Greater is Higher in Punta Cana
Think about what Golf Architect Tom Fazio might design with 350 acres of prime Dominican oceanfront property. When experiencing Corales Golf Course in dreamy Punta Cana, the query is answered earlier than you place your first tee within the grass.
Inside seconds of stepping contained in the clubhouse, you spy big white letters exterior simply past the expansive deck. From this profound vantage level, even essentially the most near-sighted golfer turns into conscious that she or he is on the verge of one thing particular.
Fifty yards past the clubhouse, the phrase “Corales” is spelled out in four-foot-high pearl white letters. Framing the letters is a picture that yanks the cellphone out of your pocket like a ripcord.
Corales, Caribbean, Cowboy
Simply previous the letters is a dwell, high-def view that includes an all-natural convergence of emerald inexperienced Paspalum fairway, treacherous rocky shoreline, and miles of crashing ocean that appears to go on ceaselessly. Your cellphone digicam fires off a hat trick of click on, click on, clicks.
Catch your breath since you’ve but to play Corales’ Par 4, 433-yard first gap. That is the place the enjoyable begins and the views come out of nowhere. For those who’re fortunate sufficient to faucet Eddie or Santiago as a caddie, you’ll be taught insider tips about the nuances of undulating greens, which palm bushes to keep away from in any respect value from the tee, and when to whirl round at an exhilarating ocean view that was missed whereas fixating on the scene straight forward.
The golf course you’re about to play is huge. We’re speaking thrice the dimensions huge. Most world-class golf layouts verify in at round 175 acres with 90 acres of grass. To place Corales gigantic 350 acres in perspective, understand that the Par 5, 623-yard, 12th gap is 17 wall-to-wall acres all by itself. You’ll be able to nearly visualize Fazio on horseback and waving a cowboy hat whereas surveying the uncooked property of Corales. Giddyup companion, we’re simply getting began.
Coconuts, Whales, and Rip Roaring
Simply in case you forgot that you just’re smack dab within the coronary heart of the Caribbean, a Corales staffer named Jose is ready with a shock on the Par 5, 545-yard 4th gap tee field. Jose asks should you’d like him to chop open a contemporary coconut so you’ll be able to drink the juice. If there’s any hesitation about making the most of this genuine island second, Eddie and Santiago remind that coconut juice is filled with electrolytes and is named nature’s sports activities drink.
Relying on the time of yr, the Corales ocean holes may present a glimpse of jumbo seaside leisure. Throughout this yr’s Corales Puntacana Resort and Membership Championship which was gained by Graeme McDowell, tv viewers of this PGA occasion have been handled to the sight of a humpback whale breaching on the again 9.
In regards to the time you’re totally engaged into the Corales visuals and Caribbean ambiance, that’s when this Fazio design turns up the entrance 9 to again 9 momentum. The 7th, 8th, and 9th are a trio of husky fairways adopted by placing greens which are bearhugged by a rip-roaring ocean. The ninth is a grip it and rip it 204-yard Par 3 with the Caribbean Sea hanging on to the inexperienced’s bottom like a novice skydiver who gained’t let go.
Want You Have been Right here
The again 9 generates an encore crescendo with a trio of ending holes boasting the sinister deal with of The Satan’s Elbow. The Par 4, 501-yard 18th gap exams your will with a dramatic compelled carry over the cliff-lined Bay of Corales. That is greater than a dogleg proper, it’s an “I dare you” leap over a gaping left to the appropriate cove. Put together for a second shot that calls for steely nerves on to yet one more inexperienced that’s engulfed by the ocean.
This one-of-a-kind finisher gives a golf exclamation level to an already exhilarating spherical. To really recognize what has taken place over the previous 4 hours, look again and mirror on what you’ve simply accomplished. With ocean waves crashing round you, it’s time to let go, attain your arms to the sky, and do your finest Leonardo DiCaprio “I’m King of the World” rendition.
After shaking arms together with your taking part in companions, it’s exhausting not to take a look at the letters spelling Corales yet another time as your group marches again to the clubhouse. You’re feeling the cellphone in your pocket once more stir into lift-off mode. You smile and acknowledge that there’s no hurt in sharing Corales with the parents again dwelling. With the press of a button, you convey to associates, “Corales. Want you have been right here.”
A Golf Second of Bliss
Whether or not you’re a social media maven or somebody who prefers experiencing a particular golf second in silent bliss, there’s no denying that Fazio’s 7,600-yard murals by the ocean has stolen your coronary heart. Someplace there’s a golf architect turned cowboy driving off within the distance. Adios companion.