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Caribbean Classic
Casa De Campo Provides Timely Getaway
By John Steinbreder
LA ROMANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | After receiving my second COVID-19 vaccine in April, I went immediately to the map of the world that hangs in my office and started pondering places I wanted to visit once I felt well-protected enough to hit the road.
I needed golf wherever I ventured. Good golf, too, and something in warmer climes with reliably sunny weather and located on the water. That way, I had a sea to swim in when my rounds were done and a beach on which I could sip a potent rum drink as I soaked up a setting sun. Access to a spa, for a proper massage and other treatments, would be nice, too.
Another priority was a spot that seemed safe and somewhat self-contained. I felt relieved having gotten vaccinated without having fallen ill during the pandemic. But now that I was inoculated, I did not want to throw caution entirely to the wind by traveling where infection rates ran high and vaccination numbers were low.
After much contemplation, I settled on Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, the second largest country in the Caribbean and the place where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492. In many ways, it was an easy decision because the destination met criteria I had laid out for myself. I also had visited there several times in years past and heartily enjoyed all it had to offer. In addition, I liked its versatility and how the resort easily catered to guys on a buddy golf trip, couples in search of a romantic getaway or families looking to vacation together. Casa de Campo also works as a place for golf professionals from afar to bring members for offseason breaks.
Perhaps the biggest allure for me were the three Pete Dye courses at the resort, all of which he designed with input from his wife, Alice. Together, they represent some of his very best work, especially Teeth of the Dog, with seven holes running along the Caribbean Sea and water coming into view on several others. My research also reminded me that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of that masterpiece, which was named for the way workers described how the rock coral resembled diente de perro, or teeth of the dog, during construction. So, there was more to celebrate than just being able to get out of town.
The shooting center, which features a superior sporting clays course as well as skeet, trap and box-bird shooting for Barbary pigeons, was another attraction. Same with the marina that boasts berths for 370 yachts (some of which are bigger than my childhood home) and also is the place to charter fishing boats for those looking to land a once-in-a-lifetime marlin.
A number of eateries also populate that area, the one called SBG being a personal favorite, and they serve up stylish fare that is as delectable as the seaside setting.
Horseback riding is also offered at Casa de Campo, and a trail ride is not a bad way to while away an afternoon. Unless, of course, you would rather take in a high-goal polo match, which is also a frequent occurrence. And few things are better than lolling on Minitas Beach and watching green- and blue-hued waves gently roll onto the sugar-sand coast as fronds from nearby palm trees rustle in the trade winds.
I also liked that Casa de Campo, which is actually a 7,000-acre gated community with 260 hotel rooms and some 1,800 villas, appeared to possess a deep respect for all the havoc the pandemic had wrought - and what needed to be done to keep both residents and guests protected. In addition the resort offered on-site COVID-19 testing for guests who needed to prove they were virus-free when they returned to their homelands.
What also sold me on making this trip was seeing some of the enhancements Casa de Campo had made just before the pandemic. The beach club now featured two spacious pools as well as private cabanas, a show kitchen and food trucks. The golf learning center had been modernized with the latest in club-fitting and swing-analysis equipment as well as two indoor hitting bays – and now was run by a golf professional in Eric Lilliebridge who knows just how to utilize that gear. And just off his base of operations is the recently revamped, 21-acre practice range, which stretches 460 yards from end to end and includes 17 target greens and an extensive short-game area. Five-stand sporting clays had been added to the shooting mix, and a stylish Mexican restaurant called Chilango Taqueria had come online at Altos de Chavón, the resort’s artist community that was modeled by a noted Hollywood set designer after a 16th-century village.
Then, there are a pair of memorials to Dye, who had passed away at Casa de Campo in January 2020 – and who with his wife had not only kept a second home here for years but also did so much to make it such a celebrated golf destination. One is a statue of the designer outside the pro shop at Teeth of the Dog. And the other a plaque behind the green on No. 8, a wind-whipped par-4 of modest length that runs along the Caribbean.
Clearly, there was lots to see and do.
Created half a century ago and located on the southern coast of the DR, Casa de Campo has been evolving through the years. The site was developed originally in the early 1970s as an executive retreat by corporate leaders at Gulf + Western who also were operating a nearby sugar mill. But G+W sold its holdings a decade later and the new owners started to take the property to new levels, not only upgrading the resort element of Casa de Campo (which translates from Spanish into country home) but also building a smart, seaside community that now includes all those villas.
That commitment to getting better continues to this day.
I noticed that shortly after I arrived for my latest visit and began a round on Teeth. The course was as well-conditioned as I had seen it, as if it had been prepared for a tournament. My tee shots ran out nicely on fairways that played very firm, and the greens rolled true and just fast enough. The wind was up a bit, as I hoped it would be, and sea water sometimes leapt into the air just feet from where I was teeing up my drives or lining up my putts. Every now and then, I felt the salty spray from the Caribbean against my legs.
A game on the Chavón and Marina nines of the 27-hole Dye Fore complex later in the journey was just as satisfying, though I was not sure which of those loops I liked best. Chavón is, in a word, dramatic, with all or parts of seven of its holes perched on clifftops rising some 300 feet above a river gorge. But the visuals on the Marina are stunning in their own way, the holes meandering down toward the harbor and all those slips with million-dollar boats and then heading up the hill to the clubhouse again.
Afterward, Robert Birtel, the director of golf who accompanied me on that round, brought me to the Chilango Taqueria for lunch. My repast included fresh shrimp tacos and homemade tortilla chips that I dipped into bowls of pico de gallo and guacamole. And when Margarito, the tequila donkey, sauntered by, I felt it was only right that I finish things off with a small tumbler of a smoky mezcal.
During the next couple of days, I checked out other parts of Casa de Campo, both old and new. The new five-stand facility, for one, where a Dominican shooting “pro” named Sandy pulled for me and provided expert advice as to stance and swing along the way. The spa, for another, where the seven individual treatment rooms have their own entrances, showers, changing areas and patio gardens. And as was the case after my golf games and trip to the taqueria, I came away from each one of those experiences convinced that I had made the right move.
This was the place for me to come.