For the Golfer- Tortuga Bay at Puntacana Resort & Golf Club

Golfer's Delight

A quick flight lands you in a tropical paradise perfect for teeing off

Erica Levi Zelinger

They say to be the best, you should learn from the best. Such is the case when you sign up for a private lesson with PGA golfer Jay Overton, the director of golf at Tortuga Bay at Puntacana Resort & Golf Club (from $675 per night for an ocean-view junior suite, puntacana.com).

It will take you only till you’re on the first hole to know why this Tom Fazio–designed Corales course was enough to lure Overton from the U.S. to this AAA Five Diamond resort. The course boasts six oceanfront holes with views of the picturesque moss-covered cliffs and crystal-blue ocean below.

Just a three-and-a-half-hour direct flight from Charlotte, it’s a breeze to get to Tortuga Bay—the International Association of Golf Tour Operators 2011 Golf Resort of the Year—for a three-day getaway and a round of golf on one of property’s plush green courses carpeted in Paspalum Supreme.

While the golf is certainly extraordinary, the rooms are just as impressive:  Tortuga Bay’s oceanfront villas are designed by Oscar de la Renta, who owns a private home on the twenty-six-square-mile property, as do friends Julio Iglesias and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The villa’s soothing colors, Frette linens, and locally made furniture evoke warmth and intimacy.

Sore from a round of golf? Bathe in spring-fed pools on the resort’s 600-acre forest preserve or unwind beachside with a shot of mamajuana (a mix of rum, red wine, and honey) and a ceviche lunch while you dig your feet in the sand. Because while a trip to Tortuga Bay is really all about the golf, sometimes a little R&R is a necessity, too.