February 26th, 2010
Jamaican Greens
The Caribbean’s largest English-speaking island Jamaica, is a feast of many flavours, and the familiar fare of rum, reggae, jerk chicken, sugary sand beaches and aquamarine waters are merely the appetisers – for the avid golfer there’s top shelf golf sunny side up.
We are at one of the Caribbean’s most stunning golf courses, carved out of 600 acres of lush greenery and rolling countryside, with panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea from 16 of the 18 holes. Golf clubs, balls, scorecard, tees, beverages and snacks are neatly arranged in our cart as we survey the surrounding landscape.
The par-71, 6,748-yard course was so named by its creators, golf course architects Robert von Hagge and Rick Baril, in reference to Annie Palmer, the notorious ‘White Witch,’ who was mistress of the Rose Hall Plantation in the early 19th Century on which the course is built.
The course certainly casts a spell, as it spills up and down the hills high above the sea. Many holes demand long and scary carries over chasms filled with rocks and two of the par-three holes feature stomach-dropping shots from elevated tees to water-fronted greens far below. “The White Witch is a course that will give you a different experience each time you play, and we have done that by creating multiple tees throughout,” says head golf professional Mike Cole.
The White Witch is situated on Jamaica’s north coast. It is one member of a quartet of premier courses that includes the Half Moon, the Tryall Club and Cinnamon Hill, all clustered around the elite enclave of Rose Hall, near Montego Bay. Although there are another eight courses on the island (including the oldest golf course in the Western Hemisphere, the historic 9-hole Manchester Club, founded in 1865), these four are the most varied and distinctive and provide a good focus for a Jamaican golf vacation.
The following morning we have a tee time with Director of Golf, Ewan Peebles, at Half Moon Golf Club. For Scottish born Ewan, a qualified PGA-pro since 2001 and a professional golfer for more than 11 years, each course in the Rose Hall area holds a certain charm. “To me, Half Moon is the most user friendly of the bunch and is more open and forgiving,” he says.
Half Moon’s signature hole is the relatively short, 362-yard par-4 fourth, which offers a choice of going for the green in one or hitting an iron down the open side to the green. It is well guarded by a water hazard to the right. My caddy, 31-year-old Orville Christie, known locally as the Jamaican John Daly, decides to tee one up and have a crack, but alas pushes it to the right.
Despite expert caddie advice on reading the nuances of the confusing Bermuda grass greens and a few three putts, we manage to hold it all together until holing out at the last. After tipping the excellent caddies and enjoying a beverage at the 19th hole, we head back to Half Moon resort to enjoy the facilities and an afternoon siesta.
Holes 5 and 6 are so close to the water that a cranky sea breeze can easily whip your ball into the deep.
Jamaican Greens
After Jamaican jerk, it’s back to the Jamaican greens as we tackle the final two courses of our north-coast quartet – the Tryall Club and Cinnamon Hill. Located 12 miles from Montego Bay, the Tryall Club is a 6,772-yard Ralph Plummer beauty built in 1960 and features spectacular ocean panoramas and exotic tree-lined fairways, with nine level holes by the sea and nine rolling holes in the hills.
By contrast to Half Moon and the Tryall Club, Cinnamon Hill offers a real variety of terrain. The gently rolling front nine of the 6,798-yard par 71, Robert von Hagge and Rick Baril layout opens under the gaze of the 18th-century Rose Hall Great House, then rambles past the walled graveyard of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s family and down to the ocean. Holes 5 and 6 are so close to the water that a cranky sea breeze can easily whip your ball into the deep.
In contrast, the back nine takes to the remote hills of the plantation, making its way through narrow canyons and across deep chasms with a handful of elevated tee shots. The par-3 fifteenth drops dramatically to a green next to a picturesque waterfall which was used as a location in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.
Robert is great company and keeps us nicely entertained with facts about the course, his planned changes, stories about caddying for Stephen during his famous victory at the Player’s Championship in 2006, and even throws a few much needed golf lessons into the mix.
The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across the final green of Cinnamon Hill, defining every undulation, bump and hollow. “Hope you’ve enjoyed it lads,” says Rob, after we all hole out. “Maybe catch you later for some jerk chicken and a Red Stripe?”