Golfing in Puerto Vallarta

Spend your next Golf vacation in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta offers an exceptional golf vacation experience. Although it does not come cheap, you certainly do get what you pay for… and then some!

Title: Golfing in Puerto Vallarta

Author: Justin Burch

Article:
Seemingly overnight, Puerto Vallarta has become a world-class
golf destination, boasting seven outstanding golf resorts. Some
of the world's greatest golf course architects have designed
courses for this tropical paradise in the last decade, including
Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf and Robert von Hagge, who with 11
courses south of the border has become Mexico's most esteemed
golf course designer. The newest golf resort in
Puerto Vallarta is Robert von Hagge's El Tigre at Paradise
Village. Enclosed on all sides by the Sierra Madre Mountains, El
Tigre is a beautifully constructed 7,239 yard, par 72 golf
destination. Originally constructed on a flat piece of land, the
layout required extensive earth moving and the creation of nine
on-course bodies of water. Just a stone's throw from the Pacific
Ocean and Paradise Village Beach Resort and Spa, El Tigre also
boasts a luxuriant 45,000-square foot clubhouse equipped with
restaurants, lounges, locker rooms, golf shop and a European
Spa. Jack Nicklaus' senior designer, Jim Lipe, devised the
6,700-yard Mayan Palace Golf Club, located next door to El
Tigre. Mayan Palace is a fun, less-challenging course with a
signature 180-yard par 3 that plays over a lake to an oceanfront
green. According to players and locals, the grass and trees have
already matured very well at Mayan Palace. Just
three minutes from Mayan Palace is the longtime favorite Los
Flamingos Country Club, the oldest course in Puerto Vallarta.
Providing a great golfing experience for players of all levels,
Los Flamingos also features over 2,500 palm trees and lakes that
serve as home to ducks, seagulls, egrets, and flamingos. As it
is, technically speaking, the only public golf course in the
area, Los Flamingos offers excellent vacation packages to
prospective players and provides free shuttle transportation to
its Nuevo Vallarta shore location. It has also been said that
the grass at Los Flamingos is of a softer variety, similar to
British links courses. Marina Vallarta Golf
Club is Puerto Vallarta golf at its best, complete with jungle
foliage, lagoons, iguanas, tropical birds, and a challenging
layout designed by Joe Finger. The course winds its way through
countless palm trees and a number of holes feature views of
Banderas Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Located within walking
distance of the marina boardwalk, it integrates the area's
beautiful natural landscape with a layout designed to test even
the best golfers. Ten minutes from the Puerto Vallarta
marina, tucked in the city's captivating foothills, lay the
championship courses of Vista Vallarta. As host to the 2002
Anderson Consulting Match Play Championships and PGA World Cup
tournament, the resort has received unanimous accolades since it
opened just five years ago. Tom Weiskopf's 18-hole
layout at Vista Vallarta has extensive native jungle growth and
a signature par 3 that seems to be carved out of the jungle
hillside. The course masterfully blends elevations and natural
features into an incredibly playable experience from start to
finish. Jack Nicklaus' course measures 7,057 yards and features
some incredibly long par-5s. The views of Banderas Bay and the
Sierra Madre Mountains experienced here are unrivalled by any
other golf resort. Despite proximity to Puerto Vallarta's
resorts and hotels, the Vista Vallarta courses feel entirely
otherworldly. Designed by Jack Nicklaus and built on one
of the most gorgeous properties on Costa Vallarta, the Four
Seasons Punta Mita golf resort features the only green on a
natural island in the world. Entry to the green across a sandbar
is only possible at low tide, otherwise an amphibious vehicle or
boat are necessary for access. Eight spectacular holes border
the ocean here with a photo opportunity at every turn. Though golfing in Puerto Vallarta is not necessarily a cheap
hobby (prices for 18-hole rounds generally cost between $60 and
$180), many <a
href="http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/PVRMX">Puerto
Vallarta hotels</a> and resorts offer discount or all-inclusive
vacation packages that allow interested players affordable
access to any of the golf resorts detailed here.