CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — In early November, I crossed another item off my golf bucket list, hacking it around for two days at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Quivira Golf Club in Cabo.
Memo to self: What the heck took you so long?
Quivira, about a half hour from the Los Cabos International Airport – and a short drive from the most hospitable Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort – offers one challenging hole after another, though three are likely to make a lasting impression.
Let’s start with No. 6, a breathtaking, dogleg par 4 carved into the side of a mountain, with disaster – the Pacific Ocean – looming on the left and loads of trouble on the right. Where, I kept asking myself, does one try to hit it … once you stop taking pictures, that is?
By the way, the journey on the path from the fifth green to the sixth tee – I was told later that it runs about a mile – had taken me five minutes, perhaps longer. I felt as if I were ascending into heaven. Once you get to the top, however, you will be rewarded with a comfort station of food and drinks to sooth you in preparation for the task ahead: Finding the fairway.
Finding the Holy Grail might be easier.
Same for the approach. No, it’s not the eighth hole at Pebble Beach, but you will be in awe.
And full of anxiety.
There is almost no room behind the green. Get out of there with a five and you’ll feel that you escaped rather unscathed.
Then comes No. 7, a medium-length par 3, which is also daunting, the Pacific occupying the same precarious spot and more trouble on the right. Again, bogey isn’t the worst thing in the world.
After making the turn, it is easy to assume that no hole could possibly surpass six or seven. Easy and wrong.
Number 14, another par 3, is not particularly long, either, though it requires a precise poke over a wall of granite that is about 150 feet above the sand. Fortunately, if you go a little left, the slope will steer the ball onto the putting surface. Note: You may not be able to line up your putt the usual way, the cliff dangerously close.
Oops … I left out No. 13, a 635-yard double-dogleg par five (from the tips) with bunkers and enough vegetation to grab your attention. Below is the site of battle scenes from the 2004 film “Troy,” which starred Brad Pitt as the heroic warrior, Achilles. Speaking of Achilles – my Achilles heel, that is – is letting me down after reaching the putting surface.
I’m sure I left out a few other gems, as well.
Bottom line: Quivira, for all its challenges, is a revelation, a fun ride from start to finish. In the holes themselves and the views from all over the course.
Go there as soon as you can. Don’t wait until it’s time for your own bucket list.