Five Reasons Why Quivira is a Bucket List Course
Quivira Golf Club’s reputation as a must-play course has grown by leaps and bounds since Golf Digest named this epic Jack Nicklaus-designed layout to its prestigious list of the “World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses.” Opened to international acclaim in 2014, Quivira is grafted onto a jaw-dropping site marked by massive dunes, sheer cliffs and rolling foothills, sprawls across rugged terrain at Land’s End. Now fully mature and knitted into the landscape, Quivira is a ‘Bucket List’ course to rival any on the planet. Here’s why:
The views. They’re extraordinary. First-timers and repeat visitors alike vow they’re the most spectacular in the sport. For example, the payoff for the switchback cart ride up the face of a mountain to the par-4 sixth hole is a vertigo-inducing perch 275 feet above the foaming surf. On a course with more oceanfront exposure than any other venue in Cabo, the Clifftop Comfort Station behind the sixth tee is THE place to grab a breakfast burrito, snap a group shot--and watch for breaching whales during the winter months. At each succeeding hole, Quivira’s exalted scenery and incredible challenges get better and better.
Changes-for-the-better. In conjunction with course designer Jack Nicklaus, the club has tweaked several holes to enhance playability. For example, the “transition bunkers” on the downslope beyond the driving zone at Quivira’s stunning sixth hole have long since been removed to give average players a fighting chance. At the 14th hole, a dazzling short par 3 that plays across a yawning abyss to a target set atop a pinnacle of fissured granite, the tiny green has been dished out to create more pin positions. At the 16th hole, a strategic par 5 that proceeds to Cabo’s mountainous interior, the large central bunker in play off the tee has been modified to create a better risk-reward scenario for big hitters. Because of the reconfiguration of the holes in 2022, the layout is now more balanced, with a par-35 front nine and par-37 back nine. Future modifications will further enhance a course that may be the most daring, eclectic course Nicklaus has ever built.
Practice facility. Talk about a “Wow” factor. Quivira’s spacious double-ended driving range parallels the beach and the booming surf. Few practice facilities anywhere in the world can claim a setting to match it. The steady onshore breeze gives players a taste of the challenge that awaits. The large practice putting green and dedicated short game area are also excellent.
Comfort stations. As an all-inclusive facility, Quivira provides complimentary food and refreshments to golfers throughout the round. Of the four comfort stations, the culinary highlight is Oasis, a halfway house nestled in the dunes near the ninth green. The open-air, stone-walled edifice, angled to emerald-green fairways parted through dunes high above the sea, is set with patio tables. The gracious staff oversees a full-service bar and a kitchen that prepares a variety of Mexican specialties. In addition to daily drink specials, edibles range from chicken quesadillas and burger sliders to fish or beef tacos. The homemade hot sauces (mild to volcanic) are optional. Long after scores are tallied and wagers settled, players still talk about the ‘fresh off the grill’ food at the Oasis.
The Q factor. Location, location, location. Quivira has an ambience all its own because it occupies a truly unique and dramatic landscape. Routed at the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula, at the place where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean, several of Quivira’s holes appear to be airbrushed onto sheer granite cliffs. Others are tunneled through huge windswept dunes or skirt twisting arroyos and acres of cactus. On a gravity-defying site marked by sharp elevation changes, Nicklaus crafted an aesthetic tour de force that elicits more oohs and aahs per round than any other course in the world.