Copyright 2000 by Scott Hays
Magazine: The Boardroom Magazine
Topic: Travel and Leisure in the Dominican Republic
Byline: Scott Hays

How long has it been since you played golf and/or attended a conference at a resort outside the U.S. where you had every need met—without having to ask or even acknowledge that you needed—by a friendly, mostly brown-eyed staff of professionals?

Would you send postcards to everyone wishing they were here?

Consider this my postcard from the Casa de Campo Resort in La Romana on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic.

More specifically: Last February, I voluntarily and for the free trip to an exotic location, gave a lecture on on-line advertising to members of the TransWorld Advertising Agency Network—a non sequitur for the purposes of this article except to say that I used the opportunity to build into the program a vacation of my own.

From what I understand, La Romana was once a thriving sugar plantation until the 1970's when some large and powerful U.S. company, with probably triple the money of all the Caribbean islands combined, developed Casa de Campo, a 7,000 acre property with three 18-hole championship golf courses (one of which is the private La Romana Country Club, for members only). Golf course architect Pete Dye designed the inland "Links" and the "Dientes de Perro" (Teeth of the Dog), which provides spectacular views along the coast and seven holes right on the shoreline. The "Links" is a challenging inland course, with hilly terrain and rolling vistas, while a third Pete Dye masterpiece is currently under development near the recreated 16th century (or 17th, who can tell the difference?) Spanish village of Altos de Chavon, and will be available to resort guests sometime later this year.

For those of you into travel stats, the Dominican Republic is located on the second largest island in the Caribbean, with that pesky little country Haiti occupying its western-most third. It's a country blessed with a temperature that seems preset to spring-summer year round for the comfort of visitors, and Spanish is the official language, although most people seem to speak some English.

This may be the place to insert that back in 1998, Hurricane Georges pounded Casa de Campo for nine hours with winds of 125 mph. It apparently took several months of superhuman effort to reopen the resort's doors and now, two-and-a-half years later, former guests claim it's a whole other kind of vision—the kind attributed to magnificent new gardens and winding pathways of orange-purple bougainvillea. Although the main attraction is still golf, there are also charming beaches, fine dining, a polo field and dude ranch, and—get this—a shooting center.

Getting around is best done by golf cart, which allows you to cruise the fleshly asphalted winding roads that lead from the main hotel area to the 15,000 sq. ft. of conference/meeting space; from the 300 spacious casita rooms with private balconies to the 110 foot pheasant and duck tower of the shooting range; from the dude ranch and polo field to Minitas Beach (not the most attractive Caribbean beach, but nice nevertheless). One could easily get lost in this place and not even realize there's more to this country than just the resort.

One answer perhaps to why golfers (and people who organize conferences) may, at first glance overlook Casa de Campo as a great destination comes from Golf Director Gilles Gagnon, who's been with the resort 21 years.

"We're not the Hyatt," he says. "We don't have a lot of money for marketing and advertising, so roughly 75 percent of our guests have been coming here for years, which is good because you develop a lot of close relationships this way."

And I'll admit that by the end of the first day at Casa de Campo, I sensed a far, far different kind of vacation experience—hard to pin down, really, but something close to what you might call tranquility.

By the way, if you're interested, the Teeth of the Dog course was built entirely with hand-labor and offers half a dozen surgically etched holes on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Nature has created a framework surrounding the course that is truly unforgettable. Each hole is etched into a player's memory providing perhaps the most important testament one can give any golf course ... total recall of each and every shot at the completion of play and for years to come.

The course will play from 4,521 yards to 6,461 yards, depending on which of the four sets of tees you choose. A pleasurable experience for golfers of all levels is ensured with strong Caribbean breezes challenging each stroke, vast waste areas, unobstructed green approaches, hand-sculpted putting surfaces, and a unique assortment of pot and elevated bunkers and – no kidding – an international airport where just last year, 727s and guests with their private planes and corporate jets would land daily.

But the airport went dark on December 25th, 2000, once the new airport in La Romana opened for business.

"Golfers couldn't get across the 12th or 18th holes while planes were landing or taking off," Gagnon says. "Small planes weren't so bad, but the big planes would stop golf for five to ten minutes. It felt like the 727s were landing right on top of you. Although we're going to miss it, we're not going to miss the noise and the traffic of waiting for the jets/planes to land.

A portion of the landing strip/airport remains as a memory of another time.

The Links on the inland side of the resort offers small greens and several lagoons, and the occasional view of the Caribbean. It plays from 4,521 yards to 6,461 yards. Course fees range from $100 for the Links to $150 for Teeth of the Dog.

The third course will be perched high on the cliffs above the winding Chavan River around the village of Altos de Chavan, the 16th-17th century village replica, recreated by hand of sand, iron and wood with winding cobblestone streets, stone carvings, cool fountains, shady pathways and a 5,000-seat Grecian-style (the brochure's description, not mine) amphitheater where international artists such as the late-great Frank Sinatra, Julio Islesias and Gloria Estefan have performed.

The new course will be planted exclusively with two new strains of grass that apparently thrive on salt water. The grasses (Sea Isle One for the fairways and tees, and Sea Isle 2000 for the greens) can be watered directly from the ocean. What exactly this means for golfers I couldn't tell you, but Gagnon says that when plays begin on this new grass and people see its beauty and durability "the face of golf will change not only in the Caribbean but anyplace where fresh water is in short supply."

But of course all this hype about recreated 16th century Spanish villages and spectacular ocean views and championship golf courses with new strains of grass means nothing if you fail to recognize what I'm trying to tell you, here—that although the Dominican Republic may not be foremost on your mind when you think of competitive golf and a board of directors conference, from this writer's perspective it appears to be one of the best values in the Caribbean.