Antigua, Guatemala. At La Reunion Golf Resort, on a clear day you can see four volcanoes and the Pacific Ocean from the first tee. One of the massive four cones is directly behind you and the course is built on the slope of the Volcano they call Fuego. It’s the only one of the four that is continually active, which is why they called the course Maya Fire.
It was 9:00 in the morning and the low-hanging clouds and mist completely obscured the fairway to #1, downhill somewhere and 362 yards off the blue tees. I was part of a foursome that included Nick Zappin, the new head pro, his soon to be brother-in-law Yann Charbonney and his hotelier partner, Mario Beaulieu. The carts were loaded by the caddies and this was ‘hurry up and go’ golf: no practice swings, no time on the putting green, put on the crinkled glove, fine a tee and fire away into the fog.
This wasn’t my first time here but it was the first time I came to play a round on what is a truly magnificent 18 hole, 7000 yard plus Pete and Perry Dye masterpiece. The golf resort, eleven miles outside of Guatemala’s premier tourist draw known as Antigua, has an unusual back-story. Originally a large coffee farm, the property was purchased by a group of nine very wealthy business men from Guatemala City and intended as a weekend place to play on their dirt bikes. As age and reality came along, the idea of a first class five star golf resort, with residential lots and the trimmings came into fruition: As with the very rich in Latin America they went to their own pockets for the eighty million dollars worth of what’s now known as La Reunion. The lots of the first phase of some ninety are sold and a few houses are being built. The twenty odd mini-suites are in place and the clubhouse offers two superb restaurants, a bar and the best facilities that money can buy.
I was the last one up on Hole #1: I hadn’t played in over a year and that was on the tatty nine-hole course of an abandoned housing/golf course south of Antigua, on the slope of the Volcano Agua. There was no time for warm-up or practice swings because I was playing with a group of hitters half my age and they were impatient to get started. Yann’s fiancée, Nick’s sister, was flying in to Guatemala City in the afternoon and factoring in drive time cut out any silly ideas like practicing.
Of my two drivers, one a battered off-brand I chose the Orlimar #1 wood: yes, real wood as much an antique as myself. Nick had blasted off from the Black tees, higher and 392 yards downhill. The Blue Tees didn’t offer anything other than a thirty yard decrease in distance. It was still aiming somewhere in the clouds and drizzle to a fairway that I’d never walked and couldn’t see. My caddy made a looping notion with his arm, as if to point my to a route on the left that would take the ball to the right, assuming that it landed on the proper slope. “Whack!” I duffed it off the ‘texas’ tee that sat too high and the ball squirted off to a nearby mound of wet rough. The second attempt took off to the left as instructed but once off the tee it became immediately lost in the mist. To the carts!
I’ve played on some interesting courses here and there: The Royal New Delhi course, the isle of Rhodes, Varadero in Cuba and Clint Eastwood’s Tehama in Carmel Valley. I’ve seen this course in the daylight twice and never have I seen anything resembling it, for layout, challenges and a magnificent setting. Hawaii and Pebble Beach don’t come close: the courses in nearby Costa Rica and El Salvador might as well be compared with the Diplo Club in Havana. To be continued: a bit of Caddy Shack and Tin Cup and the incredible story of how Nick Zappin got here (and got the job).
Pictures: Michael Sherer, La Reunion Golf Resort
