Varadero Golf Club

The Varadero Golf Club is native to the Cuban special area of Varadero in the province of Matanzas. It extends across a one-kilometer-wide peninsula Hicacos between the Gulf of Mexico and the bay of Cardena, ten kilometers from the northern coast of Cuba. The Varadero Golf Club, which can be reached from Havana, the capital of Cuba, in about two hours via the Via Blanca, can be reached from the main village of Varadero in ten minutes via the Camino Milián. In 1931, the club already opened a 9-hole-course, designed by Sim Guthrie, but was destroyed by a hurricane in 1933. In 1936, the 9-hole-course was reconstructed and modified into an 18-hole-course in the type of parkland/links course with par 72 by the Canadian golf course architect Les Furber in 1998. The 6,269-meter-long course has two different faces. The front nine run across flat terrain with wide fairways, larger greens and few obstacles, whereas the back nine show narrower fairways, smaller greens, which are well protected by sand falls and some salt water lakes. The lagoons have a direct connection to the ocean, which is unique in the world. Holes 8 and 18 directly wind along the ocean behind an easy dune course. The Varadero Golf Club is home to the first and only 18-hole-course in Cuba and was already the host of the European Challenge Tour Grand Finals twice.