The Tryall Club

The verdict

Tryall is the round with a sense of place. Ralph Plummer, a Texan who built Champions and Preston Trail at home, made his only course outside the United States here in the late 1950s, draping the holes over the hills of an old sugar estate above the sea. It opened in 1958 as a par 71 of about 6,836 yards, and from the moment it hosted an episode of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf in 1962 it has carried a reputation out of proportion to its length.

The numbers undersell it because Tryall is about terrain and wind, not yardage. Holes climb and fall across the old plantation, the trade wind off the Caribbean swirls through the valleys, and water from the Flint River and the sea comes into play on the holes near the shore. It later hosted the Johnnie Walker World Championship from 1991 to 1995, gathering the game's best at the end of the year. It is a private club with villas, but it welcomes visitor play, and for a Jamaica golf trip it is the round that feels like nowhere else.

The holes worth the trip

The defining stretch runs near the water. The par 3 fourth plays toward the Caribbean with the Flint River and the sea both in the picture, the kind of hole that makes the round, while others climb back up toward the great house for views over the whole estate. Plummer used the natural fall of the plantation land rather than fighting it, so the round has a genuine up and down rhythm.

The wind is the examiner. Tryall sits open to the trade wind off the Caribbean, and the breeze funnels through the valleys so that the same hole can play two clubs different morning to afternoon. Length is rarely the issue at about 6,836 yards; position, flight and reading the wind off the water are what protect par here.

For a Montego Bay trip Tryall is the character round to set against the polish of the Rose Hall courses. We will pair it with the area's resort golf and book a tee time when the wind and the light favor the holes by the sea.

Where to stay nearby

Tryall is best experienced from inside its own gates, where the club's great house and a collection of private villas sit on the estate above the course and the sea. A villa stay with staff is the classic Tryall holiday and suits a group or a family taking the whole place at a relaxed pace.

If you would rather base in the Rose Hall resort corridor east of Montego Bay, Tryall is an easy half hour drive and pairs naturally with the area's other courses. We can build the stay either way. Tell us your dates and your group and we will match the base to the golf.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near The Tryall Club.