If Captain Jack Sparrow can survive being stranded on a deserted island armed with little more than a broken compass and a hefty supply of rum, surely you can survive winter… but why suffer?Â
The best golf courses in the Caribbean are your official invitation to trade frozen windshields at dawn for frozen daiquiris at the 19th hole. Here’s where to go.
Best Golf Courses in the Caribbean
1. Cabot Saint Lucia, Point Hardy Golf Club
Cap Estate, St. Lucia
Perched on 1.5 miles of rugged Atlantic coastline, Point Hardy Golf Club at Cabot Saint Lucia is woven so seamlessly into its surroundings that it feels both improbable and inevitable. Nine greens play directly along the ocean, with more than a few swings over the Caribbean itself, so don’t forget to pack extra balls; a couple may be bound for Davy Jones’ locker.
2. Mid Ocean Club
St. George’s, Bermuda
The golf at Mid Ocean Club may not always bring you right to the edge of the Atlantic, but the ocean is never far from view. Most holes meander slightly inland, letting stately pines and swaying palms frame the fairways. Designed by C.B. Macdonald, the father of American golf course architecture, Mid Ocean Club is his only creation outside the U.S.
3. Casa de Campo, Teeth of the Dog®
La Romana, Dominican Republic
Locals called the jagged coral along Casa de Campo’s coast dientes del perro, “Teeth of the Dog.” And Pete Dye turned them into one of the Caribbean’s most dramatic courses, where tees and greens wind boldly along turquoise waters. After a meticulous restoration last year, the course has returned sharper, truer, and more breathtaking than ever.
4. The Abaco Club
Marsh Harbor, Bahamas
The golf at The Abaco Club is not only some of the best in the Bahamas, but it’s an honest links course in a place you wouldn’t expect to find one. Set along the windswept white sands and turquoise waters of Winding Bay on Great Abaco Island, most of the holes sit close enough to the sea that the breeze shapes every shot, yet the design pulls you inland through dunes, pot bunkers, and rolling terrain that echo the great courses of Scotland. Only here the sun is warm, and the skies are endlessly blue.
5. Cap Cana, Punta Espada Golf Club
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Punta Espada Golf Club is Jack Nicklaus’s first signature course in the Caribbean and a masterpiece that consistently tops golf’s most coveted lists. Designed to embrace every contour of the land and sea, this gem features 7,400 yards of emerald fairways and sweeping greens, with eight holes playing along and even over the Caribbean Sea.
6. Baha Mar, Royal Blue Golf Course
Nassau, Bahamas
Conceived by Jack Nicklaus, Royal Blue Golf Club at Baha Mar is a course of two very different moods. The front nine, built on the old Cable Beach layout, nudges you to be bold with water coming into play on nearly every hole. The back nine, by contrast, snakes into the jungle, with limestone outcroppings and subtle elevation changes.
7. Puntacana Resort, Corales Golf Course
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Set on the sun-soaked coast of Punta Cana, Corales Golf Course at Puntacana Resort is the kind of course that makes you wish every round came with a view like this. Tom Fazio designed it to feel dramatic without being intimidating: six holes cling to the cliffs above the Caribbean, while the inland stretches sneak through coral quarries and lagoons. The back nine finishes with the “Devil’s Elbow,” a trio of holes that tease, tempt, and test, with forced carries over rock and sea.
