Tom Weiskopf faced a couple of stiff challenges in designing
the Desert course at Cabo del Sol, the 1,800-acre resort and residential
playground located at the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
First, he had a tough act to follow. The Ocean course—Cabo
del Sol’s first layout, designed by fellow Ohio State alum Jack Nicklaus—is one
of golf’s ravishing beauties, with six holes that play directly alongside the
Sea of Cortez and a finishing trio that’s often described as the finest in
resort golf.
Second, the piece of property earmarked for the Desert course
presented a bit of a hurdle. “The land is up in the foothills, and most of the
topsoil had eroded from this area and moved down toward the beach,” explains
Weiskopf. “What was left is an extremely interesting landscape, with lots of
ravines and scarred areas formed by the water flow, as well as a lot of dramatic
rock formations.”
As it turns out, the golf holes fit quite nicely. Opened in
December 2001, the 7,053-yard course plays through stands of dry, gnarled terote
and Palo Blanco trees that lend a distinctly eerie feel. Large cardone cacti,
similar to the saguaro of the Arizona desert, stand sentinel among the
rocks. Then you emerge from the desert vegetation to face a 180-degree vista of
the sparkling blue Sea of Cortez. This breathtaking contrast is like
nothing you’ll find north of the border.
Unlike Ocean, where most of the holes are visible from the
tees and fairways, Desert is more of a “hidden” golf course. With fairways and
greens that skirt or sit atop rock formations, the course has a number of
semi-blind tee shots and approaches.
Weiskopf incorporated a number of interesting short par 4s
into the design. The 7th plays 338 yards from the tips, but only a portion of
the fairway is visible from the tee, and the approach shot is semi-blind as
well, playing uphill to a green perched on a rocky ledge. No. 4, which plays
downhill with the prevailing wind at your back, is a drivable 325 yards from the
back tees. The three-tiered green will hold a well-struck tee shot, but you’ll
have to carry the fairway bunker to the left and avoid the pot bunker directly
in front of the green.
Like its sister, the Desert finishes in strong fashion. The
432-yard 17th plays uphill off the tee and finishes at a peninsula green with
water front, left and behind. That sets the stage for the 18th, a 430-yard par 4
that’s crossed three times by a creek and plays downhill with the Sea of Cortez as a dramatic backdrop.
