With more than 25 golf courses already open and several more under construction, the Dominican Republic can rightly claim to be the golf capital of the Caribbean. The second-largest Caribbean nation after Cuba, this Latin-flavoured tropical beach paradise was where the New World’s first European colony was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti.

It is the world’s largest cigar producer, but these days Dom Rep, as it is often called, is earning plaudits for its pars, thanks to designs by notables including father and son architects Pete and PB Dye, Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones Sr, Gary Player and Sir Nick Faldo. Indeed, it was recognised as the Latin America and Caribbean Golf Destination of the Year for 2009 in the golf industry’s premier honours, the IAGTO Awards, while Puntacana Resort and Club was named Golf Resort of the Year for the same regions in the 2011 IAGTO Awards.

There are golf courses all around the coast, more than one-third of them opened in the past 10 years. Most of the golf is centred on its east coast, which is also where most visitors head to because of the numerous all-inclusives centred in and around Punta Cana and nearby Bavaro, as well as La Romana in the south-east.

This area boasts mile upon mile of sugar-soft, white beaches and its tourism infrastructure is currently undergoing a multi-billion dollar investment programme with mega resorts featuring new designer-label golf layouts, luxury accommodation and facilities including marinas.

Some of the best courses are part of lavish resorts and in stunning coastal settings. Casa de Campo Resort, in La Romana, is the setting for a trio of Pete Dye creations – the first of them, Teeth of the Dog, responsible for putting the Dominican Republic on the golfing
map after it opened in 1971 with seven holes right on the Caribbean, its name deriving from the jagged rock outcrops resembling a dog’s teeth. It has since been joined by The Links and Dye’s critically-acclaimed third tour de force at the resort, Dye Fore,  The 18th hole at La Cana which is set on a plateau high above the Chavon River.

Teeth of the Dog may have been around for 40 years but it still hasn’t lost its wow factor and regularly ranks among the Caribbean’s best. A 2005 revamp helped sharpen its bite again, with several holes lengthened. The Caribbean comes into play on several holes, starting with the par-3 5th hole, with tee and green jutting into the sea, and also including even more daunting par 3 7th, the testing par-4 8th and holes 15 to 17, which skirt the sea again before the 18th returns shell-shocked golfers to the clubhouse.

The Links opened in 1975 and echoes traditional links, featuring deep pot bunkers, doglegs and water.

Completing the Casa de Campo set, Dye Fore’s forte is its perilous clifftop setting 300ft above the Chavon River, featuring seven holes right on the cliff edge. This is a course for long hitters but the fairways are generous. Its finest holes, the majestic par-3 12th and 15th, both require nerves of steel to cross yawning chasms.

Taking cues from his dad, PB Dye has carved another monster from cliffs which tower above the snaking Chavon at nearby La Estancia, requiring several shots where you take on a plunging ravine – and pray your strike is crisp. It stretches almost 7,400 yards but has wide, forgiving fairways and forms part of an upmarket, hilltop residential community.

Dye junior also worked his magic on La Cana at Puntacana Resort, with 14 of its holes offering views of the adjacent Caribbean and huge waste bunkers a key feature of the course. Signature hole is the wonderful par-4 7th, which tempts the brave to go for the green over a waste bunker, palm trees and a pot-bunkered, mounded no-man’s-land named Hecklebirnie after the Scottish folklore purgatory. The par-3 12th has shades of TPC Sawgrass with its island green.

Puntacana Resort is also the setting for the breathtaking, new Corales course, by Tom Fazio. It was built as the private plaything for the multi-millionaires whose  mansions lie hidden just off its fairways, among them Julio Iglesias and Shakira, but it is open to Puntacana guests also playing La Cana. It sits on a stunning piece of land with seven holes perched atop wave-pounded cliffs, the par-4 8th requiring two carries over the crashing surf. The final trio of holes, called the Devil’s Elbow, is one of golf’s most scenic and challenging finishes and ends with what Dye calls “the mother of all holes” – a U-turn around sheer cliffs and pounding waves.

Yet more stunning coastal views are on offer at Cap Cana’s Punta Espada course. This Jack Nicklaus masterwork opened to rave reviews in 2006 and was the first of three layouts by the Golden Bear that will grace the resort. Punta Espada has eight holes by the Caribbean. The 611-yard, par-5 2nd sets the tone for the course as it doglegs around an inlet to a green cupped on three sides by bunkers and the sea after a drive from a tee atop a limestone ridge. Other standout holes include the par-5 12th and par-3 13th, both of which play to greens edged by rocks and sea, while the 17th demands a drive over a bay to a fairway set almost at right angles and edged by the rocky shore.

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