The Links at Casa de Campo

The verdict

Every great resort needs a course that flatters the guest as well as one that tests the visitor, and at Casa de Campo that role falls to The Links. Pete Dye built it in 1976, five years after he carved Teeth of the Dog out of the coral coast, and where that course is all menace and ocean, The Links moves inland over gentler, rolling terrain that more than one writer has compared to the open feel of British and Scottish golf. It is the most forgiving of the resort's three Dye courses by a clear margin.

That does not mean it is soft. A par 71 of around 6,700 yards, it still carries Dye's fingerprints: fairways that bend left and right and ask you to choose the right angle off the tee, dozens of bunkers, and a stretch on the back nine where inland lagoons come into play on five straight holes. But the corridors are wide and the slope rating modest, so a mid handicapper can enjoy it and a good player can let the driver off the leash. As a complement to Teeth of the Dog and the clifftop Dye Fore, it completes one of the most concentrated Pete Dye collections anywhere.

The holes worth the trip

The Links earns its name on the front nine, where the ground tumbles and rolls and the wide fairways invite a confident swing. Dye gives you room off the tee here, but he also makes you think: the fairways curve, the bunkering is placed to catch the lazy line, and the angle into each green rewards the player who has worked out where to drive it. After the white knuckle drama of Teeth of the Dog, the relief of a generous landing area is part of the pleasure.

The character shifts on the back nine, where a sequence of holes runs around the resort's inland lagoons. Water comes into view on roughly five straight holes from the twelfth, framing tee shots and approaches and asking for a steadier nerve than the opening stretch. None of it is unfair, but it sharpens the test late in the round just as the score is taking shape, which is exactly how a good resort course should build.

What stays with you is the variety within a single property: the same architect, the same era, three completely different golfing experiences. The Links is the one you finish feeling you played well, and that, on a trip built around the fearsome Teeth of the Dog, is no small thing.

Where to stay nearby

The only base that makes sense for The Links is Casa de Campo itself, one of the Caribbean's grandest resorts: hotel rooms, suites and a sprawl of private villas spread across a gated estate that also holds a marina, an Altos de Chavon artisans' village and its own beaches. Staying on property is what unlocks the guest green fees and the easy logistics of playing all three courses across a few days.

From there the wider Dominican Republic is an easy add, whether you fly in through Punta Cana to pair Casa de Campo with the courses of the east coast or simply settle in and let the resort handle everything. For most golfers, this is a stay put trip, and a very comfortable one.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts at Casa de Campo.