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SAN JOSE del CABO, Mexico - The race to be Cabo's most luxurious golf community has been raging for more than two decades, but a front-runner might be emerging.
It's been four years since it was announced that Cabo del Sol's famed Ocean Course was rebranding into The Cove Club. Many months of planning, construction and change are finally starting to pay off across the 500-acre private club set within the 1,800-acre Cabo del Sol development.
I've visited Cabo del Sol at least three times since 2009, so it was quite a shock to return again in May and barely recognize the place. The clubhouse that once served those famous fish tacos was closed, awaiting renovation. I drove my golf cart on roads I didn't recognize. Everything's different, even the Ocean course.
The good news is one of the best courses ever designed by Jack Nicklaus is still great, as is what's sprouting up around it: a new beach club, a 96-room Four Seasons Resort set to open next year with 61 accompanying Four Seasons Private Residences, plus a future Park Hyatt. The Desert Course by Tom Weiskopf is also being completely rerouted by Jason Straka and Dana Fry into a publicly accessible new design that will cater to all golfers, including guests at Cabo del Sol's other hotel properties, the Hacienda del Mar and Fiesta Americana.
This seemingly endless variety of courses, real estate opportunities, member amenities and nearby hotel experiences aims to prop The Cove Club above its illustrious competition on the Baja Peninsula...even if there's still much work to be done.
Life at The Cove Club
When the Ocean course debuted in 1994, it immediately ranked among the world's top 100 courses by multiple publications. Since then, plenty of other challengers in Cabo have emerged, both ones that are fully private (El Dorado Golf & Beach Club and Querencia) and others that are resort-private, which means they require a stay to play (Diamante Cabo San Lucas, Twin Dolphin, Quivira, Chileno Bay, Solmar Golf Links and Costa Palmas).
No other course or development uses Cabo's comely coastline as deftly as The Cove Club. Cabo del Sol is blessed with more than two miles of beachfront on the Sea of Cortez, including swimmable coves, a rarity in the region's tumultuous waters where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez clash.
What's it like playing golf at The Cove Club
Although it was big news that The Cove Club lost its beachfront par-3 17th and par-4 18th to redevelopment, the new beach club that replaced it is simply stunning and will make more people happy. Golfers still get plenty of oceanfront action on the redesigned beachfront par 3s at nos. 6 and 7, plus two other scenic seaside greens at nos. 5 and 18 (the old 16th that's now a fun short par 4).
The “Bambi,” a vintage Airstream converted to a beachside taco stand on the seventh tee, is a favorite spot for everybody who plays. That's in addition to the two comfort stations stocked with all-you-can-eat drinks and snacks and the fact that no. 18 leads straight to the beachside Chiringuita restaurant where drinking and dining with toes in the sand is highly recommended.
Multiple holes on the Desert Course were sacrificed to create three new holes - nos. 10-12 - on The Cove Club. This rerouting allowed for the creation of a new practice facility. Its amenities - a Trackman Range (a first in Mexico) and an island-style range bar with music pumped in - make practicing and lessons more fun.
A sneak peek at the new Desert Course at Cabo Del Sol
The par 3s of the new Fry/Straka routing for the Desert Course will be a major talking point. The round will start and end on par 3s. Couple that with the do-or-die tee shot over a canyon on the par-3 12th, where almost everyone in my group's two foursomes lost a ball, and there's some controversy brewing. Will starting and ending on par 3s feel like a tricked-up gimmick? I'd like to see and play the whole 7,008-yard routing before passing full judgment.
“(It is) vastly different than any other course in Cabo," Fry told the Golf Wire. "The holes are visually intimidating, but they’re very playable. There’s a lot of eye candy.”
What real estate costs at The Cove Club
Eye candy seems to be a theme throughout The Cove Club. Virtually all of the 375 lots and residences for sale offer some sort of water views. There's more than 800 feet of elevation change from the mountainside portion of the property where the Desert Course is located down to the beach. Styles vary from oceanfront homesites to hotel residences, beach club villas and bungalows and mountainside ranchettes, ranging from $4 million to $19 million. The view from the residence I stayed in, home to a nice outdoor patio and plunge pool, overlooked both the course and the sea.
Even the fitness and wellness center delivers incredible vistas out to sea. Imagine sweating it up on a treadmill while watching migrating whales breaching.
There's also luxury spa facilities, fit pits in the sand, multiple dining venues with farm-to-table menus, a kids club, pools and more. The Ocean Experiences team can guide guests or give lessons on surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, boating, sailing and kayaking. High above, the Mountain Adventure Park will eventually house mountain biking and hiking trails, a grill, zip lining and an archery and BB gun range.
My first pickleball lesson with the two resident instructors at Agave Park, a complex with four courts, tennis and more, was totally a blast. I can see why it's so addicting.
Cabo has developed into quite the foodie scene as well thanks to California's expensive tastes. We sipped on fine tequilas at a tasting before dining inside after dark when the wind kicked up outside.
How much does The Cove Club cost?
Now for the real talk: the cost. An inter-generational membership (which allows access to the parents, children and grandchildren of members) costs $225,000 in addition to a real estate purchase. Dues for 2023 are $34,000 with HOA fees estimated at $2,000-$4,500 a month depending on the property purchased.
Escalating costs remain the big knock on Cabo. When Nicklaus first came, it was a sleepy fishing village with no tourism, but Cabo's beautiful weather and its gorgeous combination of the desert, mountains and sea has led to its ascension as one of North America's hottest destinations. The $300 rounds of golf and $500-per-night resort stays are becoming the norm. As we all know, paradise - which The Cove Club aims to deliver - is never free.
What's your favorite course in Cabo? Let us know in the comments below.
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