Cantegril

Cantegril was founded in 1946 as Golf Club Punta del Este, when Luther Koonz (who worked with Alister MacKenzie when he visited South America in the early 1930s) laid out the original 9-hole course for the membership.

The club fell into decline in the 1950s but it was taken over by the Country Club and an additional nine holes were added. A tree removal program followed in the 1980s then all the greens were replaced by Emilio Serra at the end of the 1990s.

The course is laid out on three separate tracts of land; holes 1-4 in the first area and holes 12-15 in another, with the remaining fairways occupying the largest portion of the property. The feature holes on each of these distinct plots are worth mentioning.

“Lagunita” is the 387-yard 2nd and it’s the only hole on the card with a water hazard. A little stream crosses the fairway about 140 yards from a well-bunkered green so it really shouldn’t come into play unless the approach shot is totally topped.

“Chacrita” is the 353-yard 15th, and this par four doglegs right to a raised green with a large bunker on the right. “Encanto” at the 424-yard 18th is rated stroke index 6 and the approach to this green is partially blind because it sits inside a natural amphitheatre.