With nearly two dozen golf courses, many on the Caribbean Sea, combined with terrific resorts, culture, nightlife and warm weather year-round, Puerto Rico can be an ideal golf vacation, especially for Americans and Canadians in the eastern half of North America.
Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Puerto Rico is a premium product to be sure -- especially when you add in golf at the TPC Dorado Beach. Expectations were high on my visit. It didn't disappoint.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria have devastated Puerto Rico, but golf is doing its best to help the island recover. Celebrity and pro-am fundraisers at TPC Dorado Beach this weekend could raise up to $750,000 or more for local charities.
An all-encompassing, 18-month restoration has breathed life back into Dorado Beach Resort & Club's East course. It officially opens Nov. 13, 2011 as the star of the four original Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses. What was previously little more than an overgrown jungle has been reshaped into a well manicured paradise that stands among the best courses in the Caribbean. The entire resort is in a state of transformation, actually.
Bay Hill has Arnold Palmer. The Dorado Beach Resort & Club has Chi Chi Rodriguez. Golfers playing any of the four courses at Dorado will likely run into Puerto Rico's most famous player. Rodriguez has a long history with the resort, working at the famed East Course during its heyday in the 1960s. These days, the East looks and plays better than ever thanks to a renovation by Robert Trent Jones Jr. finished in 2011.
Since 2008, no Caribbean island has invested more time, effort and money into its golf scene than Puerto Rico -- and it's paying off. There are 21 golf courses currently open in Puerto Rico, led by Trump International Golf Club, which hosts the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.