World Golf Hall of Fame course architect Pete Dye scored the hat trick with Dye Fore, his third masterpiece at the luxurious Casa de Campo Resort in La Romana. The course is the nation’s third rated course in Golf Digest’s Planet Golf 2009-2010 ranking. The Caribbean Sea serves as a backdrop to the unique Dye Fore, which boasts seven cliff-side holes dropping 300 feet to the Chavon River below, the replica Mediterranean village of Altos de Chavon, the Dominican mountains (the Caribbean’s highest), 40-mph gusting winds and amazing 360-degree views. Dye’s windy, expansive layout tips out at 7,770 yards, whose tees carry a hefty rating/slope of 77.0/134, but Dye Fore also features generous fairways, some as wide as 200 feet.

Dye Fore’s par-3 holes are all superb, with Nos. 12 and 15 considered by many to be among the world’s finest one-shot holes. The resort’s newest addition is very playable for all skill levels and has immaculate playing conditions thanks to paspalum-grass fairways. Dye Fore’s more-traditional front nine features huge, often-elevated green complexes with steep fall-offs. The more-dramatic inward nine is a treeless, links-like routing skirting the edge of a majestic gorge. The 18th hole is the course’s fourth 600-yard par-5, but a wide fairway brings birdie into play.