Enjoy Great Golf In Jamaica
by: Simon Harris
A vacation destination for decades, Jamaica is home
to a number of quality golf courses. The temperate
climate is a welcome part of the golfing experience,
as is the general atmosphere of the golf courses, with
many being notable for their outstanding customer
service focus and their beautifully kept grounds. It
should be noted that while many of the golf courses
are private, most of the more exclusive facilities do
make day passes available for vacationers.
Half Moon Golf Club, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is
known among tournament players throughout the world
for its classic lines and challenging set up. Open and
beautiful, one of the most challenging aspects of this
golf course is the wind. Over 7,000 yards long, this
course offers a good work out, in addition to a fine
game.
Luxurious, enchanting, and uniquely challenging are
apt descriptions of the White Witch Course, a recent
addition to the famed Ritz Carlton Rose Hall Resort of
Montego Bay, Jamaica. The course is named for the
infamous Annee Palmer who is said to haunt the area,
and rumored to have indulged in illicit relationships
with the slaves she held and treated brutally during
the 1800’s to run her huge sugar plantation, and also
said to have murdered three husbands before turning up
strangled herself.
This magnificent course was designed by Robert Von
Hagge, Rick Baril and Mike Smelek, and has a slightly
different style from the typical Caribbean golfing
experience. While there are stunning ocean views to be
had at 16 of the holes, they rest upon high ground, as
the course wanders through strong hills and players
are cooled by the unobstructed ocean breeze.
Three Palms Ocean Course, found at Wyndham Rose
Hall, is renowned through Jamaica and well beyond the
island for the amazing scenery that its 6798-yard
course is built around. Golfers will play alongside of
the family graveyard of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and
the ruins of an aqueduct from the 18th century. There
will be ocean side holes, canyons, waterfalls and
gorges. This is a truly beautiful and historic course,
and can only be an unforgettable golfing experience.
The Tryall Golf Course, at the Tryall Club in
Montego Bay hosts the Johnny Walker World Championship
and is a favorite playing spot of golfers all over the
world. The 6,772-yard course extends from flowering
forest to cool seaside, and includes mountain and
ocean views that are simply spectacular. Fascinating
relics of history along the course include an 18th
century water wheel.
There are several other notable golf courses in
Jamaica. These include the Jamaica golf resort Manchester Club, one of the
oldest facilities of its nature, which also makes
available tennis and billiards, the rugged terrain of
the Negril Hills Golf Club, which is known to be a
challenging and exhilarating play. Breezes Golf and
Beach Resort offers truly upscale play.
Whether you’re planning a vacation devoted to
enjoying the very best courses that Jamaica has to
offer or you are a casual golfer seeking fun greens
for a day or two’s play, Jamaica is home to some of
the finest golfing opportunities in the entire region.
