This area along Mexico’s Southern Coast hugs the warm Pacific Ocean a distance of 300 miles with some great gems more than worthy of your consideration.

Hernán Cortés ordered his Spanish sailors to take the Bahía de Acapulco in 1521. Its natural harbor became a jumping off port for further explorations and conquests and soon Acapulco became the only port in the New World authorized to receive Spanish galleons from the Philippines, China and Peru loaded with spices, silks, ivory, jade and porcelain. 

The rebellion of 1812 and the Independence of Mexico lead to a decline of this port for the next century. Its  isolation from the rest of the world ended when a paved road was built in 1927 linking it with Mexico City. As the capital grew larger its citizens began flocking to the Pacific coast for vacations. A new international airport was built, and by the 1960s Acapulco was a booming resort, its reputation as a playground for the rich and famous set.

Today’s treasures come in the way of championship golf courses lined with palm trees and vegetation from around the world.

By 1964 the first public course was built in Acapulco at the downtown nine hole Acapulco Club de Golf lovingly watched over by the recently retired little BIG pro Gerardo Castellanos. Conveniently located on the Costera Manuel Aleman -- only one block from the Convention Center it offers several sets of tee allowing for a varied 18 holes with a well-trained staff of caddies to make your conference visit a great experience.

Around the same time... Paul Getty, one of the richest men in the world, originally built the Pierre Marques as his private hideaway. Now it is the Fairmont Pierre Marques a legendary hotel and a quiet paradise, hidden away among 480 acres of palm, mango and lime on the longest and most beautiful beach in Acapulco.

Pierre Marques Golf Course was designed by Percy Clifford in 1967 and was later redesigned in 1982 for the World Cup Golf Tournament by Robert Trent Jones Sr. who made changes to 65 bunkers and added a number of mounds and added 300 yards in length, Jones placed a premium on accuracy from the tee, and precise shots into his well guarded greens.   As testament to the challenge he created, Spain’s, the winning team, score for the tournament was just 3 under par. This year the Pierre Marques course is going through a transformation and will be closed from March until December.  A major facelift and hole construction including rerouting for two holes to be oceanfront. When finished it will reawaken the tremendous golf opportunities available to Acapulco bound travelers.

According to Acapulco historian Mike Oliver author of "Mike Oliver's Acapulco" at www.amazon.com, down the road a tremendous story was unfolding at Club Tres Vidas en la Playa owned by the famous Texan millionaire businessman Troy Post which was a take off on his initials Troy V. Post. In 1968 Troy had sold his Greater American Insurance Co. for 500 million dollars, came here and started building the Tres Vidas for forty million dollars, with two eighteen hole golf courses, many villas with their own swimming pool, and two condominiums where planned. The golf courses where designed by Robert Trenton Jones, Sr. and the grass was flown in from Los Angeles. Everybody said would not grow on sand, but he proved otherwise. During its heyday there was not a week that at least one world-renowned celebrity would be there, even Onasis spent time at Tres Vidas.  A third golf club was planned to be opened to the public and on the river across the highway, a Yacht Club.  Tres Vidas was the club in Mexico.  Unfortunately a land dispute took place and eventually Troy Post left Acapulco and abandoned the project, he later helped save and expand Braniff airlines during the height of its great success.

Tres Vidas was dormant until the Santos family from Monterrey Mexico took over the land that was only a distant memory of earlier days. 

A new Tres Vidas Golf Club was inaugurated in 1995 designed by Robert von Hagge who has over fourteen championship courses in Mexico, Tres Vidas being on of his best. Lying parallel to the Pacific Ocean, with five of its greens extending along the beach. It also features nine lakes, famous von Hagge "moguls," palm trees and sand traps measuring over 7200 yards from the championship tees. It has been the home of the PGA Chrysler Cup Tournament. Recently is has been given new professional management in the form of Troon golf with Director of Golf, Sam Login from Punta Mita and Paradise Village.  Second-generation golf professional Leo Castellanos continues he great diligence as he has for the past 6 years.  Tres Vidas is well positioned to be one of Mexico’s finest private residential real estate developments.  Several 15,000 feet homes are completed and a villa hotel called L’Hotel de Tres Vidas. will offer guests the opportunity stay in style and to play Mexico’s number 5 rated golf course. Members of the private Trev Vidas Club, and their guests, enjoy the use  of the club’s 72,000 square foot clubhouse. Another 18 hole course in projected in their expansion program along the eastern edge of their complex. Tres Vidas is a must play!

Designed in 1971 by William Rudolph and Leonides Guadarrama, The Acapulco Princess sits on 480 acres of lush gardens with palms framing the view of the Sierra Madre in the beautiful Acapulco Diamante area. Built in the form of an ancient Aztec pyramid, the hotel contains 1,017 exquisite rooms, offering spacious bathrooms; large walk-in closets and separates dressing rooms. The resort also features four freshwater pools with waterfalls and one saltwater pool - all overlooking Revolcadero Beach, the Pacific Ocean, a championship golf course, and nine outdoor and two indoor tennis courts.  In 1997 The Fairmont group rescued the Recently; the readers of Travel and Leisure Magazine ranked The Fairmont Acapulco Princess the eighth best hotel in Mexico, Central and South America.

 
Acapulco Princess Golf Course:

One of my favorite courses that is both easy to play while providing plenty of shot making challenges.  An excellently maintained 18-hole course that led Golf Digest to include the Acapulco Princess on its list of "The 25 Greatest Golf Resorts." It has been host to eight PGA sectional pro-am tournaments as well as pro-am events from Canada, England and Germany. Designed by Ted Robinson, it offers narrow fairways, Parrota trees and water hazards on 12 of the 18 holes.  Wayne Sisson, veteran Director of Golf, from Canada has maintained calm and collective wisdom over the many years of management transformations and now has the great challenge of the new design for his sister course the Pierre Marquis.

Mayan Palace Golf Club:

The newest entry is an 18-hole, par-72 course that blends in with its natural environment; the Mayan Palace features lakes and gardens that surround the greens. The course's avant-garde layout, which features many dunes and other distinguishing characteristics, is by the well-known golf designer/ architect Pedro Guereca. The Mayan Palace group is making a name for itself in Mexico with their timeshare success in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and a new Nicklaus complex in the Sea of Cortez at Punta Pesardo check spelling and details.
Several hotels of note come to mind when traveling to Acapulco would be the world famous Las Brias with their individual pools and pink jeeps and the beautiful Quinta Real overlooking the Diamante coastline.

Golfers may not need a wake up call as most of the action in Acapulco starts at midnight and ends just in time for the first morning tee times.  Try BabyO’s, XXXX and XXX overlooking the breathtaking lights of Acapulco harbor.

Ingrained in a family rich in history and tradition, Jones crafted a course layout that covers 6,898 yards on a relatively flat inland course that is carved through dense jungle palms for the first nine holes, then takes on some altitude before bringing you directly on to the beach for a marvelous scenic stretch of holes.  .  Open for over 27 years, this course provides Ixtapa bragging rights along with the nearby von Hagge course as a mini golf destination.  

Mexico’s Sun Triangle’s northern corner is the location of the most unlikely sister cities of Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo that are both complimentary and downright opposites.

One has the charm of the old world traditions, sleepy and village like with quaint shopping. The other is textbook defined, modern in construction and pleasant to the eye and open to the ease of beachfront living. Together, however, these two cities on Mexico's southwestern coast combine to form one of the country's most underrated and underutilized destinations.

Zihuatenejo retains the flavor of a colonial beach town unchanged for over fifty years. Spanish in design with low-rise buildings and narrow streets carved through ancient hills to form an artistic haven for locals and tourist alike.

Ixtapa is very much the opposed to its rural neighbor. Created in the early 1970s, by the Mexican federal tourism agency FONATUR that used a modern technology to identify the tourism needs and opportunities in this virgin area.  Cancun was a great success, in the beginning, where as Ixtapa never quite got it’s jump start.  On the other hand, perhaps it worked out just a well as Cancan is perhaps overbuilt and Ixtapa is still just beginning.

One of the most important elements in the development of a FONATUR mega site is golf and Ixtapa was no exception. Often thought of as the golf destinations with the alligators…but understand, it is so much more. 

In 1975 it was determined that the best architect was to be selected to create Palma Real.  This was Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s first golf course in Latin America.

Later renamed CAMPO DE GOLF IXTAPA this 18-hole championship course (Length: 6,898 yards) reflects a tropical environment that enchants the golfers experience. Built on a former coconut plantation ripe with natural lakes, lagoons, as it wanders a bit inland at first past an area where a sign at the tee box reads "cuidado con los lagartos," or "watch out for alligators."
It then aims towards the sea up to a challenging par 3 number # 14, slightly behind the Westin hotel.  Then down to a panoramic view of the Pacific coastline, passing for a while to provide refuge for a few alligators before it brings you home on two great uphill finishing holes ending at its charming clubhouse.
I once witnessed a couple of Mexican workers both barely visible in the pond nestled next to the par 3 16^th holes in search of errant golf balls for a few extra pesos, one feeling the bottom of the muddy floor with his feet for old Titleist's and Spalding’s; the other, his buddy, with a sharp eye lookout for wandering crocodiles.  

Palma Real has broad fairways, well-maintained light rough, and natural Bermuda grass greens for user-friendly golf, perfect for the avid golf traveler.  Caddies are a welcomed bonus. Jones welcomes golfers seeking a shot-maker’s course without the need of great length

Club de Marina Ixtapa is Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo's modern, upscale golf offering, courtesy of prolific south-of-the border designer Robert von Hagge. Built on undulating terrain with salt-water canals running through it, the course sports water on 14 of 18 holes. The first hole, a rather benign par 5, assures that most golfers begin the round in good spirits. Each succeeding hole systematically chips away at this positive mindset as Marina Ixtapa comes into its own on the back nine, culminating with the 609-yard par 18th.

In true von Hagge fashion, the fairways sport more moguls than a ski run and the greens are almost unequivocally of the severely undulating variety. At 6,781 yards, Marina Ixtapa is actually a bit shorter than its elder cousin. But anyone who has braved the ubiquitous gators and the omnipresent agua will tell you the course's gravely sand traps, mounded fairways and diabolical greens make Marina Ixtapa the more challenging layout.

Known for his imaginative courses, in 1994 Texan Robert von Hagge designed the championship links of this club to include canals meandering through it. They provide delightful nautical recreation and transportation routes between Marina Ixtapa's private villas, the clubhouse and other facilities. The course has been ranked by Golf Digest Magazine as one of Mexico's best. Its "dunes-style" topography requires both accurate tees shots and approach shots in order to navigate the rolling terrain, expansive sand traps, and water hazards that come into play on 14 of the 18 holes with over 6,781 yards.  The 9th hole - Par 4, with water from tee to green on the left and bunkers on the right to catch any errant tee shots. Hitting the green requires an approach shot over a large lake, which is home for many crocodiles. They do not eat golfers, but they do like to watch the game while sunbathing, so bring your camera.

The 18th hole - Par 5, locally known as "El Hoyo del Diablo" (the Devil's hole), with 609 yards, it is probably one of the toughest par 5s you will ever play. There is water from tee to green on the left, and a series of bunkers all the way down the right side leading to a very narrow green surrounded by more water on the left and sand on the right. A par there is really something to brag about.

Because the greens are large and undulating, getting to them is only half the challenge. But with four sets of tees, the course can be enjoyed by all levels of players.
 

HUATULCO

Ever play a great golf course where you and your partner were the only two there?  No problem, if you hit a bad shot you can throw down another ball.  In fact you can hit all you want at a unique place to play and practice, the Club de Golf Tangolunda.  Often overlooked as a golfer’s destination, Hualtulco (pronounced Wah-tool-koh) is much more than just the beautiful Bay of Tangolunda.  In fact, it is SEVEN beautiful bays that the good folks of FONATUR took perfect advantage of in its master plan design.  It lies in pleasant seclusion along a golden stretch of Pacific shoreline south of Acapulco, with plenty of romantic beach combing and exploring…as yet the area is so undiscovered that seashells abound along its sandy beaches.  Without a doubt, the centerpiece of this spectacular new resort destination is a championship 18-hole golf course surrounded by jungle in the comfort of ocean breezes. FONATUR’s team of golf course architects, Pedro Guereca and F.M. Schjetnan Dantan have blended this tropical paradise setting into wonderful ocean side parkland for golfers of all levels. Striking a golf ball while in sight of the magnificent bays of Hualtulco can take away some of your concentration, but the openness of the fairways are somewhat forgiving for a wandering mind and errant shot. Constructed in 1991, the course has a respectable length of 6,851 yards, so the average golfer will score well and be encouraged to recommend Hualtulco to his golfing buddies.

February 2003

Dateline Laguna Beach,CA
Mexico is the Winner of the World Cup!