Cabo del Sol (Cove Club)

Marlin fishing first put Los Cabos on the map but today it’s better know as Mexico’s premier golfing destination and the country’s finest course is set most dramatically on the southernmost tip of the craggy Baja California peninsula alongside the sparkling Sea of Cortés.

Cabo del Sol is an intoxicating mixture of seaside and desert golf. It’s a dream location for a golf course and the design responsibility fell to Jack Nicklaus. The Ocean course opened for play in 1994. “The best piece of golf property in the world” was how Jack described Cabo del Sol and the Ocean course is a Jack Nicklaus “signature” layout and perhaps it’s his finest creation after the fabulous Muirfield Village in Ohio. The finest element of this course is that it is not obviously a Nicklaus layout. The course flows gracefully, following the natural curvature of the land.

The Ocean course is also routed intelligently in two nine-hole loops with the sea in play on a number of holes holes. It’s a nicely balanced layout and, in typical Nicklaus fashion, there are some strong par fives which will tempt the big hitters to have a go in two.

The Ocean course at Cabo del Sol was a great layout from its inception but it was given a facelift in 2002 by the Golden Bear garnering the accolade "The Pebble Beach of Baja”.

In December 2019 a reincarnation of the Ocean course emerged as the re-branded Cove Club following extensive renovations by Nicklaus Design. The work included routing changes, a handful of new holes and restyled bunkers.

“We were given the challenge to redesign the golf course to meet their needs, but at the same time maintain the global status the Ocean course has enjoyed for over 25 years,” said Jack Nicklaus. “The developers needed to take a couple of holes off the ocean, and my responsibility was to preserve the quality of the golf course. I think we have done that in a very satisfactory way. We still have great ocean views, and we still have four holes on the ocean.”

The Cove Club opened for unaccompanied play but it will close for green fee paying visitors at a future date and reopen as a private club. It remains to be seen whether the abbreviated Ocean course can realistically hold on to its global status.