Riviera Maya Golf Club - Championship Course

I have played this course about 10 times and one feature is the very slow play. Part of the reason is that the course is long, there is no roll, and even slightly errant shots are gone (they should start everyone on back nine). However, they let out fivesomes, and many golfers are playing their one round for the year. A golfer in the group in front of us was laying 6, still not on the green, and it was the par 3 second hole.

On that same second hole, after we waited for two groups to tee off, when we finally were on the green, a Marshall came out and chastised us for slow play. Luckily, the cart girl told them it was groups in front of us (BTW-he only approached the women, not the men to chastise).

By the fourth hole, according to the gps, we were 23 minutes behind pace. One group ahead of us then dropped out and suddenly the pace returned to normal. At the turn, we were still 23 minutes behind, meaning that we were playing on pace, but had not sped up. Nobody was pushing us. The starter came out and told us we needed to skip the hole because we were playing slow. This was the first time anyone said anything since the 2nd hole. I refused, but my wife, totally humiliated, forced me to skip. Ironically, when we got to the 11th, we had to wait on the tee box. The Marshall then followed us for the next three holes, not at a discrete distance, but right up on us. On the 12th hole he told us to play from the Ladies Tees. ( I was not having a great round but broke 95 for the day. 11.2 hdcp.) I told him to leave us alone or give us our money back and we would gladly leave. He finally left. We finished 14 minutes behind pace on the round.

This was the second round we played this trip. The first took 5:10. Ironically, on Christmas Eve we played and had a completely open course for the front nine. Played in 1:52, but we kept getting messages that we were holding up play. However, at the turn, we suddenly had a fivesome inserted in front of us and the back took 2:40.

As for course conditions, drives would often plug despite no rain for the 4 days prior, and greens were very inconsistent. Greens need to be cut and rolled daily, but some were “hairy”.

BTW-If wondering why we kept playing there, we had bought a 3 round package.

My partner and I are based in Seattle, US. But spend the winter months in Tulum, MX.

If you are staying in Tulum, this is a must play.

Course was perfect.

Pace of play was not fast enough. The course was not busy and we waited on the group in front of us on every tee box for 10-15 min. They were atrocious. Completely ruined the back 9 for us.

The staff inside the clubhouse and check-in are clueless and at times rude. They even ignore people that come inside. As a player who has played at this course over 15 times while staying at my home here, I am dissapointed with what I observed. Five some in front let us play through which was appreciated. But surpised they let out a five some in the first place. In addition, there was no mention of the greens being aerated. Therefore, the greens were awful. Consequently, there should have been a reduction in the rate. Also, cart was always on path (cart path only due to rain the day before and that morning), which is understandable. However, while cart remained on the cart path at all times, there were several instances where the cart's gps thought the cart was not on the path and would stop, and screen would incorrectly indicate that it was cart path only that day. I would have to sit for 20 seconds then accelerate cart again for it to operate, all while the cart remained on the concrete cart path at all times (was not even on the gravel waste areas near the cart path) when this occurred multiple times. Lots of fluff for the eye at this course (especially in the club house), yet it is for image only. I am certain that other areas of the course have additional issues once you peel back the layers and the false image presented.

This was my second round of golf in one week at this course. The course was still challenging but well worth the price. I will be back sooner than later to play it again

Past a few other golf courses on the way and no regrets! Highly recommend playing this golf course.

Great course. Good layout. Great maintained. GPS was very accurate and helpful. I would definitely play here again if I come to Cancun.

Nice course. Took me about 2.5 hours to play the front 9 then almost 2 hours for the next 5 holes. Packed it in on 16 when there were two groups waiting on the T blocks and 2 groups in the fairway. I suggest a better marshall service might help.

The course is gorgeous and was in such terrific shape that it was a great day of golf. The staff were all very friendly. The fairways and greens were really professionally manicured and as nice as any course I have played anywhere. I would definitely play this course again, and even at a rate of $160 it was so much better than many other courses in the area that I have played over the years that for the Riviera Maya I think it is a must play. The only issue some may have is that the course is not very forgiving once you are out of the fairway. The sides of fairways are often crowned and will kick errant shots into the jungle and you won't find them. So if you are not hitting it straight, you can lose a lot of balls. There is also a fair amount of water on many holes that again can claim a lot of balls if you are not on your game. But again, it is such a beautiful course, even on a rocky ball striking day it would be hard to have a bad time there.