5 reasons to play golf in The Bahamas

5 reasons to play golf in The Bahamas

Surroundings
The name Bahamas comes from the Spanish ‘baja mar’ meaning shallow sea. It’s the shallowness of the water surrounding the 700 islands making up the Bahamas that gives it the unmistakable turquoise hue.

Courses
Emerald Bay, an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Greg Norman. It measures 7,001 yards from the back tees and is not for the faint-hearted or those short of golf balls. The front nine meanders through dense mangrove and features water on six holes, but the back nine is where things get really special.

Views
The six-hole stretch from 11 to 16 hugs the peninsula of Emerald Bay and will take your breath away, as waves crash alongside the fairway and the ocean spray refreshes you. Be prepared for some spectacular views and a few lost balls. The penultimate hole offers a brief respite from the water, but with a bunker that runs the entire length of the hole and then wraps around the green, it’s anything but dull. “My responsibility is to make all 18 holes signature holes,” Norman told us. “We were lucky that the developers let us put the golf course on the water. Most developers want houses on the water and golf on the interior. That enabled us to create a stretch of holes with a truly breath-taking backdrop.” It’s a course that would take you countless attempts to master, but with so many other activities demanding your attention, the number of rounds you squeeze in may be limited by time.

Temperature
Average temperatures peak around 32° between June and October, but even the cold season between December and March sees averages around 27°. The shortest day of the year, December 21, sees nearly 11 hours of daylight, up to 13 and a half in mid-June. Water sports fanatics will be happy all year round, as water temperatures rarely dip below a pleasant 22°.

Free green fees
Stay at Sandals Emerald Bay and get two free rounds of golf as part of your stay. Upgrade to a suite with butler service and receive unlimited golf!