The Country Club
The country club and The Green Monkey courses share the same Clubhouse with some amazing views out to the Caribbean Sea, but that is where any comparison between the two courses ends.
I played the old Sandy Lanes golf club many years ago and enjoyed the old colonial style clubhouse and the course had some spectacular views. The original course opened for play in 1961, but with new Irish billionaire owners J P McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier acquiring the Sandy Lanes resort in 1997 they decided to renovate the property and the golf course.
The original 18-hole golf course was reduced to a new 9-hole layout and renamed the Old nine and Tom Fazio created two new 18-hole courses and used some of the original holes to create The Country Club course, which opened for play in 2001.
   
Top: Clubhouse view looking down on the 9th hole: Above LtoR: 10th, 12th and 13th holes
Standing on the first tee I could see this design was going to be more of a resort style course with wide immaculately manicured fairways, and the five different teeing options, gives golfers of all abilities a chance to enjoy the course.
The greens are lush and there are five lakes to test your shot making abilities. The layout is solid, if unspectacular but there are a few memorable holes such as the 195-yard par three 18th, where your tee shot is played from an elevated tee across a pond with fountain feature to a rather uninviting green.
As you would expect, the original holes on this track are well bedded in and offer some wonderful challenges, as I make my way around I have to say I starting to reminisce and wished Tom had redesigned the original course rather than splitting it in two. You will enjoy the run of holes from the 14th – 18th they do not have a par 4 among them and contain yet another amazing par 3, with wonderful views out to the Caribbean Sea.
Looking out to the Caribbean Sea from the 3rd tee
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