More Golf Courses Coming on Line in Los Cabos


The golf-rich tip of Baja Peninsula is getting more golf courses. Home of four of the five top five courses in Mexico, Los Cabos has been a prime golf destination for only the past two decades.

The area now boasts a dozen courses designed by some of the game's top architects, including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Greg Norman and Tom Fazio. Now entering the scene is Tiger Woods with his first design.

The Fazio-designed course at Chileno Bay is slated to open on New Year's Eve. Routed across desert foothills above the Sea of Cortes, each hole was built to simulate rolling ocean waves. Framed by bunkers, broad arroyos and feathery "champagne grass," Chileno Bay closes with a long par-4 that tumbles downhill to a sprawling green back-dropped by the sea.

Diamante is a timeshare development built on massive sand dunes above the Pacific Ocean a few miles north of Cabo San Lucas. Originating with the Dunes Course - a Davis Love III-designed layout ranked 52nd in Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the World, Diamante will unveil El Cardonal - Woods' architectural debut - later in 2014.

Love and his design team recently returned to Diamante's Dunes Course to replace the inland 12th and 13th holes with a new pair of holes routed along enormous dunes closer to the water. These holes will debut in mid-2014.

Adjacent to Diamante in the Pueblo Bonito development is Quivira, a Nicklaus design that starts at sea level near the pounding surf before climbing to higher ground, where it takes advantage of panoramic views and topographical diversity.

"Our team is working with the canvas Mother Nature has provided to create one of the most spectacular courses in the world," Nicklaus said of his sixth and perhaps final course in Los Cabos.

Marked by windswept dunes, steep cliffs and natural desert, Quivira is expected to rank among the Golden Bear's most memorable creations. The $40 million golf development at Quivira is tentatively scheduled to be completed next summer.

"We could not be happier to welcome these three courses, designed by some of the best in the industry, to our destination," said Eduardo Segura, managing director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, "Already home to some of the best golf offerings in the world, the addition of these courses will truly raise the bar of excellence and take the Los Cabos' golf scene to the next level."