Just a short 45-minute drive further north, TPC Cartagena at Karibana is only the second licensed TPC property to open in Latin America (following TPC Cancun in Mexico) and the 18-hole layout forms the center piece of a 360-acre real estate development. Jack Nicklaus designed the course.
Opened in October 2014, the course hosted the first Cartagena de Indias at Karibana Championship on the Web.com Tour the following year, an event won by Texan Andrew Landry at something of a canter as he finished five strokes ahead of the field.
The front nine holes are situated inland,on the edge of a small forest, with fairways routed around six man-made lakes.The back nine – configured as three par threes, three par fours and three par fives – is more open, flirting with yet more water along the coast.
Six man-made lakes lace Karibana’s front nine, which is ringed by dense national forest, and a back nine boasts handsome panoramas of the Caribbean. The course eases players into the round with an expansive fairway on the first hole, then dials up the difficulty at hole Nos. 3 and 5, a pair of bunker-laden par 3s. The wind-in-your-face 13th is the most challenging hole, with water lurking on both sides of the fairway and beyond the green, and greenside bunkers that menace approach shots.
In addition to enjoying some of the best golf in Latin America, TPC Cartagena at Karibana members have the opportunity to enjoy the full range of amenities on the property, including an upscale clubhouse and expansive golf practice facility; the Karibana Beach Club, featuring an exclusive thematic beach, a full-service bar, pool, sundeck and the property’s Maroma Restaurant; a tennis facility; a variety of water sports; and ecological tours.
