CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO | If your destination golf buddy trips are anything like most of mine, “comfort” is not typically the first word that comes to mind. Whether it’s the arduous travel required simply getting to remote places such as Bandon Dunes, Sand Hills, Cabot or Barnbougle. Or the harrowing rides in an overstuffed rental car whistling down the wrong side of narrow roads just to make the next tee time in Ireland or Scotland. Or playing through every kind of weather in one 36-hole day at Royal Dornoch followed by a night on a cold closet floor because there weren’t enough twin beds to accommodate your whole group. Or unpacking and drying out all your gear after another rainy day on a links. Even the more accessible, charming and luxurious places like Pinehurst come with premium surcharges and frequent humidity.
We tolerate all of these discomforts because we care about the golf – the courses, the places, the friends and the experiences. It’s worth all the pain or inconvenience of packing too much into a tight itinerary just to add more scoops from the list in our lifetime buckets.
Then I went to Diamante Resort in Cabo and learned the value of comfort on a golf trip.
First and foremost, Diamante is a terrific golf destination. The original Dunes course designed by Davis Love III opened in 2009 and immediately became a fixture on top 100 lists (No. 34 in the latest Golf Digest world rankings; No. 70 Golf.com) and is considered the best in Mexico. El Cardonal has the distinction of being the first completed course design by Tiger Woods, opening in 2015 and ranking 26th in Golfweek’s top 50 courses in the Caribbean and Mexico. Unlike their competitive encounters in the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational and 2004 WGC-Match Play, Love won this design matchup with Woods working with a superior site that rolls among enormous white sand dunes adjacent to the roaring waves of the Pacific Ocean. It’s the only linksy seaside course in the world with cactus on it.
“Ours went first and was for sure on the best piece of ground,” Love said in a recent text.
Diamante also offers the modern must-have amenities for any successful destination golf venue – a short course and a putting course. The 12-hole Oasis short course was laid out by Tiger around a lush tropical lagoon that was originally taken up by two holes that didn’t precisely fit with the rest of the landscape of the Dunes course. It’s the perfect place to warm up the wedges before or wind down after a day of golf. The putting course sprawls clockwise or counter around a heaving loop of turf that slopes steeply between the first tee and 18th green, just steps outside of the clubhouse. It will test your creativity and skill in ways that are more fun than grown men and women should have.
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It’s another feature, however, that puts the Diamante experience over the top – comfort stations. It’s something you more typically might find at exclusive private clubs such as Kinloch near Richmond, Virginia, or the Summit Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the PGA Tour’s recent CJ Cup was staged. But comfort stations are an integral and much-loved part of the Dunes and El Cardonal experiences that come gratis with the green fee. And they should be the next great trend in resort golf, expanding in the same way that short courses and putting courses have after the success of Bandon’s Preserve and Punchbowl.
It starts at the well-appointed practice ranges. At the Dunes, players prepping to tee off enjoy a slider bar that offers mini breakfast sandwiches in the morning (don’t miss the chorizo and egg) and more traditional sliders from lunch on (the pork and barbacoa are outstanding). Eat as much as you want, and wash it down with a fresh mango and pineapple smoothie, cocktail or Pacifico – whatever flavor of beverage you desire. Hit some balls, load your cart cooler with beers, sports drinks and water and head out. At El Cardonal, the practice area taco bar menu offers exquisite made-to-order tacos or tortas along with the same range of beverages.
Whether you indulge as much as your golf drinquilibrium will allow or just enjoy the snacks and hydration, you will walk off Diamante’s courses knowing you got your money’s worth out of the experience.
The comfort extends through the round – when frankly you need it the most if the winds and dunes are taking a toll on your scorecard. Comfort station 1 at the Dunes (after the third and sixth holes) offers a perfect Bloody Mary – or Cabo Fizz with lemonade and a splash of cranberry if you want your vodka delivered a little lighter. While some chose a hard-boiled egg or Mexican jerky to snack on, a cup of the specialty tortilla soup was my daily Bloody Mary companion as I sat and pondered the challenge of the 250-yard par-3 seventh into a non-prevailing headwind stirred up by a tropical storm swirling down below the tip of Baja California Peninsula.
Comfort 2 at the Dunes, however, is the standout station sitting atop the dune awaiting golfers after the 11th and 14th holes. The margaritas (frozen or mixed to order by Fernanda) pack a welcome punch amid the most exposed and daunting stretch of the course. But it’s the tamales that provide the comfort. Do not skip the tamales on at least one of your stops.
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El Cardonal has its own brand of comfort. After the fourth hole, Edith at Comfort 1 made terrific mango and berry mojitos (yes, I ordered both) along with some freshly made bruschetta or meat lovers flatbreads. Comfort 2 after the 14th hole delivers made-to-order grilled Italian sausage baguettes (with peppers and onions) and spiced margaritas, rum, tequila or (as at every station) Pacifico. While Tiger’s course may be a little more resort friendly, you’ll still appreciate pit stops.
Whether you indulge as much as your golf drinquilibrium will allow or just enjoy the snacks and hydration, you will walk off Diamante’s courses knowing you got your money’s worth out of the experience. Resort golf isn’t cheap no matter where you go, but too often the costs pile up with all the food and beverages stacked on top of your hefty green fees. That Diamante includes those amenities and services in the cost of the round provides more bang for your buck on top of the quality of its courses – and it’s all 50 percent less if you’re the guest of a time-share member. It’s a model that should be replicated at all the high-end resort destinations to enhance the value of the experience.
Until the comfort-included trend spreads, the sound of those thunderous Pacific waves crashing on the beach will persist when I close my eyes and dream of tamales and frozen margaritas.