IN THEORY, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE for any resort to satisfy every guest. In practice, Casa de Campo — a 7,000-acre enclave on the southeastern tip of the Dominican Republic — comes remarkably close. Owned by the Fanjul family, well known for their sugar operations, the resort has spent nearly 50 years refining exceptional hospitality and building world-class facilities for tennis, polo, sporting clays and, notably, golf. Visitors also enjoy beaches, multiple pools, a full-service spa, a fitness center and more than a dozen restaurants and bars. The property includes Altos de Chavón, a Mediterranean-style village of shops and eateries, and a large marina with international boutiques and dining. Accommodations range from airy casitas to private villas staffed with cooks and butlers. Every room or villa includes a four-passenger golf cart for convenient travel around the estate.
Golf and Casa de Campo share a long history. The Dye family’s connection to the resort dates back to the early 1970s when Pete, Alice and their son P.B. worked alongside local laborers to carve the first course out of the coastal landscape. They named it Teeth of the Dog for the coral “jaws” guarding the signature 16th green — one of seven holes that play along the ocean. Pete and Alice later designed the Links, an inland course woven among lakes and mature trees. In 2000, the first nine of Dye Fore opened on cliffs soaring 300 feet above the Chavón River. Today Dye Fore is a 27-hole complex with distinct nines: Chavón Nine, overlooking the river; Marina Nine, with views of the marina; and Lagos Nine, set among a series of lakes.
Teeth of the Dog is a bucket-list course for many golfers. Ranked among the world’s best, it serves as the benchmark for Caribbean golf design. If you visit Casa de Campo, play all 63 holes, but start with Teeth of the Dog. The ocean, wind and dramatic coral features make the course feel different every day. From the championship back tees it plays 7,263 yards, though resort golfers often choose the slightly shorter 6,969-yard tees (rated 74.4/134), which still deliver a stern but fair challenge. The inland courses offer a sensory feast: fairways lined with palm, bitter orange, almond and teak trees, and gardens of bougainvillea and hibiscus. While fairways can appear generous, the routing includes waste bunkers, pot bunkers, swales and water hazards that protect subtly sculpted, often elevated greens.
HOLE 5 | 168 yards*, par 3
After contending with sand on the opening holes, you arrive at the first ocean hole: one of the smallest greens on the course, guarded by water on three sides and a tree sitting at the right front. Waves crash against the rocks below the tee boxes, amplifying the hole’s drama. Although it’s not especially long and is frequently played downwind, the visual intimidation is significant.
HOLE 7 | 227 yards*, par 3
Hole 5 prepares you for this longer seaside challenge. Hole 7 requires a longer carry over shallow reef where surf rolls up over coral. The green is larger and more contoured, with a forgiving catch bunker on the seaward side but steeper sand traps around the upper shelf. A poorly judged chip from the fringe can easily find the ocean.
Hole 7 © DONNELLE OXLEY
HOLE 8 | 413 yards*, par 4
Even a conservative drive aimed right to avoid the ocean can be tested here. The right side of this left dogleg is protected by bunkers, while the fairway tends to slope left, often aided by the breeze. That makes the second shot an approach over a central bunker set in a deep swale to an L-shaped green. Missing long and right leaves you staring into a steep grass pit.
HOLE 14 | 499 yards*, par 5
Teeth of the Dog returns to the shoreline on this tempting par 5. Aggressive players can try to reach the green in two by hugging the waste bunker that runs along the ocean-side fairway. For most golfers the safer three-shot sequence follows the wider fairway to an elevated, forward-sloping green that tends to spit balls off in unpredictable directions.
HOLE 16 | 183 yards*, par 3
The course’s namesake hole sits with waves furious to the right. Two bunkers are stair-stepped into the front face of a two-tiered green to prevent short shots from tumbling toward the sea. Going long offers no refuge either, as deep bunkers behind the green present difficult recoveries.
HOLE 18 | 473 yards*, par 4
The finishing hole is a slight dogleg left that demands focus to the end. A deep finger of sand intrudes from the left, cutting the landing zone; a small lake lies just beyond it. The fairway and green both slope left, often funneling hopeful chips off the putting surface as diners relax on the 19th Hole terrace and watch the action.
*All yardage measurements are from the back tee.
Casa de Campo Resort & Villas
Higüey Highway
La Romana,
Dominican Republic 22000
tel 809 523 3333,
800 877 3643
casadecampo.com.do