Diamante (El Cardonal)

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur

Rankings

AddressDiamante Blvd., 23473 Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., Mexico

The El Cardonal course at Diamante debuted at the end of 2014, one of the very first fledgling designs from Tiger Woods to open for play. After the unqualified success of the Dunes course in the global rankings, some might be inclined to feel sorry for anyone following Davis Love III with a new layout at the same location.

The Dunes is a hard act to follow, especially as this new track now occupies more of an inland, less visually exciting portion of the property. Sensibly, rather than copy the “Scottish links” aspect of the Dunes, Tiger constructed El Cardonal in the style of a “traditional California course,” one that would complement the other, not compete with it.

This design gives golfers a number of options when playing, allowing sound strategic decision making to be rewarded. Existing arroyos and fairway bunkers are some of the risk-reward hazards to be overcome and choices have to be made whether to carry an obstacle for an easier approach angle or play safe and leave a longer shot to the green.

As Tiger explains: “I set up the golf strategy to make golfers think and make choices. Regardless of your handicap, there are going to be different ways to play every hole. Angles of approach are going to be very important and will dictate the type of shots you should consider. I love this kind of golf.”

El Cardonal is a stout test from the back tees (measuring all of 7,363 yards and playing to a par of 72, with a slope/rating of 140/75.9) but there’s lots of fairway width to allow for the strong winds that often blow here. Greens are rather distinctive and they come in a variety of forms, like the T-shaped one on the 8th or the three-tiered version on the 18th.

Fairways are routed around several sandy arroyos – such as at the par three 9th hole – and a number of natural hazards have also been assimilated into the design, evidenced by the large specimen desert plum tree that sits to the right of the green at the par five 14th and the big Cardon cactus that lies short and right of the green at the following hole.