Joining the club: the changing face of golf in Mexico.

IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, superstar player Tiger Woods has made golf start to blip on the international radar. Lorena Ochoa, Mexico's young golf star from Guadalajara, has played a similar role, bringing more young Mexican men and women into the sport than ever before. But until recently, golfing in Mexico hasn't been a very accessible world. While nearly every U.S. city has a municipal golf course, there are no public courses in Mexico and the sport is still seen as elitist, with only 70,000 golfers nationally.

However, with the help of such public golfing figures as Woods and Ochoa and increased development of golf courses nationally, golfing in Mexico is taking off.

"Once you start there's no going back!," says Ernesto Perez, golf operations manager of Mexico's newest golf course, El Camaleon, near Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo. The par-72 championship course, managed by Fairmont as part of the luxurious Mayakoba resort, opened last month and was designed by Greg Norman--one of the world's handful of premier golf course designers. At 7,000 stunning yards, the course is quite unlike the tame expanses of homogenous green carpet associated with the sport. The undulating grass can be irrigated by salt water, there are white rocky outcrops, dense mangrove, water-filled canyons and a patch of white powdery beach. There are even three cenotes (sink holes), two connected by watery underground caverns and one discovered only in the process of building the US$ 20 million course.

The Mayakoba resort will include five deluxe, ecological hotels, and the project is due for completion in 2008. The first one, a 401-room luxury Fairmont, is scheduled to open in December.

El Camaleon will bring Cancun and the Riviera Maya's golf courses up to eight, but there are a further 18 scheduled for the area, according to publisher Chuck Kinder. Kinder has kept a close eye on golf in Mexico for over two decades, and played an important role in raising the profile of the sport in this country when he founded the magazine Best's Golf Guide Mexico (www.golfinmexico.net), in 1985.

"Cancun is a growing golf market now," confirms Kinder. Such development could change the destination's profile from a magnet for spring breakers to a more upscale attraction.

"Twenty years ago the government had minimal info on golf courses in Mexico, and Los Cabos had one nine hole course only--now it has six signature championship courses," he adds. "Mexico was the number eight worldwide destination for U.S. travelers, whereas now it is number one for golfers. Tourism was an important tool to bring exposure to the sport."

Last year 600,000 players from the U.S. and Canada came to Mexico to play golf, a figure expected to increase. "Currently there are over 170 courses in this country, and 35 planned as we speak," says Kinder (the Mexican Golf Federation says there are about 200). "Mexico is certainly underpopulated with golf right now."

There are an estimated 27 million golfers in the U.S., he adds, eight million of whom are considered "avid golfers," meaning that they will travel to play the sport.

Los Cabos on the Pacific Coast in Baja California is still the high-end destination for golf in Mexico, and one of the hottest in North America, attracting incentive groups from international corporations. The country's top ranking course is the 18-hole Cabo del Sol, designed by Jack Nicklaus, former golfer and perhaps the best known course designer, with five oceanfront holes. Green fees are US$ 295, including drinking water, cart and practice balls. Golf Guide to Mexico ranks other Cabos courses second, fourth and fifth respectively: El Dorado golf course, Palmilla Golf resort and Querencia Country Club, with only the Isla Navidad course in Colima stealing third place.

THE RISE OF RESORT GOLF

But now, competition is coming from Mexico's Caribbean.

Until recently Cancun didn't have the image of a golf destination, notes Kinder. "Things began to change with Playacar in the late nineties, and really took off with the Moon Palace in 2002, which has just opened its third nine hole course this summer. Now that Cancun has courses designed by the big names, you'll see it is going to radically change."

Currently Los Cabos has 14 percent of Mexico's golf market share, with Cancun, at 8 percent, rivaling Puerto Vallarta, at 9 percent. However, with current developments, Kinder predicts Los Cabos and Cancun will have equal market share, leaving Vallarta in third place.

Acapulco and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo are also golf destinations. The former, with five courses, attracts golfers from all over the country with the tournament Copa Acapulco but needs more international flights to attract the attention of U.S. players, says David Ross, golf director at the 36-hole Fairmont course in Acapulco.

He notes that many of the US$ 300,000-plus apartments currently selling at the south of the port are used three or four months a year as second or third homes by golfers from Mexico City, boosting the veteran resort's golf profile.

For price-quality ratio, Puerto Vallarta will remain a key attraction, catering to both national and international golfers. "It has seven courses, with a further three in the Manzanillo area. They are half the price of ones in Los Cabos, and they are outstanding," says Kinder.

One of the best loved courses in the area is the Tamarindo--which Golf Guide to Mexico ranks sixth in the country--on the Costa Careyes, all jungle, beach and idyllic isolation, and toted as the only course where you can go skinny dipping between holes.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

However, Tamarindo also commands high prices, around US$ 200.

"Mexico has changed image from being a country of bargains to more mainstream," notes Kinder, saying that nowadays it's more expensive to play golf in Mexico than in the United States. A fee of US$100 is now low range for 18 holes, and US$ 295 the established price for the top range.

Yet this is no obstacle to growth.

"These resort courses are premium and unique, and that's what people want, premium courses," adds Kinder.

Golf's role in business is legendary and firmly established, from incentive groups to closing a deal over a few rounds (18 holes takes about five hours). Terminology is international and pros insist on the insight it can give into your socio (business partner), from their reactions and manners to their honesty.

In terms of golf tourism, the average golfer coming to Mexico spends about US$ 1,800, Kinder says, playing about two rounds, and staying on average four days (three nights). There is a growing trend of golf packages, through specialized agencies such as Teetimes. GolfinMexico.net also offers "Stay and Play" packages.

However, as long as you know a member you can still play on a private course for as little as around US $50. Kinder speaks very highly of Cocoyoc near Cuernavaca--"the best 9-hole in Mexico"--although he points out that "this is not serious golf, but recreational."

The Campo de Golf Cuernavaca, the country's oldest course, and much loved for its "Scottish style" rough terrain and an abundance of trees, also deserves a mention while the two 18-hole courses in Avandaro, Valle de Bravo are "outstanding." In Mexico City, Club de Golf Mexico and Club de Golf Chapultepec receive 10 and 19th ranks respectively; in Guadalajara the Guadalajara Country Club and El Palomar make 14th and 27th; and Monterrey has two 18-hole courses in the Club Campestre and Club Palo Alto, as well as a designer course (this time by Robert Von Hagge), Las Misiones Country Club out of town.

There are 12 driving ranges in Mexico City. One of the most established ranges, in Santa Fe, is popular with young executives on midweek afternoons and charges about US$7 for a basket of 55 balls. A new range is being built in Guadalajara, says Kinder.

The trend towards increasing the amount of ranges--even though so far the majority in Mexico are visited by people who have never played the sport--is a sign that golf is gaining in popularity. According to Golf Express, the country's main provider of accessories, from clubs and carts to shoes and gloves (www.golfexpress.com), the number of players in Mexico has increased 25 percent over the last five years.

So who plays golf in Mexico? Kinder says they tend to be members of a country club, typically in the 45-75 years of age range.

"However, there is an up and coming younger set," he says, "primarily the sons and daughters of wealthy Mexican families, who often live on golf courses."

The huge success of the 24-year-old Ochoa, the first Mexican-born player to win on the LPGA Tour (Ladies Professional Golf Association, www.lpga.com), with 2005 earnings at US$1,156,542, is clearly encouraging this new generation of golf enthusiasts.

COURSE EXPANSION

It is hard to know how much the golf industry is worth, because there are many components to it, from travel to real estate.

"US$ 20 billion worth of golf course development is being developed currently in Mexico," says Kinder.

A report earlier this year in the Mexican publication Expansion stated that golf was a real estate window worth about US$ 6,500 million. Eighty courses have been constructed in Mexico in the last decade, with properties on the edge of golf courses worth an estimated 35 percent more than their equivalents elsewhere, although probably less than 30 percent of those who buy these properties actually practice the sport.

Fairmont Acapulco's Ross says golf courses can have a positive impact on local communities, with each course offering 100 secure jobs in service, administration and maintenance.

"A course can bring an income of between US$700,000 and 1.5 million dollars every year, a percentage of which goes back to the community in the form of taxes," he told Business Mexico. The existence of a golf course also provides a "clean and natural environment, which tends to attract tourism, meaning more employment and development."

A designer course, for which you'd need at least 70 acres (or about 40 hectares) of land, can cost up to a million dollars per hole, without factoring in the cost of maintenance, which can extend to over US$ 3 million per year.

Environmental legislation in Mexico has also become more stringent in the last five years, pushing up some costs. Overall, though, it is positive for image and respectability. "You wouldn't be able to build a course like Cabo del Sol's anymore because of its proximity to the coastline, and the danger of runoff from fertilizers used on the grass," Kinder says.

Changes involve regulations on deforestation and greater care over the use of water. Perez from Camaleon said not a tree was cut down without being replanted in another part of the Mayakoba property.

Investors in Mexico's courses mainly hail from the U.S. and Mexico. Tamarindo, Isla Navidad and Cabo Real belong to nationals, while Cabo del Sol and Vista Vallarta, for example, were developed by U.S. companies.

FONATUR, Mexico's National Tourism Fund, has played an important role in encouraging golf and golf-related real estate. It built five courses as a strategy to detonate tourism and investment in its major development centers called CIPs (Centros Integralmente Planeados), says Pedro Javier Reyes, FONATUR spokesman for Investment. Of these, it is still operating Ixtapa (built 1972), Huatulco (1992) and Loreto (1991).

The fund expects an acceleration in the already rapid growth of golf in Mexico, and says numbers have increased from 168 courses in 2001 to 190 in 2003. Reyes lists the benefits golf brings to a tourist destination as upping prices, prolonging the tourist's stay, promoting greater expenditure, encouraging repeat visits and promoting real estate investment. He estimates added value brought by golf courses is between 20 and 50 percent.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Among FONATUR's plans is the creation of new tourist developments in Litibu, Nayarit, and the Costa Maya, Quintana Roo, with a clear focus on real estate. Specific projects include Puerto Cancun with a marina for 330 vessels, an 18-hole course designed by Tom Weiskopf, and 450 residential lots (urbanization scheduled for completion 2009); Riviera Cancun, with a 36-hole course designed by Nicklaus, 2,500 hotel rooms and 700 residential tourist units (completion scheduled 2007); Puerto Los Cabos, with two 18 hole courses designed by Nicklaus and Norman, a marina for over 1,000 vessels, 2,500 residential lots and 1,600 condominium units (completion 2010). Two other long-term projects are Los Cabos Country Club and Loreto Bay.

"We foresee that these five projects will generate a total investment of US$ 5,110 million, the equivalent of 157 percent of what FONATUR has invested in the CIPs in the last 30 years," Reyes says.

Kinder says the most immediate growth area for golf in Mexico is Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Sonora, which is within driving distance from the U.S. market residing around Tucson and Phoenix, with five new courses due to open soon.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Los Cabos is also about to see eight new courses, along with Todos Santos and La Paz. One to look out for will be the Bahia de Los Suenos (Bay of Dreams), a 4,000-acre property being constructed by Prudential California Realty, with a course by the new worldwide phenomenon in golf-course design, Tam Doak.

Mexico has its natural wealth and beauty on its side, as well as a year-round climate. Kinder says that golf is especially gaining popularity with women, while Perez in Camaleon emphasizes the importance of the youth market.

"It's not just a sport, it's a lifestyle," he says. "It's trendy. Back in the seventies the golf outfit was ugly, now you've got Ralph Lauren."

Meanwhile, international golf instructor Mel Sole, of the Phil Ritson--Mel Sole Golf Schools (www.ritson-sole.com), is looking at building affordable golf courses near Mexico City, based on experience in encouraging the sport in Sweden and a movement currently underway in China. "I think if golf course operators can build some inexpensive public courses, including a top golf school to offer group lessons, that would be the way to help reduce the price for the average person," he says.

Challenges facing golfing in Mexico are melting away in the current climate of expansion and growth. With an increasingly interested public, a segment of U.S. golfers looking south for new courses, enthusiastic developers and Mexico's natural beauty on its side, the Mexican golf world is heading towards a big bang.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]