It’s official. Los Cabos is once again garnering plaudits for its world-class golf courses. 
In this case, the honoree is The Dunes Course at Diamante, which GOLF Magazine has selected for inclusion on its prestigious ‘Top 100 Courses in the World’ list for 2021 – 2022, as featured in the publication’s most recent issue.
Chosen from a ballot of nearly 500 golf courses worldwide, the Dunes Course at Diamante, which landed on GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 list shortly after its debut in 2010, now stands at No. 98, an indication of how competitive the international category has become.
Designed by PGA Tour star and former Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, with assistance from his brother Mark Love and architect Paul Cowley, Diamante (Dunes) is unlike any other venue in Los Cabos. Located 15 minutes north of downtown Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Peninsula’s Pacific coast, the 7,022-yard, par-71 Dunes Course, centerpiece of a 1,500-acre private resort community, is a windswept, lay-of-the-land creation that rambles through 50-foot-high sand hills and skirts huge blowout bunkers on its journey to and from the sea. Fairways, tees and greens are carved into huge Sahara-like dunes set above the sea, where breaching whales are a common sight during the winter months. Five sets of tees, three of them rated for women, provide admirable versatility on the Dunes Course, which is surfaced from tee to green in sustainable, salt-tolerant paspalum grass.
“Diamante’s free-form architecture rests gently on the land, and the absence of any hard lines let the golfer’s eye soak in the delightful contrast between the dazzling Pacific Ocean, the dunescape and the emerald playing surfaces,” the magazine reported. “The Dunes’ random green contours are noteworthy as is the construction technique that left micro-undulations in the fairways. Spectacular ocean views sometimes come with the price of cold and damp playing conditions but not here.” A breezy, links-style layout, the Dunes Course resembles golf in Ireland–only 30 degrees warmer.
Refinements and routing alterations have greatly improved the club’s golf experience. For example, two seaside holes, the current 12th and 13th, each sculpted from vast rolling dunes within earshot of the surf, were built to replace inland predecessors. The mammoth 590-yard par-5 18th, previously the 17th, offers multiple landing areas and calls for a lofted approach to a shelf-like green perched 50 feet above the fairway. It provides a memorable finish to the round.
According to Ran Morrissett, the magazine’s architecture editor, “GOLF’s 107 raters spread across the globe, dealt with Covid restrictions to deliver a comprehensive review of the game’s elite venues. The result is what we feel is the smartest vote on architecture among the myriad media outlets that also rate courses…if you look closely at the list, you’ll notice that what was once considered ‘great’ architecture is taking on a decidedly broader definition.”
Specifically, the panel, whose members include major championship winners, architects, journalists and well-traveled golf aficionados, now places a higher value on “width, strategy, playing angles, enjoyment (and) creativity stemming from ‘bouncy-bounce’ golf.” Built entirely on sand, Diamante (Dunes) has firm, fast-running conditions plus exceptional risk-reward variety.
It’s often said it takes great land to yield a great course. Diamante (Dunes) is the only venue in Mexico on GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the World list, a tribute to the topographical uniqueness of the desert-meets-ocean environment in Los Cabos.
Certainly, it’s a must-play challenge for Los Cabos bound destination golfers, along with several other local layouts that have also been lauded on “best of lists”: such as Quivira, Palmilla, Cabo del Sol, and Rancho San Lucas at Grand Solmar, a quartet which claimed half of the Editor’s Choice selections for Golf Digest’s “Best Golf Resorts in Mexico and Central America”.
And since the weather is warm year-round in Los Cabos, even in the midst of winter, there’s no reason you can’t make a tee time right now. It should be noted, of course, that although many of the courses listed above are private, all are playable with some limitations or restrictions (access is quite often restricted to owners, renters and resort guests at the development which hosts the course).
Which means it isn’t just choosing the right golf courses that matters, but also choosing the right villa or vacation rental.
For more information about golf and villa and vacation rentals in Los Cabos, call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-655-4548, visit www.LosCabosVillas.com, or email us at Info@LosCabosVillas.com.
Photo credit: Diamante Cabo San Lucas
Upcoming Events Calendar
December
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Viva La Plaza in Cabo San Lucas – Dec. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Sabor a Cabo Rural – Dec. 5
Top Chef Taco Series at Paradero – Dec. 9 – 10
El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe – Dec. 12
Official Start of Whale Watching Season in Los Cabos – Dec. 15
Las Posadas – Dec. 16 – 24
Taco Fest 2021 at Casa Dorada – Dec. 17
Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) – Dec. 24
Navidad (Christmas) – Dec. 25
Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve) – Dec. 31
Studio 54 New Year’s Eve Party at Casa Dorada – Dec. 31
January 2022
Los Cabos Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Twin Dolphin and Cabo del Sol – Jan. 9 – 13
Tropic of Cancer Music Series in Todos Santos – Jan. 12 – 16
Todos Santos Writers Workshop – Jan. 30 – Feb. 5; Feb. 7 – 11
February 2022
Todos Santos Writers Workshop – Jan. 30 – Feb. 5; Feb. 7 – 11
Todos Santos Open Studio Tour – Feb. 4 – 6
Carnaval in La Paz – Feb. 26 – Mar. 1
Cabo Collegiate Golf Tournament at Querencia – Feb. 27 – Mar. 1
March 2022
Fiestas Tradicionales in San Jose del Cabo – Dates Not Yet Announced
April 2022
Semana Santa – Apr. 10 – 17
May 2022
Cinco de Mayo – May 5
Dia de la Madre – May 10
Warren Hill’s Los Cabos Jazz Festival – May 15 – 18
Premier Golf Pro-Am Tournament – May 15 – 21
Please let me know what you think about this!