Chapelco Golf Club

The verdict

Chapelco sits in the lake country around San Martin de los Andes in the Neuquen province, where Argentine Patagonia turns from steppe to forest. Jack Nicklaus and his son Jack Nicklaus II, working with Greg Letsche, routed the course over rolling ground beside Lake Lacar and the Quilquihue river, with the Lanin volcano and the high Andes filling the horizon. Opened in 2004, it was the first Nicklaus layout to come to South America and it remains the design family with which most traveling golfers begin a Patagonian trip.

What sets it apart from the great Buenos Aires clubs is access. Where the Jockey Club and Olivos are private, Chapelco is a resort course you can simply book, which makes it the natural anchor for a golf and nature trip through the Argentine Lake District. The par 72 measures about 7,163 yards from the back tees, long enough to test a low handicap yet framed so generously that the scenery, not the card, is what stays with most who play it.

The holes worth the trip

The round threads between water, native forest and the broad valley floor, with the Lanin volcano standing over the back nine. Nicklaus gives generous landing areas off many tees, then asks the questions at the green, where firm putting surfaces and well placed bunkers reward the approach played from the correct angle. The wind off the Andes can swing a club or two between the sheltered and the exposed holes.

Water is the recurring theme, with the Quilquihue river and a series of lakes brought into play on the more dramatic holes. The closing stretch plays back toward the clubhouse and the mountains, the kind of finish that photographs as well as it plays. None of it is tricked up; this is a modern resort course built to be enjoyed by good players and holiday golfers alike.

Because Chapelco sits at altitude in clean mountain air, the ball carries a touch farther than the yardage suggests, so club selection rewards a second look. Most visitors take a caddie or a cart and give themselves time to take in the views, which on a clear Patagonian morning are among the finest in world golf.

Where to stay nearby

Most golfers base themselves in San Martin de los Andes itself, a handsome alpine style town on the shore of Lake Lacar with lodges, boutique hotels and good restaurants within a short drive of the course. It makes an easy and atmospheric base for two or three rounds.

Many traveling golfers combine Chapelco with Bariloche, three hours south along the Seven Lakes route, where the Llao Llao resort adds a second mountain course and a grand lakeside hotel. Together the two towns make a complete Patagonian golf and scenery week.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around San Martin de los Andes and the Argentine Lake District.