It is a one hour flight from Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic, where we land at the capital Santa Domingo. We drove east along the south coast for about an hour to La Romana. It was raining so hard we could hardly see. We came here to play golf at the renowned 'Teeth Of The Dog' course, which is part of the huge resort development 'Capo De Campo' with golf courses, hotels, villa houses and spa, all spread out along a rocky coastline.
After checking in, our afternoon is spent driving in our hotel golf buggy, visiting the marina with shops and restaurants, then inspecting the golf course for the next day.
We have a massage before having a very good dinner at 'La Casina', on the marina waterfront.
Wednesday. It is a beautiful day the rain has cleared and we are up early to take on the Teeth Of The Dog, which is rated number one golf course in the Caribbean, and number 43 in the top 100 in the world. We have a Caddy Evan who is a great asset. The first 3 holes are attractive wide fairways and very good greens.
Then you come to hole 4, the first hole to be played on the rocky coastline. Your drive is across the water about 150 meters. There is very little room to be short or long. Our first shots along the sea edge are tentative but we make par on the second try.
The next three holes are magnificent and daunting, they are all along the coast with magnificent views. You can see why this course is so highly rated.
We both played reasonably well the match finished in a draw. If we had had more time we would have liked to play this course another day. We have lunch at the 19 th hole then visit the Beach Club for a swim. The beach is carved out of the rocks with white sand imported to form a beautiful beach. That night we return to the Beach Club restaurant for dinner, where we are entertained by a trio of classical spanish guitarists, who serenade us at our table.
Thursday. We debate wether to play the 'Teeth' course again, but we have booked to play on another course, Dye Fore. We were happy that we stuck to that booking as Dye Fore is a really interesting course. It is much younger than the Teeth which is 30 years old, with Dye being only 10 years old. The second nine is extraordinary, winding around a lush gorge and large river surrounded by a tropical forrest. MB narrowly wins by one point.
A part of this golf complex is an old Spanish town that was built 10 years ago but looks hundreds of years old.
We have lunch and relax at the Beach Club. Then, we have another great deep tissue massage before dinner at the Asian restaurant at the marina.
Friday. We have a swim and yoga. JB has a hairdo at the beauty salon. We have a leisurely morning before heading to the airport for our flight to the Turks and Caicos.
Dominica Republic forms part of the two nation occupation of one of the largest Islands in Caribbean. Haiti forms the other half which was settled by the French. DR was settled by the Spanish, is Spanish speaking and has a population of 10 million. There is a large divide here between rich and poor, and there are many lavish large homes here in this gated area. It has the highest mountains in the Caribbean and it is definitely worth visiting.
JB and Mick