split-tee hole (different tee boxes setup parallel to each other, but on opposite sides-two on the left and three on the right) completely guarded by a huge bunker left and a leather fern wetland to the right. The wind is in your face as you aim at the narrow green, so club up one more, than you typically would for this distance and aim straight at the pin.
The “Espiritu Santo,” is the first of three magnificent oceanfront holes. The 527 yard par 5 16th hole features the mouth of the Espiritu Santo River behind you, the sound of the ocean, and the wind at your back. If you play this hole in the late afternoon, you’ll have the sun in your eyes as you tee your shot into a very wide open and forgiving fairway. Even if you do manage to hit your tee shot to the right, it’s not a difficult second shot. The hole plays very straightforward, but it’s best feature is that view of ocean, which can make you easily forget any mishaps you may have had during your round.
My favorite hole on the course is #17 “Las Olas,” a 222 yard par3. The elevated tee allows you to see the plethora of bunkers that guard the green on the right and the water on the left. Only a few feet away from the fairway is the sandy beach front of Bahia, which just adds to the beauty of this hole. The only way to play this hole is to aim at the crescent-shaped green. I opted for 4 iron hybrid on this hole and hit my best shot of the day, landing pin high on the green.
“Bahia,” is the challenging 458 yard par 4 18th, which has a lake flanking the entire left side of the finishing hole. A well struck tee shot will place your ball in the wide fairway with a clear shot into an oversized, undulating green. A cool feature about this hole is how Robert Trent Jones Jr., created a giant fairway bunker along the right side, which feature palm trees inside the bunker. I’ve never seen anything like that before, but also speaks volumes to amount of preservation that went into building this golf course. Upon finishing this hole, you’ll feel exhilarated and in awe of natural beauty and splendor of Bahia.
Bahia Resort and Golf Club is unlike any golf course I’ve played before and a true testament to preservation and excellent golf course design. Bahia Beach Golf Club is a gem of golf course that can’t be missed and should be on the top of your list of courses to play when you visit Puerto Rico.
“The very best courses are those where nature has provided the canvas and my job is to discover her secrets and reveal them. I try to design golf courses that will fascinate people so they’ll want to play them many times and learn the depths and meanings of the courses’ stories, their subtext, their poetry.” Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Amenities
Golf Pro Shop, Driving Range, Practice Putting area, and six par 3 practice holes (up to 130 yards in length)
Electric Golf Carts with GPS
Opening in October 2010, St. Regis Hotels and Resorts will operate the intimate 150-suite St. Regis Resort at Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico, which will include an ultra-luxurious hotel and condominium residences.
