Carambola - US Virgin Islands

Constructed by financier, philanthropist and conservationist Laurance Rockefeller in the mid-1960s, Carambola Golf & Country Club has remained one of the top golfing destinations in the Caribbean for more than half a century now.

The course is laid out over a former sugar plantation on rolling terrain in a lush tropical valley on the northwest side of the island of St Croix and it incorporates four of the best par threes you could care to imagine anywhere.

Three of these short holes (at 5, 14 and 17) are played over water, which is challenging enough but many consider the 223-yard 8th hole to be even tougher, requiring a precise uphill tee shot to a well-bunkered green.

A number of residents on the property acquired half ownership of the course in 2003, leading to an injection of fresh capital which helped restore this revered old Robert Trent Jones course to its former glory.