Cabot’s newest Caribbean course lives up to the hype — and then some

Welcome to our “Where I Played” series, where a GOLF staffer runs through a recent day at a course you might play in your future. On this occasion, we’re teeing it up at Point Hardy Golf Club in St. Lucia.

Cabot — the destination golf brand — is on a roll. What started as a single property in Nova Scotia has expanded to be coast-to-coast in Canada, then down to Florida and across the pond in Scotland. Perhaps their most anticipated property, however, is located all the way down in the Caribbean. Point Hardy Golf Club, on the tiny island nation of St. Lucia, has been in the works since pre-Covid times, and the course is finally on the verge of opening.

Ahead of the grand reveal, I was invited down to preview the new property. Ahead of this trip, I did a little research on what to expect. Luckily, my colleague James Colgan had ventured down to St. Lucia earlier in the year, but the headline of his excellent piece posed a simple question: Can this mythical new course live up to the hype?

After visiting the course myself, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Here are a few of the highlights of the spectacular Point Hardy Golf Club.

The views

As we checked into the makeshift pro shop just off the range, a father-son duo walked in having just finished their round.

“That course is better than Pebble,” the father said. “I’m serious!”

Our course raters might disagree with the man (Pebble Beach ranks 14th on our World Top 100 List, while Point Hardy lags behind at 76th), but I can understand his sentiment. To many people, a visually pleasing course equals an architecturally sound one. And while it’s impossible for the new course to match the history of Pebble, if the two were ranked solely based on views, Point Hardy would take the crown.

Eight holes play along the shoreline, and the crystal clear water of the Caribbean Sea is visible from more than half the course. If you’re someone that likes to put their phone away while playing, you might want to reconsider at Point Hardy. The views make it nearly impossible to keep from snapping a picture or two while you play.

The signature stretch of the course — Nos. 15-17 — features a short par 4 and back-to-back par 3s, and each is postcard perfect. You’ll play three tee shots over water and putt on greens framed by the ocean beyond. The entire course is beautiful, but this trio of holes will have you pinching yourself.

Coore & Crenshaw touch

As far as contemporary architects go, the duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw rank near the top of my list. And, as a native Texan, I’ve had plenty of chances to tee it up at their courses. Point Hardy was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, but it still had some familiar touches.

Travel

The inland holes felt like they could’ve fit in any Coore-Crenshaw design in the Texas Hill Country. The duo expertly shaped these holes — several times over on some, such as Nos. 5 and 6 — to fit the contours of the land, all while creating a course true to their vision.

Those holes along the water didn’t take as much imagination, at least, that’s what Coore says. “Anybody who’s ever hit a golf ball in their life could design some of the holes out there,” he said. “I mean, seriously, it’s that beautiful.” While it’s true that the holes along the water are beautiful, it took some serious ingenuity to craft a course on the site. There’s nothing simple about building a course in a place this remote — no matter how beautiful it may be.

Pack plenty of golf balls

Typically the threat of losing sleeves of golf balls during a round would be a negative, but at Point Hardy it’s a little different. Sure, there are plenty of places to lose balls on routine shots, but the real reason to pack some reserves is the allure of the hero shot.

On a number of holes, you’re forced to carry your ball over the waves crashing below. If you play the correct tees, you’ll have no problem finding success in that endeavor. But then you’ll be tempted to hit the hero shot — the shots you’ll be talking about at the 19th hole. I’m talking about the pro line, the one you have no business hitting but will try anyways. Point Hardy gives you plenty of opportunities to go for broke.

Take the tee shot on the par-4 15th, for example. If you hit the “smart” shot, you’ll carry the cove and find the far corner of the fairway. But if you hit the hero shot, you’ll have an opportunity to push the ball up near the putting surface. Our group must have hit 10 shots a piece off this tee box, all of us hoping to hit a shot we’d remember for a lifetime.

You never want to lose golf balls on the course, but at Point Hardy, that sting is a bit blunted. Golf in paradise has that effect.