TPC Danzante Bay

Rees Jones Design At Danzante Bay Now Fully Open For Play

Courtesy of Toby Ingleton
Golf Course Architecture

The green of the par three third hole sits on a ledge in front of a rock face.

All 18 holes at Danzante Bay Golf Club near Loreto, Mexico, are now open for play.

The Rees Jones design is the centrepiece of the Villa del Palmar resort on the east coast of the Baja Peninsula along the Sea of Cortez.

Eleven holes were completed in 2016, including the spectacular par three seventeenth hole that featured on the cover of the April 2016 issue of Golf Course Architecture.

Seven more holes – the stretch from the par five second to the par four eighth – occupying a spectacular canyon area of the site have now also opened for play, to complete the full eighteen.

The canyon holes include some of the course’s highlights, such as the heroic par three third that plays across a chasm to a green on a ledge in front of a rock face and the steeply downhill par four fourth which may be driveable for longer hitters.

Jones and his team – including senior designer Steve Weisser – have worked hard to ensure the holes fit naturally within the surrounding environment. “Golf holes aren’t really designed and built from a plan – you feel them in to the land,” said Jones. “This land is so good it tells us what to do. The holes fit the land naturally.”

The course at Danzante Bay moves from canyon, to desert, to the beach and then into the mountains for the dramatic penultimate hole. “This is a golf course that both avid and casual golfers will want to travel to play, enjoy, and experience,” said Jones. “The golf course has open entrances, pockets, and sandy areas to capture the ball and keep it from going into the desert. We’ve kept the green contours mild so that the putting surfaces are manageable in the wind. People will want to play this course over and over again because the conditions change in the wind.”

The par four fourth – 394 yards from the back tee – plays steeply downhill.

The seventh is one of many holes on the course that play from elevated tees.

Danzante Bay will be best known for its spectacular par three seventeenth hole.