Palmilla Golf Club - The Mountain/Ocean Course

Important information

Greens always always are fast when putting towards the sea of Cortez and break toward the sun!

On most holes you must shape your drive. It’s the key to low scores. Ocean course 9 holes is beautiful but desert comes into play unless you hit your target

Course was not in great shape. Greens were poorly managed. Golf carts were so outdated and beat up. Seats were all torn in our cart. Lunch was good. Would not play it again

We played Palmilla, Quivira, and Puerto Los Cabos during our stay. All three courses are Nicklaus designed. Palmilla had the best and friendliest service BY FAR of the three courses and is what I will remember the most. Even though it was July, course conditions were decent(not great) but still not as good as the other two.

The cool towels provided at the driving range, the turn, by the cart girl were much welcomed.

We enjoyed playing the Mountain course more than the Ocean course, sans the hole that leads right up to the water.

Why four stars? Palmilla is a well-run and challenging golf course, but compared to the other two courses (which cost roughly the same) we just didn't leave with the same "wow" factor. The other two courses were in better conditions, had better views, and offered complimentary food and drinks between holes.

Played a round with Family and they accomadated 5 players, customer service and amenities were well worth the 100$ round. Fairways and greens were tournament worthy. If they could have lowered the temp 10-15 degrees it would have been perfect. Thank god I love the heat

Took a group for destination wedding and pumped up the course from previous plays. However this time was little let down. Group consensus was the traps were like hitting off concrete with a top coat of 1/16th inch of sand. Staff great, grens were top coated and did not hold even in tbe morning, but fast and putted true. Over priced yes, especially with 16% MX tax.

Very good putting surfaces, as with most resort courses there are holes that are fit into the piece of property but not enough of them to take away from the total enjoyment of the course.

Would be nice to have some tips/advice on course obstacles. River beds etc.

happy we didn’t pay regular full green fer

Palmilla is well conceived and designed. Staff was tremendous. But the conditions of course was below average and bunkers were possibly the worst I have ever played. Quivira absolutely blows Palmilla away in conditions, service, not to mention the incredible views.

San Jose del Cabo is home to some extraordinary Jack Nicklaus Golf designs: Quivira, El Dorado, the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol and Palmilla Golf Club are what come most quickly to mind. These courses span a time frame through the later stages of Jack's development as a designer (the early 90's to present) and all are spectacular. Palmilla is the only facility with 27 Jack Nicklaus-designed holes, though, and each of them offers a view down to the mindblowingly blue Sea of Cortez.

Each nine holes is named: The Arroyo, Mountain and Ocean and they move seamlessly through said geography. The routings are very similar in terms of length and difficulty: 7,000 to 6,800 from all the way back (Black Tees), sloping in the 140 to 137 range. The Gold Tees come in closer to 6,500 and a bit less, but the slopes remain pretty rough staying in the 137 to 135 range. Of the three, the Mountain to Ocean routing would be the choice - most picturesque as well as just flatly hard.

Nut and Bolts: Website

This is a Troon managed facility so you get a Troon white-labelled site. It will look very familiar to the user who has played or plays a Troon courses. While it is content heavy and fairly easy to navigate, it remains stuck in a look that seems to be about 10 years old. Overall, though, it works. (One last point: The Course Flyovers through Best Approach look terribly cheesy. 2010 content that would be annihilated by HD drone flyovers today. Just sayin'...)

Repetitive part of the review: As always, the playability of the course is determined by an honest appraisal of your skills. The choices of tees directly impacts the difficulty of driving. Park the ego. Play within yourself and enjoy the routings. Driving is moderate to very difficult. Approach shots are the same. Typical JWN green complexes and bunkering along with Sonoran Desert washes and ravines that look like you're in the Arizona Desert... with a gorgeous coastal view..!!???

Bring a camera. The par 5 seventh on the Arroyo, if you decide to play that nine, demands attention, particularly from the approach shot all the way to the green. Your view over the coast below is unforgettable. The par 4 fifth on the Mountain nine is NOT about the ocean: It is all about the incredible design vision of Mr. Nicklaus. The par 5 seventh will be memorable, too. The second and third holes on the Ocean Nine, as well as the final three holes make THAT nine the one that impresses itself on the mind most deeply.

Make sure to tee it up at The Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol as well as Robert Trent Jones Jr's Cabo Real, if you can. Questro Golf offers a package deal for that, along with the Gary Nicklaus-designed Club Campestre and the JWN/Greg Norman paired nines at Puerto Los Cabos.

This is a fabulous course. If in Cabo you must play this is a course. This course is fair but challenging!

I strongly recommend this course

Course layout was tough & challenging on some holes, boring on others. With club rental, $240. Don't know how it compares to other courses in area, but I had higher expectations.

Nice course, very challenging trying to understand the first few holes on the ocean 9, not much ocean but nice fairways and greens ( some were still sanded). Very much a target layout, challenging and I’d like to play it again.

Muy Bonita

They charged us an additional $16 per player taxes to play there

We have played Palmilla before Arroyo and Ocean. This was the first time we saw the Mountain 9. Palmilla (all 27) is one of the very best tracks in San Jose del Cabo. We highly recommend it.