When a golf vacation destination was designed by a six-time Spanish Champion and considered the “Picasso of golf design”, the expectations would naturally be high. The Cocotal Golf and Country Club in the Dominican Republic designed by Jose “Pepe” Gancedo, luckily, lives up to its visitor’s expectations and delivers only the best of scenery and always an exciting and challenging round of golf.

All-18 holes of this premier golf trip haven are strategically placed along and around tricky bunkers, lakes, and trees, amidst a gently rolling terrain. The design was set according to the natural features of the site. One must never trust easy looking holes, those that do not seem to pose any real threat of raising one’s scorecards. More often than not, they are anything but easy. The Cocotal Golf and Country Club has been designed to leave an imprint on its players for giving the best kind of challenge that makes them step their game up, and raise their confidence when they get to make the most difficult shots. The players would also have to brave the winds of the Caribbean when making their shots, another test of skills and strategies.

Cocotal Golf and Country Club‘s four sets of tees are very well designed to suit all types of handicaps – never too difficult to breed frustration and never too easy as to not pose any challenge at all. The kind of tests this top golf vacation destination poses to the player’s abilities lives up to its high profile as one  designed by a champion.

In all the surprises that Hilton Head Island in South Carolina has under its bosom, perhaps one the most – if not the most – fun of all is the Eagle Pointe Golf Course. Located just a few miles west of the Hilton Head Island, this new golf trip haven bagged the “Best New Course” award in 2001 from the North Carolina Magazine, three years after it opened in 1998. Apart from it becoming popular as a golf vacation destination, it has earned its reputation for being the favorite among local golfers because of all its surprises – of twists and turns.

Amid a sea of native grasses and towering pines, the Eagle Pointe Golf Course has been known around locals to make them want to come back over and over. This could perhaps be because of their excellent service, or fairly reasonable price. Or this could simply be because of its unique design that could only be best described as FUN, in most every sense of the word. It is also fast becoming a must-see golf vacation destination around Hilton Head Island. This kind of golf course, with its overtly dramatic bunkers and huge greens that are fairly slow and tricky fairways, would not only bring out enough skill from golfers of every ability level, but definitely make each golf trip memorable. It has more than enough surprises in every hole to break the golfer’s overall strategy, but has enough personality for it to be taken seriously.

The par-71 6,780-yard Eagle Pointe Golf Course was designed by no less than the 4-time Heritage Champion, 1997 PGA Champion, and 2012 Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III.   There is nothing overrated about this golf vacation destination– it has the right amount of Southern hospitality to its service, meticulous but not exaggerated maintenance which brings out its beauty more than anything, a signature Lowcountry scenery, and a very reasonable fee, plus the great round of golf of course. For all its unpredictability, there isn’t anything surprising about falling in love with this piece of golf trip heaven over and over.