The Golf Course at Hacienda Pinilla

We thought it was going to rain, but really just sprinkles. The wildlife was fun - various birds and 2 kinds on monkeys - Hollar Monkeys and a smaller, agile group. I couldnt get a picture of the latter.

Fun day - course to ourselves pretty much.

Greens are not like home and fairways bumpy. But we absolutely loved playing in Costa Rica!!!

The main entrance road was closed for repair so we were routed through some “interesting terrain” on the detour…

Had a great round and had the entire place to myself. They gave me vip treatment as soon as I pulled in. The tee boxes and fairways were dormant, but the greens were pure! It’s a beautiful track and quite challenging. You will see and hear many different kinds of birds. I heard howler monkeys too! The back 9 has a couple holes on the ocean that are absolutely breathtaking.

Beautiful, great condition, fast pace of play and most of all a really fun course to play!

Costa Rica is not necessarily a golf destination. I think that’s why many players are disappointed in what this small country delivers. Costa Ricans don’t play golf because it is too expensive. Courses rely on natural irrigation - even though they have infrastructure in place - to save on operating costs. That’s why fairways here are crusty, though they do play firm and fast. Greens are excellent, due to syringing.

At Hacienda Pinilla, there aren’t a ton of interesting holes. The front nine slumbers through one gentle dogleg after another. The back, nine, however, does provide enough to hold your interest, starting with the 10th. The approach crosses a barranca to a wild green that can offer some really cool pin placements. What you really play here for is the two ocean holes, particularly the par-3 15th that plays out toward the water to a lovely green site that emerges from a corridor of trees.

The playing conditions at this golf course were terrible. The fairways and tee boxes had no grass. We played off dirt all day. According to the pro shop staff this is normal for this time of year (the end of the "dry season"). I wouldn't pay $20 to play this course again. Their $150 rack rate is outrageous.

Arrived at the course 1.5 hours prior to tee time. The clubhouse only had 1 set of rental clubs that were in terrible shape that 4 players had to share. Once we teed off the wind arrived and it stayed at a solid 25 mph with much higher gusts.

This course is very forgiving with wide fairways even under adverse weather conditions it was fair as well as fun.

Course was in good shape for this time of year. Temps are in the low to mid 90’s so there was a significant amount of roll in the fairways.

Well maintained course with a lot of scenery.

Bunkers were in impeccable shape. Greens were challenging, very fast. Ground is hard so you’ll feel like Rory off the tee.

The only negative I found was club rentals are $50USD. And I have a feeling it was a gringo scam as the man at the pro shop charged me, said the credit/debit machine wasn’t working and I should pay cash, but when I informed him I only had credit, it magically worked instantly.