Canouan Estate - St Vincent and the Grenadines

Canouan is a tiny unspoiled and virtually undiscovered island (measuring only 3.5 by 1.25 miles) and it lies around 25 miles south of St Vincent. The Canouan Estate course (formerly known as the Pinks Sands Club, Grenadines Estate Golf Club and Trump International) was designed by Jim Fazio and it forms the focal point on the island, set in 300 acres of a 1,200-acre estate.

The front nine here form a fine warm up to a more challenging back nine holes that are laid out on some really tortuous terrain, with the two par fives at the 6th and 9th more notable than the others on the outward half.

On the back nine, holes 10 to 13 rise to the highest point on the course, where photos of the panoramic views of the islands are a must. What goes up must then come down however and so the par three 14th plays to a putting surface 100 feet below the level of the tee, followed soon after by the par three 16th that drops over 200 feet to a green protected by no fewer than five waterfalls – well, it was a Trump course after all, wasn’t it?

Ostentatious water features aside, this really is one of the most spectacular courses in the Caribbean and well worth its status as one of the best 18-hole tracks in the area.