The PGA Tour’s World Wide Technology Championship had been held at El Camaleon Golf Club at Mayakoba since its inception in 2007. However, that all changed in 2023 when bitter rival LIV Golf secured the course for the Mexico leg of its big-money League.
Undeterred, that March, the PGA Tour unveiled a course designed by one of its all-time greats, Tiger Woods, as the new home of the FedEx Cup Fall tournament, El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas.
The course, which opened in 2014, was Woods’ maiden foray into design. Woods promised the course would "remind people of the old-style California courses” where he had grown up, while challenging players to “think and make choices.”
While that was the intention, it had mixed reviews after the event. Players including Andrew Putnam, Kelly Kraft and Michael Kim all had their say. Putnam remarked that the course was too easy, while Kraft suggested the PGA Tour hadn’t made the best choice to replace the Mayakoba course.
Thomas Detry also came a cropper at the par 3 16 when his ball rolled off the front edge of the green and into a steep native area below. That led some fans to question the design while others argued it was to do with the course set-up for the tournament,
It wasn’t all bad, and Kim perhaps had the most balanced view. While he said the fairways "could be some of the widest fairways on tour, if not the widest” he complimented Woods' design on the varied layouts of the greens, while he felt the 15-time Major winner had designed a course that "fit his own game," something "famous players" often do when turning their hand to design.
Whatever the pros and cons, it was retained for the 2024 tournament, and it’s likely to remain part of the PGA Tour for some time to come, with the arrangement set to hold for five years.
The course was never meant to be particularly penal, and Woods has admitted he had his pro-am partners in mind when conceiving it. However, it is also intended to test players of most abilities.
The wide fairways were a conscious choice to ensure options and leeway for players with higher handicaps, while its length – a hefty 7,452 yards off the back tees, including the 601-yard sixth – is meant to challenge even the best players.
Its location is also a talking point, with stunning views over the Pacific Ocean, while it has mature vegetation and utilizes the area’s natural arroyos and native dunes. The course also has cacti and palo verde trees, while it’s hilly too, with a 240-foot drop between the 17th tee and third fairway.
During his appraisal of the course, Kim also wondered how it would play on a windy day, and that is definitely a factor capable of making a round one day an altogether different experience to one the next.
Ultimately, perhaps the only way to assess the merits of the course is to experience it, and the good news is that it’s open to the public.
The course is part of the luxury Diamante resort, which has another Woods layout, the Oasis Short Course - a 12-hole par-3 course - on-site. There is a second championship course at the location, too - the Dunes Course by Davis Love III.
To play El Cardonal, you need to be a guest of the resort, with tee times to be arranged once your reservation is confirmed.
There is a minimum three-night stay at the resort, and El Cardonal has a green fee of $400 per player, with a mandatory forecaddie.
Rental of a four-seater golf cart costs approximately $120, with a cost of approximately $140 for a six-seater golf cart.
The par-3 course costs $35 per round.
Rates to stay at the Golf Villas vary, but they typically start at around ar $1,700 per night depending on the season.
