Palmilla GC has 27 holes of golf designed by Jack Nicklaus and is located near San Jose del Cabo.
The three nines are named: Mountain, Arroyo, and Ocean- and the club has cards printed for each combination.
My understanding is that the Mountain/Arroyo combo is the local favourite, perhaps because the ocean nine plays a little harder.
The Mountain and Arroyo nines were completed in 1991, and the Ocean nine a little later
The Ocean course has also endured some changes since inception, but I thought it was an interesting and challenging set of holes
The Mountain course starts well with an elevated tee shot to a solid desert hole.
However the first thing that struck me about the initial holes was that they were predominantly flat!
The par 5 fourth hole around a lake was nice, but that was forgotten when we arrived at the fifth tee..
It took a while, but we slowly realised we had to hit diagonally across a deep canyon twice to get to the hole!
It is certainly a unique and challenging hole, and memorable...
But the fun was only beginnning- the par 3 sixth hole also had a long canyon carry to a green on a ledge
The Arroyo nine continued the drama, albeit intermittently, using the desert landscape to advantage.
I liked the par 3 fifth hole which again used a canyon well.
The par 5 seventh hole also required a long canyon carry off the tee.
The Ocean course includes some cracking holes:
The long par 4 third hole is certainly a challenge- and looks great with the green right on the beachfront.
And the par 3 holes at holes four and six also impressed.
Palmilla is not far from the San Jose airport and an ideal starting or finishing point for a dream week of golf at Cabo del Sol.
You will likely enjoy warm weather, blue skies, and little wind
Perfect!
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