Long before the Dominican Republic became the world's major producer of fine, hand-crafted panatellas, coronas and robustos, the Tainos, the original Indian inhabitants, wrapped and smoked rudimentary versions of today's Davidoff, La Aurora and the exquisite Opus X, with its distinctive gold and red band. But it's not just super-premium cigars that make the place famous. Already home to the Teeth of the Dog, a new Gary Player 18-hole golf course, two Robert Trent Jones Snr courses and several others under development, the Dominican Republic is becoming tropical golf's world headquarters.
Just as the republic's cigars have different flavours, strengths and nuances, so do its golf courses. Beyond the elegant clubhouse of the Punta Cana course on the east coast, the 18th fairway and green skirt the coastline, with a white sandy beach and the sparkling turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea below. Dominated as much by abstract expanses of sand as green fairways, Punta Cana is an innovative gem with long, rolling inland holes and others lying alongside the ocean.
'A few years ago there was just a handful of courses in the country, now there are more than 20,' says Olivier Brizon, director of golf operations at Punta Cana, as we order beers at the 19th hole. He claims the Dominican Republic will soon be the place to play, and taking shape now south of Punta Cana is Cap Cana, a US$1 billion development that will feature three Jack Nicklaus-designed courses, the first featuring bluffs, waterways and jungle, with 13 of its 18 holes overlooking the ocean. The courses, scheduled to open next year, will form part of a luxury residential complex.
Not far inland from Punta Cana lies a more authentic Dominican Republic, of villages, markets and bustling communities. Near Higuey we discover Jovannys Cigar Factory, a weatherboard place in which the cigars have neither colourful bands or nor well-known names, but where a decent smoke costs only a few pesos. We stock up on a selection of pyramids and robustos and hit the road through the sugarcane fields towards Casa de Campo, where three Peter Dye-designed courses lie in wait: the Teeth of the Dog, The Links and Dye Fore.
Outside the caddie master's office at the Teeth, golf bags on carts are neatly lined up. Caddies wearing gold, blue or white shirts to denote their experience fill water containers, clean clubs and look for clients. A cluster of Americans emerges from the nearby pro shop, cigars in hand or between lips, and heads for the practice putting green. There is a buzz among the caddies.
Dye has said he created only 11 holes on the Teeth of the Dog, God having made the seven skirting the Caribbean. After clearing the brush with machetes, 300 labourers used sledgehammers and pickaxes to crack the bare coral rock. Noting how sharp the coral became when broken apart, they called it dientes del perro, a name that stuck. The Teeth of the Dog is now ranked among the world's top courses.