Cali

When architect Howard Watson’s Canadian Golf Landscaping company constructed the 18-hole layout at Campestre de Cali in the late 1950s, he’d already worked alongside Bob Mote on courses in Colombia at Manizales and El Rodeo, as well as undertaking the solo design of the Militar course.

A look at the golf history books will show that Club Campestre de Cali hosted the Colombian Open in 1946, 1951 and 1956 (when a young Arnold Palmer claimed one of his first professional titles). These tournaments all took place before Watson’s layout was unveiled so we’re not sure if the Canadian redesigned the original course or laid out eighteen new holes.

The modern day course stretches to 6,946 yards from the back tees, where it’s rated to play three strokes above the par of 71, with par fives featuring as the two most difficult holes on the card. The first of these is faced at the 599-yard 8th (which doglegs to the left with water on either side of the kink in the fairway) and the second is encountered at the 502-yard 13th, where the fairway bends slightly to the right.