Located on the west coast of Mexico, just north of Puerto Vallarta, Punta Mita juts out into the Pacific Ocean, like a foot at rest on a beach chair. This tranquil 9.5-mile stretch of land is also home to a pair of stellar Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses.
Nicklaus has designed hundreds of courses around the world, such as Muirfield Village, Castle Pines, Sebonack and Shoal Creek, all of which are ranked in the top 75 of America’s 100 greatest courses, but his work at Punta Mita was exceptional.
The Pacifico Course was the first crafted by Nicklaus at Punta Mita back in 1999. It features eight holes which play alongside the ocean and the famous “Tail of the Whale” par-3, the world’s only natural island green. So they say.
“The addition of Bahia, makes it that much more of a golfers destination,” said Phillip Ferrari, director of golf. “How amazing to have the greatest golfer who ever lived to design your golf courses.”
Although both layouts are user-friendly, there are several key differences.
“It’s totally different than the original course (Pacifico),” Ferrari continued. “This Bahia course almost has a linksy-type feel. It’s got deeper bunkering and more undulating greens.”
Nicklaus certainly had that on his mind when designing the newer Bahia Course.
“What we did here, on these greens, was put a lot more movement in them than we did on the other golf course,” Nicklaus said. “We were trying to make them different and a little different with the bunkers. In all, we tried to get a little more movement in the golf course.”
The end result is pretty special.
“So they gave us a mixture of ocean and inland golf to create something sensational as a destination.”
Did he ever!
So grab the guys, the girls or the family and make the trip south of the border to the “Land of Enchantment” for an amazing journey of sun, fun and most importantly, golf.
