Cinnamon Hill

Originally designed in the early 1970s by Henry Smedley, this course on the Rose Hall Estate hosted the Jamaican Open four times before it was renovated in 2002 by Robert von Hagge, Smelek and Baril, re-opening as the Three Palms course.

Sitting next door to the White Witch golf course, the now renamed Cinnamon Hill layout stretches to 6,637 yards with a par of 71 and, although it shares much of the same hilly terrain as its neighbour, it also manages to embrace the actual shoreline of the Caribbean Sea.

Built with the resort player in mind, Cinnamon Hill features an open, wind-swept front nine that leads to a tighter inward half where many of the fairways are bounded by thick vegetation.

Various ruins such as stone walls, gravestones and monuments are scattered around the course, but the most outstanding of all these is surely an impressive ancient aqueduct that once brought water to the estate.

“Majestic Blue,” the tough, par four 5th is the stroke index 1 and it often plays more like a par five as the wind blows from either left or right or slightly against. The fairway runs straight down to the sea with a green protected on three sides by the ultimate water and sand hazards – ocean and beach!

In 2012, a number of modifications were made to the course which included extending the size of five greens on the front nine, thus increasing the number of possible pin positions on these holes.