Palmas Athletic Club (Flamboyan)

The beach resort of Palmas del Mar lies on the east coast of Puerto Rico and it’s one of the largest in the Caribbean, offering a wide range of sporting activities, including fishing, tennis, equestrianism and, of course, golf. Charles Fraser was the developer here, the man who set up Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island.

Palmas Athletic Club has two championship courses on site: the newer Flamboyán is a 7,117-yard layout by acclaimed architect Rees Jones that opened in 1998 and its sister course Palm is a smaller, par 71 track that was originally designed by Gary Player in 1974 and later reworked by Jones.

Fairways of the Flamboyan course at Palmas del Mar fan out alongside a 20-acre freshwater lake, some intersecting the Candelero River while others border the Caribbean Sea so water certainly plays its part in proceedings here.

The signature hole is the 12th, a solid par three which requires a sturdy blow from the tee box into the prevailing wind to a raised green that sits behind a canal with the island of Vieques as a beautiful backdrop.