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The Caribbean Resort You Didn't Know Was a Golfing Powerhouse
Written by
Emily Gibbins-McBride
Ask most people to picture the Caribbean and they'll describe the same scene: white sand, turquoise water, and, these days, a marina full of yachts. Few would mention golf. Yet the Dominican Republic has spent decades quietly building one of the most serious golf pedigrees in the region, and for yacht owners cruising the southeast coast, that reputation is becoming just as good a reason to drop anchor as the water itself.
Where the Fairway Meets the Coastline
The centrepiece is Casa de Campo, in La Romana, where Teeth of the Dog has spent more than fifty years as one of the Caribbean's most admired courses. Pete Dye routed seven of its holes directly along the sea, close enough that a mistimed shot can end up in the surf rather than the rough. The course was recently restored under the direction of former U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, who reworked its tees, fairways and greens while staying faithful to Dye's original design. A short distance away sits Dye Fore, Dye's later design, laid out along cliffs roughly 300 feet above the Chavón River. Between the two, Casa de Campo offers a stretch of golf that regularly ranks among the best on the continent, let alone the islands.
A Haven for All Golfers
Casa de Campo houses more than just Dye Fore and Teeth of the Dog. The Links stands out as a third 18-hole course on the property, a gentler counterpoint to its two more dramatic siblings. The private La Romana Country Club adds another 27 holes, bringing Casa de Campo’s total to an extraordinary 90. Beyond La Romana, the country's golf prestige only broadens: further east, the Punta Espada course sits along the coastline, the first of what are now several Jack Nicklaus designs at Cap Cana, and Tom Fazio's Corales at Puntacana Resort hosts a PGA Tour event every spring. For a country still best known abroad for its beaches, that's a remarkable concentration of championship-calibre golf, remarkable enough to attract yachts from across the globe.
Golf and Yachting, Officially Paired
The overlap between golfing and yachting now has a name. The 19°N 70°W Golf Tournament brings together superyacht owners, industry leaders and golf enthusiasts at Casa de Campo, where golf meets the wider superyacht community. It's a fitting symbol for a destination that has always had more to offer than its coastline suggests, and a sign that golf may be shaping Caribbean cruising itineraries in a way it never quite has before.
The beaches were always the headline. Increasingly, the tee times might be too.
Our aim was one of architectural preservation, to modernise the course, but to keep it familiar.
Jerry Pate, owner of Jerry Pate Design