Barbados / Special Interests / Golf

There are excellent facilities for golfers on Barbados, with seven courses including some of the best in the Caribbean – although the newest of them, Apes Hill Golf Club, is reserved for members who own property at Apes Hill and their guests.

Courses, the majority of which are championship-standard, are maintained to a very high level. They are mostly situated on the west and south coasts, with some giving excellent views to the coast and over the Caribbean. The settings are lush and very attractive, but the trade winds can be a significant factor at times.

Apes Hill Golf Club, St James - Opened in December, 2009, Apes Hill is a private course set 1000 feet above sea level in the centre of the island amidst a diverse landscape of rolling meadows, tropical forest and coral stone quarries. It is part of a residential development covering 470 acres.

Barbados Golf Club, Christ Church - This course in the south of Barbados reopened in 2000 with a redesign by Ron Kirby aimed at producing a fair but challenging game for golfers of any ability. A par 72, it measures 6805 yards and is a visual delight. It is open to visitors, and guests staying at partner hotels can enjoy special packages including three-day and seven-day unlimited golf passes. The course was sanctioned by the European Tour to hold a PGA Seniors tournament in 2003 and has hosted the Barbados Open several times. The clubhouse has a sports bar-style restaurant and bar as well as a pro shop. Rental clubs, buggies and trolleys are available.

Sandy Lane, St James - One of the Caribbean’s most stylish and elite properties, the golf is very much up to par with the rest of the resort, a Leading Hotels of the World member. Tiger Woods chose it for his wedding, in happier times. There are 45 holes of golf on three courses at Sandy Lane, which is set on the west coast of the island. Two of the courses – Green Monkey and the Country Club – are the handiwork of design great Tom Fazio.

Named for the creatures that abound in the lush local forests, Green Monkey opened in 2004 as a par 72, 7343-yard course carved out of an old limestone quarry with dramatic, exposed rocks contrasting the verdant greens and fairways. Look out for the signature, monkey-shaped grass island in the bunker of the par-3 16th. Tee times are limited and caddies and buggies (all are equipped with GPS) are mandatory.

The par 72, 7060-yard Country Club course incorporates nine holes of the original 1961-designed course in a challenging creation by Fazio which hosted the 2006 World Golf Championships Barbados World Cup, won by the German team of Bernhard Langer and Marcus Siem. Buggies and caddies are also mandatory on here. The Old Nine is what remains of the original course and comprises an intimate par 36, 3345-yard layout with narrow, tree-lined fairways and small greens.

The double-ended driving range allows golfers to hit against the prevailing trade winds. There are also practice putting and bunker facilities. Rental shoes and clubs are available from the well-equipped pro shop in the luxurious, classic clubhouse. The clubhouse restaurant offers informal dining with panoramic views of the Country Club and Green Monkey courses and the Caribbean. Watching the sun set over the courses and ocean with a post-round cocktail is very popular.

Royal Westmoreland, St James - One of the top-ranked courses in the Caribbean, this par 72, 7045-yard beauty is the work of design guru Robert Trent Jones Jr. The course makes excellent use of the environment, both natural and man-made, such as with the 5th and 6th holes, which are set in a disused coral stone quarry, and the par-3 12th, with its green bordering a ravine. Golfers will find a plethora of bunkers, while the Caribbean can be seen from every green. The elegant, colonial-style clubhouse features a restaurant with open-sided dining room overlooking the course to the ocean. It also has a pro shop with rental clubs, buggies and trolleys. Private tuition is available. Golf is available to holidaymakers renting its luxury villas and apartments and to its residents, many of them celebrities. Tee times for non-resident visitors are limited. A second course by Rees Jones, brother of Robert Trent Jones Jr, is also planned.

Rockley Golf & Country Club, Christ Church - A nine-hole executive course with alternative tees for the back nine holes, 18 holes at Rockley measure 5610 yards with a par of 70. As a short course, long hitters can fill their boots – although errant shots are punished by well-placed trees. The course features long par 3s. The clubhouse has a bar, restaurant and pro shop, with buggy, trolley and club rental. There is a practice driving range and group or individual tuition is available.