BAJA FRESH
hen Antonio Reynante recently answered the phone in his office, the Quivira Golf Club director of golf was surprised to
hear a rather exuberant J.B. Holmes on the other end of the line. “He said he’d seen the pictures and that he had to play it,” Reynante said. “He was really excited.” Holmes, the four-time PGA Tour
winner, isn’t the only golfer who can’t wait to play the new Jack Nicklaus gem in Los Cabos, Mexico. Already a hot spot for deep-sea
fishing, water sports, great golf and for just putting your feet up by the pool, the fun gauge in Baja has hit a record high with the addition of the spectacular layout along the Pacific. Barely a year old, the 7,139-yard,
18-hole golf course that sits just out- side Cabo San Lucas was named the 2014 Best New International Course by Golf Magazine. The reason why is simple: Quivira
is a sensory overload that gets imprinted on your brain. At Quivira, it all starts with the
ingredients—part desert, mixed with ocean views and natural granite. Even Nicklaus—whose first course in Baja, Cabo del Sol, introduced the region as a golf destination in 1994— was stunned when he saw the terrain available at Quivira.
“This property afforded us a rare
opportunity because of its topographic diversity and natural environment,” Nicklaus said. “Our team worked with the canvas Mother Nature provided to create one of the most spectacular courses in the world.” Along with the challenge of massaging the landscape along the desert coastline, an important aspect in creating Quivira was selecting the most appropriate playing surface. From tee to green, Quivira features platinum paspalum turf, a warm climate grass seed that produces an extremely salt tolerant turfgrass. Considering that parts of the
course—and the two practice ranges—are just steps away from the beach, that can come in handy. The stars at Quivira, and the holes
that left Holmes itching to play, are the par-4 fifth and par-3 sixth. No. 5 is simply stunning, perched atop a 275-foot cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. For those of us in Northern California, it’s as if someone carved a hole amidst the cliffs of Big Sur. The only thing that’s missing is the Bixby Bridge in the distance. When Reynante first saw the
hole, his breath, like many others, was taken away. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Reynante
said. “It’s fun, too.” Unless you suffer from acrophobia. The fifth hole came about when
Quivira owner Ernesto Copel chal- lenged Nicklaus to build the most spectacular golf hole on the planet. While the matter can be debated
endlessly, No. 5 would certainly have to be part of the discussion. It plays only 302 yards from the
back tees, and a tempting 268 yards from the forward tees. It’s hard to even consider laying up. But the green is only 21 paces deep, so that’s the best play (except for those who are extremely accurate with a driver). Champions Tour winner and Los
Cabos golf ambassador Esteban Toledo has knocked it on the green from the back tee—but it took him two tries. Due to a prevailing wind in your
face from the coastline, the safest route is to target the aiming pole in the fair- way. Hit it there, and you’ll be left with anywhere from a 130-yard to 85-yard approach shot. But even that is a knee-knocker due
to the severity of the downhill slope. And once the ball starts rolling, the next stop behind the green is Hawaii. Overall, it took 18 months to
build Quivira. The fifth hole itself took eight. “We found the location of where we thought we could put a green,” Nicklaus said. “Then we found where we thought we could put a tee. And
34 /
NCGA.ORG / WINTER 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120