El Diablo at Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club

When Dennis Arp sculpted the El Diablo course out of the vast citrus orchards, golf became the thing to do in Rancho Viejo. This full-service resort boasts two excellent 18-hole courses of championship quality that have played host to the PGA Tour Qualifying School for Curtis Strange, Craig Stadler, and Peter Jacobson, as well as the likes of Willie Nelson and Dean Martin who have participated in the club's annual Hacker's Tournament.

El Diablo (the devil) is the most demanding of the two layouts and earns its name with a design that features water on nine holes, ten dogleg holes, and large, undulating greens that are easy three-putts. Palm trees and tropical vegetation provide problems and out-of-bounds is always a factor, since the course sometimes routes between houses.

Hole 3 is one of the most difficult, a 440-yard dogleg left with water affecting both the drive and the approach. No. 14 is a long par 5 that doglegs twice around a lake, and the par 3 No. 16 plays 224 yards from the tips. The tee shot on 16 carries 120 yards of what was once part of the Rio Grande River. The large green is protected by bunkers, but is difficult to hit because of the wind. The smart player knows that the bail-out area short offers the chance for an up-and-down par.