Mexico Golf

kozubs · February 5, 2019

My wife and I just got back from Cancun and figured I give a quick summary of our accommodation and where we played if anyone is curious.

Resort - We stayed at the Secrets Capri in the Mayan Riviera. The resort was nice. All inclusive and adults only. It was small and there wasn't much to do at night except hangout out in the sports bar / night club. The food was good but not outstanding. I think there was 5 restaurants. Room service had the best food except the teppanyaki place. The service was outstanding and the resort was nice. The resort is about 1hr outside of the airport close to Mayakoba. Worth looking at.

Golf

El Tinto (Cancun Country Club) Nick Price

The resort advertise that their included course is the Grand Coral Golf Club by Nick Price. After we booked the resort we called to book our tee times only to find out they aren't affiliated anymore. Now they use El Tinto which is the Cancun Country Club or the old TPC Cancun. This course is about 45 minutes away by the airport. They said it would cost the same to get to. We were skeptical but it was $20 pp each way so no big deal. The green fees were included but the cart cost is $75 pp. The second day we played I think the price was half since we had already played there. They didn't advertise this. I had a hard time over spinning the greens. I kept hitting pin high but ended up with 20-25 ft putts if I hit a wedge in. Guess it was the soft conditions and my lack of skill.

I had rained a ton before we got there so I'll try to be objective. Although it didn't rain when we played, the course was under water. Water was sloughing over my shoes on every step. The second day they're were lakes in the fairways. We lost multiple balls in the fairway as they just plugged completely. The course is wide open and very generous. I hadn't swung since September and the wet conditions made it tough from the gold tees at 7200 yards. The water made the greens very rough (not rolled or cut) and the sand was washed out of the bunkers. In some bunkers my ball was resting on the cloth under the sand. The course seemed beautiful, we were just there at a bad time so if your considering going try to read a different review. We played twice. I'm sure it would be much better in better weather but I also felt the course was run down but for $75 who cares.

Iberostar

This course was amazing. It was so much fun. Way more difficult than Eltinto and Mayakoba. I have never seen so much mounding and undulations. If you are placed on the wrong side of the fairway you'll have a tough approach. Everything was immaculate. I played the tips which were only 6700 yards but rated at 74.1. Big Break Mexico was here. I highly suggest playing here if you get the chance. I think it was around $175 each. Fortunately I was driving well and had many close birdie opportunities but kept missing my putts low or short.

Mayakoba

Mayakoba was fun. Disclaimer, I was pretty hung over so maybe my opinion is skewed as I could swing worth a damn and had no feel. It's pretty wide open but as the fairways run so fast you can get some drives that end up in the crap if their not straight down the middle. I had a couple drives down the middle that I didn't watch only to find them in trouble. The course was beautiful and in perfect shape but I actually found it kind of boring. It was great playing off Paspalum. The course is short at 7000 from the tips (I played the next tees up). The greens are generous but very firm with lots of false edges so they played smaller than they look. I thought the coolest thing about this course was the Cenote bunker on the 1st (I snapped way left so had to join my wife who was down the middle to get a good look). The bunkers were awesome. I suck in the sand but playing out of the these nice fluffy bunkers seems to make anyone a star. The views of the rivers are amazing. 2 holes are on the ocean but the wind was blowing so many holes played much longer. I had a lot of 200+ yard approaches into the wind but the one down wind par five I hit driver 8 i pin high from 195 which was fun. Most holes are into the wind. The highlight was the tour of the the resort was got after the round by one of the staff. This place is simply amazing. If you go, make sure to save some time for a tour unless you're lucky enough to be staying there. The Baynon tree is unbelievable. This was next to our resort so about 1hr from the airport. I think it was roughly $250pp.

If I had one place to play, it would be iberostar. I think its a way better value than Mayakoba. I would skip El Tinto but it my review isn't fair given the rain they had. That being said, Iberostar was near by and it was immaculate.

I hope this helps anyone considering a Cancun Vacation.