Casa de Campo (Links)

The Casa de Campo resort is spread out over an enormous property to the east of La Romana and much of the site was where the American conglomerate Gulf & Western once plied its trade as a major producer of sugar. When the company decided to expand its operations in the late 1960s, an upmarket residential estate and resort resulted.

Casa de Campo unveiled the first of its world-class courses when Pete Dye’s eponymous Teeth of the Dog layout opened in 1971 and this fantastic track was followed three years later by the 18-hole Links layout. After something of a lull in golf development at the resort, La Romana was the next course to appear, debuting as a private facility in 1990. Finally, the Dye Fore course opened for play in 2005.

The Links may lack the stunning seaside holes of the Teeth of the Dog and it doesn’t have quite the same wonderful river views of the Dye Fore layout but it’s still a top drawer course that plays a fine supporting role to its tougher siblings. Fairways, many of them doglegged, may be wide and forgiving but they do provide an engaging test of golf.

Some enormous waste bunkers await errant shots on the front nine (at holes 5, 6, 7 and 9) but mercifully, there are no water hazards to contend with. That all changes on the 12th hole, however, where a pond runs the length of the fairway then more water comes into play on each of the next four holes.

The Links course was closed for major renovation between May 2011 and March 2012 when all the greens were re-laid, bunkers refurbished and a new irrigation system installed.