Course: Cozumel Country Club

Location: Cozumel, Mexico

Date Played: January 11, 2008

Played By: Ross

Overall Rating: 80

Friendliness of Staff: 10
The staff we encountered were all very pleasant. The two local girls in the pro shop were extremely willing to go out of their way to help us. Two of us were in the pro shop for awhile because we wanted to buy a nice golf shirt and we both kept struggling to find the right sizes. Both girls were right by our side, asking if we needed anything else and to get us different sizes from their back stock area. The older gentleman that greeted us at the first tee was also great. Chatted us up a bit, helped us with the layout of the course and even checked in on us during our round to see how e liked it. The last gentleman we met, whose name he said was Joe Buck, was very friendly but if you were to ask him a question he'll go forever with an answer. Very nice guy!

Facilities/Pro Shop: 7
Actually I was relatively surprised by their facilities, or the lack there of, with how great this course was supposed to be. Their pro shop was extremely small and had very little merchandise to choose from. Most of their shirts we even liked had very few sizes that matched our needs. I was determined to buy a nice mock-turtle golf shirt from there and could only find it in 2 colors and they weren't even close on the size. All they had was large and medium. They were either very depleted or just didn't keep up with inventory because people just don't buy it. Their version of the restaurant was an outdoor, covered area. On one hand it would be nice eating outside but you don't really have any views from it so what's the point. I expected much more and better. The pro shop almost took me by surprise.

Quality/Value of Food/Snacks: 7
Well at one point on the course, we ordered a candy bar and 3 Coors Lights to start off our round and it ran us $20 with tip. Now that's expensive! I looked at my playing partner and just laughed. Their menu for their restaurant area is typical for Mexico, with your choice of sandwiches but also your classic burrito or taco dishes. Overall, I find the native Mexican food not to be as good as in the US but I'm sure it's better for you. The cost to eat or drink at this course is pretty high, but I guess when you consider this is a higher-end course you might expect it.

Fairway Conditions: 9
For the actual course itself, their fairways are probably the nicest aspect. For the most part, they're all in good shape. They are quite a bit browner than other course we've played in Mexico, but granted it's hotter than Cabo because it's further South. Most of them are in good condition and they manage the divots very well. Classically, they provide you sand bottles to repair your divots. Heck even one of their tee boxes on the back 9 is like a putting green. Total immaculate condition. We all couldn't believe it.

Greens Conditions: 6
The thing about their greens is they all roll very true and condition wise, they're great. However, a lot of them look like crap with scattered brown patches all over them. It's almost like someone took some commercial grade Round-Up and sprayed the greens in vertical patterns. Color-wise they need a lot of work to come back to standards but they are in good condition. It's not like their greens are covered in divots or roll terrible, they just look awful.

Scenery: 7
I was hoping this course, as highly touted as it is, was going to compare to Cabo. Not even close. As far as views go, I wouldn't say there is even one picturesque hole on the course. Don't get me wrong, there are some really nice holes but nothing spectacular. I guess the nicest part of the course, that you won't find anywhere else, is the huge Iguanas that roam wild on the course. Jump over to our blog and check out the photos. That aspect was amazing. In fact on one of the first couple holes, it might have been #2 with water and waste area on the left side, there were 4 huge Iguanas all laid out on rocks right next to each other. That was cool and they were all different colors. Some orange, some green and some grey with striped pattern tails. This course also winds through the jungle and mangroves and a lot of your drives between holes were lengthy so the scenery in between was nice. Other than that, I was expecting a lot more..

Difficulty of Course: 8
While this course is not extremely long, you'll be surprised at how challenging it is off the tee. A lot of narrow shots, carrying over water or bunkers or even mangroves. There really isn't rough on this course too much, if you're off the fairway you're either in a waste area, bunker or water hazard. The par 3's are some of the most challenging holes on the course, along with #18 which is a par-5 with a narrow driving area and from there you're left with a long 2nd shot and must carry a large mangrove swamp. Come to think of it even #3, which is another par-5, is pretty tough. You drive to a plateau where if you're too far you're in the water. It leaves you with a longer 2nd shot where you have the option to lay-up down the left side or go for the green in 2 and be forced to carry all over water about 200+ yards to the green. If you're spraying the ball off the tee you're in trouble on this course. The other note I'll mention here is their rental clubs. Due to the fact I was traveling with kids and a ton of luggage, I was not able to bring my clubs on this trip and was forced to rent theirs. Granted their rentals are Nike irons and woods, their shafts are graphite and are made for slower swings. I have steel shafts at home and my iron shots on the first couple holes were coming up 15-20 yards short. Keep that in mind!

Value Received: 7
My feelings are mixed on this one. The deal they offer if you book in advance is $189, which includes rental clubs, 2 sleeves of balls, greens fees and a souvenir, The souvenir is pretty cool, where they give you a tag for your bag with your name printed on it while you pay. Pretty classy detail. However, being as hot as it is in Cozumel, especially in the sun, you'd think they'd give you some water in a cooler with ice. You have to buy the water and then they give you the cooler with the ice. They really didn't offer many intangibles other than at the end of your round they do give you an iced towel to cool off and wet your face. Every course in very hot climates should offer the same thing. What a nice touch. I just expected much more for $200. Heck, for $200 back in the States you'll get just about anything you want and I'm sure better views. Not to mention everything on the course was expensive. One last issue I want to address is the on-course staff. There were at least 5 or 6 guys driving around the course in carts with radios to communicate with the others. I can't tell you how many times we'd be trying to hit our shots and you'd be hearing a bunch of guys yelling back and forth over the radios about where groups were at and the status on how things were running. They ought to know better. It was very frustrating and with how much I play golf I was really surprised this was happening.

Speed of Play/Design of Course: 7
Well to start with, the layout and design are pretty great. Built through the jungle and mangroves, Nicklaus did as best he could with what he had. I just can't help but think they could have done something to give you better views of either the water or the cruise ships in the background. What I really enjoyed about this course was indeed the longer drive between holes. You drove over some nice bridges and through the jungle. It had a real nice feel to it. However, what separates a great course from an okay one is the following point I want to make here. It got pretty crazy and busy at this course. We finished the front 9 in about 2 hours, and moved right along and were never really pushed. Then the problems hit. As we're heading to the 10th tee, one of the many course rangers out that day stopped us and informed us that because they were really busy this morning they decided to send out a 3-some right in front of us. Our day was shot after that. The back 9 took 3 hours! Now my point is that while I'm sure the course wanted the extra $600 in revenue, a great course probably would not have done that and totally jammed up the course. It went from enjoyable to a bit frustrating real fast.

19th Hole: 7
I guess it depends on your taste. If an outdoor patio 19th hole is what you want then you'll enjoy it. If you want an indoor bar/grill with AC then you won't like it. It has a nice look to it, but like I mentioned earlier there really isn't anything to see so why sit outside? Their food is your typical Mexican food but there beer options are kind of nice if you like Sol or Corona. There's something about playing golf in Mexico and enjoying a nice Corona with a lime after your round.

There is a beer cart on the course. +5

Comments:
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact it's overpriced just because it's on an island in a vacation spot and designed by Jack Nicklaus. Overall, I think most people would expect more paying nearly $200 and possibly more because of how many balls you can lose in a round. Extra balls run you $4 apiece! So when you blast through your 2 sleeves of balls they give you, like both of my playing partners did, if you hit a drive OB you start saying to yourself, "there goes 4 bucks!" Listen to me on this one, spend some brief time looking for extra balls in the mangroves or woods so you don't have to buy more. It's a nice course and the Iguanas were really neat, but I was pretty let down. A part of it was that I built it up in my mind a bit too much I guess. Not sure if I'm moved to ever play it again, besides I don't think I really want to ever go back to Cozumel in general. My opinion is if you want good snorkeling and great diving then Cozumel is worth a trip but you're probably better to go there on a cruise so you're not stuck on the island. If you do go, you may want to spend your $200 elsewhere, or it may be something where it's a decent one-time experience.