Sandy Lane (Green Monkey)

Opened in 1961, Sandy Lane has been the luxury Caribbean resort of choice for the rich and famous for decades now. It closed at the end of the 1990s to undergo a complete refurbishment and during this extensive makeover, the original 18-hole layout was reduced to a 9-hole course (now known as the Old Nine), a number of the old fairways were reshaped into the new Country Club course and an old limestone quarry was incorporated into the design of the new Green Monkey course which opened in 2004.

Named after the Bajan green primates that inhabit the island of Barbados, the Green Monkey was designed by Tom Fazio and its routing in and out of an excavated portion of the property offers both dramatic elevation changes and spectacular views out to sea. The lush fairways wind past rocky out crops, small ponds, mature Mahogany trees and serpentine bunkers to receptive greens with subtle breaks that test the best of putters.

Some feel the Green Monkey suffers from a relatively dull start and a weak closing hole but what none of the critics dispute is the fact that in between, the course really does lives up to the hype! Having spent a reputed US$25 million on the layout during the multi-million dollar facelift at Sandy Lane, you would certainly expect the hefty green fee to deliver a truly unique golf experience – and who could ever walk off the 18th here and not remember the bunker at the par three 16th with the grass island in the middle shaped as a monkey?