Agustín Pizá completes major renovation at Cabo San Lucas
Mexican golf course architect Agustín Pizá has completed a major renovation project at Cabo San Lucas Country Club in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Pizá has altered several holes in an effort to improve sightlines and enhance playability. The back nine has been shortened and its corridors widened to expand the layout’s ocean views. The new and revised holes feature improved flexibility from the forward tees, risk-reward scenarios from the back tees and more undulating greens. Bunkers throughout the course were reshaped and upgraded. The pruning of trees and vegetation has created a breezier, links-style environment.
Holes one through seven remain the same, while the par-three eighth and par-four ninth holes were swapped for the par-three seventeenth and par-four eighteenth holes, respectively.
The most noticeable changes are found on the back nine, specifically holes ten through sixteen. The par-four tenth has been shortened. The new par-three eleventh plays to the site of the old twelfth green, which Pizá has refashioned into a large, wavy putting surface. The twelfth hole has been converted from a par four to a par five, while the par-four thirteenth now occupies the original hole’s corridor but plays to a remodelled green. The par-three fourteenth, stretching to 208 yards, brings a lake into play on the right. At the par-five sixteenth Pizá reversed the direction of the hole. The fairway now runs from north to south, pointed to the Sea of Cortes.
The double-dogleg par-five seventh, which swings around a lake and stretches to 610 yards from the back tees, ranks among the longest holes in Mexico. The par-three seventeenth, measuring 226 yards from the tips, plays uphill into the prevailing wind to a perched, tilted green. The long par-four eighteenth, which calls for a blind tee shot over a gentle rise, demands a very accurate approach shot to a green pinched by a lagoon on the left and bunkers on the right.
The club’s 18-hole course – which has views of the sea arch and rock formations at Land’s End – was originally laid out by Roy Dye, brother of Pete Dye, and then completed by Roy’s son Matt.
“We needed to demonstrate to visitors and the community that Cabo San Lucas Country Club was not wiped out by tropical storm Lidia in September 2017,” said Alfonso Terrazas Cecena, the club’s project manager. “We were hurt – by torrential rains – but the damage was superficial and certainly not catastrophic. We’ve bounced back as part of a five-month renovation project, and I believe we’ve succeeded in restoring confidence and credibility in the club.”
Future plans call for a short course to be built in the vicinity of the driving range. A new clubhouse is also planned.