Cayman Islands / Special Interests / Golf

By Tim Ecott

Grand Cayman is not a major golfing destination but if you simply must play when you are on holiday then there are three golf courses. The Jack Niklaus designed Britannia championship course (par 70/71) welcomes visitors, but advance booking is highly recommended. The North Sound Club boasts the only 18-hole Championship course in Cayman (par 70/71) and is open to visitors. Designed to incorporate panoramic views of the North Sound the course is attractively designed to maximise the feel of playing on an island.

Residents at the Ritz Carlton resort have exclusive access to their own 9-hole ‘Blue Tip’ (par 36) course designed by Greg Norman. This is a challenging course designed to give sufficient interest to golfers of all levels – sometimes described as a ‘Caribbean monster’.

Golf historians will be interested to know that when Jack Nicklaus developed the original course on Grand Cayman he invited a manufacturer to create a special ball that would be suitable for a short course – and the resulting ball is about half the weight of a normal golf ball. The ‘Cayman Ball’ is principally used now on ‘pitch and putt’ courses rather than in Cayman itself.