Cabo del Sol, Ocean Course – Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

The signature 17th hole beckons a forced carry over crags, beach and surf.

Official Site: cabodelsol.com

Course Architect

Jack Nicklaus

First Teed Off

May 1994

Rating	Slope	Yardage	Par
74.4	145	7,091 yards	72

Rates of Passage

The par-5 4th leads you down to sea.

$115 – $365
cart and tacos included

View from the 19^th Hole

A beachfront beauty with views of the deep blue from nearly every forced carry and scalloped edge.  In typical Nicklaus form, you’re safe if you can keep it between the buoys.  Find yourself outside the middle of the fairway and you’re in for a challenge. Breathtaking views and peaceful setting make for an exceptional round regardless of your handicap. 

Through our Lens

Rock formations by the 18th tee.

Our Round 

Welcome to Jack Nicklaus’ Pebble Beach.  Set on the bustling corridor of Los Cabos, Cabo del Sol’s Ocean Course flanks over a mile of beachfront splendor on what the Golden Bear referred to as “simply the best piece of golf property I’ve ever seen.”  This Nicklaus Signature Design takes full advantage of the rock-laden cliff edges, glassy blue sea, desertscape and mountain backdrop for which Los Cabos is regarded.  Deemed “the Palm Springs of Mexico” by some, the region is home to five Nicklaus designs.  The Ocean Course was Nicklaus’ second Signature course to grace the area upon opening in 1994.

In the sand at two.

This masterpiece is the crux of screensavers and desktop calendars.  A camera lens, no less words, can emulate the first-hand beauty contained within this special eighteen.  Soft greens sweep into gradients of rock, splashed by the sea spray of the deep blue beyond. Cardón cacti tower alongside the fairways, sloped to challenge any level of golfer.  The undulating nature of the course is paramount, so much so the yardage book (at home in your cart) indicates the drainage pathways for each green.  One can anticipate a fair number of strategically placed bunkers throughout the landscape as well.  

Peek-a-boo at #3 and the sea.

The Ocean Course's welcoming first hole misleads you for what undoubtedly becomes a round of forced carries and little room for error. Nicklaus, without question, took cues from his first Cabo design of Palmilla when crafting this second gem on the Sea of Cortés.  Two sweeps up with the ocean at your back.  Deep bunkers guard the wide green.  Peeking through a stone-covered tunnel, you find yourself on the short par-4 of three.  It’s a nice break from what felt like a bit of a running start from the first two.  By stark contrast, four is a 555-yard par 5 ratcheting back toward the water.  Referencing the yardage book, it’s possible to charge the green in two shots.  However, Nicklaus encased the fairway and green with arroyo to put a bit more risk into your strategy. 

Even from the reds, I'm plenty challenged and equally distracted by the views from the seven holes lining the clear blue beauty Cabo is known for.  Unlike many others, you aren’t forced to wait for the back nine to experience the best of what Cabo del Sol has to offer.

Five is the first oceanfront hole, sloping down to a nearly perpendicular dogleg right once it reaches the shore.  

Teed up on six with the surf at my back.

The view looking out from the tips at seven.

Six is the first par three, and if hitting over rock and water aren’t enough to distract your play, the sea wind will assuredly cause you to question the direction and club choice for your tee shot.

The green on seven.

Seven is another par-3 taking full advantage of the shoreline. Tees are islands of emerald among the rock outcroppings, and your tee shot must carry over a valley of said outcroppings in order to reach the generous, but undulated, 50-yard green.  Read the wind conditions incorrectly and risk losing your shot to the rocks if short or, if long, to the backstop of grasses.

Eight carries you back away from the sea, as you climb to an elevated green, once again, surrounded by strategically placed bunkers.  A bit of a figurative and literal uphill battle, it plays longer than it appears.  Rolling into the turn, the 469-yard, par-4 ninth beckons a solid drive, but is generous enough to not demand a targeted approach as so many other holes before it.

Tee shot from the reds on seven. 

Before jumping to the back nine, boasting “the best three finishing holes in all of golf,” per Jack Nicklaus, stop for tacos at the turn.  Complementary carne (beef), pescado (fish), and camarón (shrimp) tacos (I suggest you have one of each) are complemented by an extensive array of toppings to comprise the best (and only) golf course taco bar.  Order a Pacifico to wash it all down before heading to the second half of your round.  The brilliance of tacos at the turn caused me to question why we don’t have free tacos at all of life’s turns.  Deep thoughts, I know, but how much better would your life be if there were always tacos waiting in your midst?  Bought a new car?  Here’s a taco.  Had a crappy day at work?  You need a taco, my friend.  Everything is better with tacos. 

Tacos at the turn.

No time for a post almuerzo siesta—the back-to-back par-4s of ten and eleven provide no mercy, as each require your active attention and course management.  Ten’s fairway narrows while sloping downhill, only to reach an elevated green set on a generous granite bluff—encased by deep bunkers.  Survive that to reach the tale of two fairways on eleven, where you can force a carry over the arroyo to the left or seek reprieve on the generous sibling fairway to the right.  Whatever your decision, commit to your shot. You’ll find the undersized green hiding behind, you guessed it, a bunker.

Bunkers on 12 are steeper and deeper than they appear.  Just stay to the right.

Twelve starts as a lamb and quickly progresses to a lion after your tee shot. Tighten up for that second shot, as you try to ascend the most spectacular display of bunkers rising to meet the green. Thank goodness for the flag, otherwise the shot would truly be blind.  Thirteen is the only non-beach par-3, although the forced carry over a deep arroyo provides its own challenging beauty.  Look closely and you might notice a stream running through the desert thick.  Some of the best views from this hole are from the white and red tees.  That same water weaves back through the par-4 fourteen, demanding precision to clear the juts of granite and desertscape.

Rolling down 15.  View from front of green.

The back of 15's green is no better than the approach.

We’re almost there!  Fifteen is a breathtaking drop back toward the sea, and your only respite before those aforementioned “best three finishing holes in all of golf.”  Think about that for a moment: not only the last hole is remarkable, but also the two before it.  You also claim there is nothing finer in ALL of golf?  ALL of it?  There’s a great deal of amazing golf out there.  You mean to say the crème de la crème of golf is about to happen after we hole this one?  No way.  Who is this Jack Nicklaus character, and what are his credentials?  These are very weighty claims.

Sixteen is the beginning of the end, and the final roll to the water.  There’s a slight dogleg, and cleverly placed fairway bunker (don’t ask how I remember) as you soar out to sea.  Keep your approach to the left, as the green drops without warning to the back and right off an infinity edge. 

Midway through 16.

Looking back up 16 from 17's tips.

Anticipation reaches a head as you reach the signature, par three, seventeenth hole. This is the framer.

Signature view at 17.  Real life is easily 10x more beautiful.  Note the three small specks (people) in the water.

If playing from the tips (as many seem to from this hole), your tee shot must soar with purpose 178-yards over the sandy beach, littered with rock (and a few swimmers in our case), to rest on the minuscule green flanked by ocean and bunkers.  Nevermind the tale of the tape– the wind dictates your club selection and can easily add a few clubs.  Thank goodness for the beauty that makes this challenge bearable (read: first-world problem).

View from 17th green looking back at the tee.

Clear the granite crags from 18's tees to land the sliver of emerald beyond.

A relaxing last hole seems likely after the heart-stopping seventeenth, but Nicklaus wasn't feeling that way when he designed the Ocean Course. However, this hole takes its cues from the eighteenth at Pebble Beach; only the Cabo version is guarded by desert and cactus opposite the sea-flanked cliff side.  Interestingly enough, the final hole doesn’t end at the clubhouse.  Players have a short jaunt back to the clubhouse where attentive staffs wait with icy towels soaked in something that not only smells, but also feels amazing.  I’ll say it was eucalyptus, but I really have no idea.  Just know it was wonderful. 

What an amazing way to start our trip to Cabo.  The Ocean Course is truly breathtaking from the moment it begins.  Leave your ego at the door and enjoy all of what Mother Nature and Nicklaus intended.  Even though the pictures won’t tell of half the beauty, you better pack yours for posterity.

Scoreboard

2016, Top 10: Mexico (#2), LINKS Magazine
2015, Best Courses You Can Play in Mexico (#1), LINKS Magazine
1995 – Present, Top 100 Courses in the World (# 97, current), Golf Magazine  

2003 – Present, Best 100 Courses Outside The United States (#54, current), Golf Digest

2014, Best: Caribbean & Mexico Courses (#13, current), Golfweek

Best Courses In México, Golf Digest, GOLF Magazine

2013, Top 100 Golf Courses – World List (# 88), Golf Course Architecture

2013, Top 100 Golf Courses of the World (# 72), Golf World UK

2013, Planet Golf World 100 (# 77), Planet Golf

2001, Top 10 Desert Courses in the World, The Golfer

2000, Jan, The 500 Best Holes in the World (Holes 5 & 17), GOLF Magazine

Host with the Most

1996 – 2001, 2012, & 2013, Taylor-Made International Pro-Am 

1996 & 1997, California Toyota Team Championships

1996, Shell Wonderful World of Golf match featuring Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino

1995 &1998, Senior PGA TOUR Senior Slam

Expert Commentary

Looking back at tees from 13's green.
Forward tees are a speck just behind the
left arm of this cactus.  Stream winding below.

(2011, Feb). Cabo del Sol’s Ocean Course: New Revisions to One of Cabo’s Finest. Golf Odyssey.  Retrieved from http://www.golfodyssey.com/members/782.cfm

(2014, Feb). Los Cabos Round Up: The Best of Baja. Golf Odyssey. Retrieved from http://www.golfodyssey.com/members/555.cfm

(2015, Jan 27). Life’s a beach on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in Mexico. Golf Advisor. Retrieved from http://www.golfadvisor.com/articles/cabo-del-sol-ocean-course-mexico-15039.htm

Cabo del Sol, BCS, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Nicklaus Golf Course Design. Retrieved from http://www.nicklaus.com/design/cabodelsol/

Cabo del Sol Ocean Course. USA Today: 10 Best. Retrieved from http://www.10best.com/destinations/mexico/cabo-san-lucas/corridor/attractions/cabo-del-sol-ocean-course/

Cabo del Sol Ocean Golf Course, Cabo San Lucas. Golf the Best Courses. Retrieved from http://www.golfthebestcourses.com/top-golf-courses/cabo-del-sol-ocean-course/

Huffman, B. (2002, Nov/Dec). The Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol. LINKS Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.linksmagazine.com/golf_courses/the-ocean-course-at-cabo-del-sol-6-27-12

Pipkin, T. (2006, Jan/Feb). Hooked on Cabo: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. LINKS Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.linksmagazine.com/golf_travel/cabo-san-lucas-golf-travel-destination-vacation

Scorecard

Cabo del Sol - Ocean (Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur)