Left a Few Balls in the Caribbean

“I created 11 holes and God created 7.” – Pete Dye

Stepping up to the iconic fifth hole, a par-3 with the Caribbean Sea lining the left side of the hole. The wind right to left (towards the water, of course), I have a paradox of emotions ranging from complete awe at the raw beauty surrounding me and fear at the shot that lies ahead of me.

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The pin is tucked to the left corner, because anywhere else would apparently be too easy. Our caddie says, “Right side. Wind left.” Which meant to aim at the right side of the green and let the wind push it back to the left. As I gaze upon the scene around me, I am sure the Dog is showing its teeth at this very moment.

My brother hits first and as the ball sails towards the right side of the green we all watch as the winds pushes it towards the flag. A grin forms on our caddie’s face, and I throw my hands up in the air – but wait a second, let’s backtrack a little. First things first, have you guessed where I am yet?

The Teeth of the Dog at Casa De Campo in La Romana, Dominican Republic

The Teeth of the Dog ranks #54 on the newly released 2024-2025 Golf Digest World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses. Spreading out over 7,471 yards from the black tees, the course features seven holes along the ocean.

I took a vacation with my family to this course in late February for my dad’s 75th birthday. He loves golf, so we made sure to stop in to check out the iconic venue. We started our round on the back nine first.

While 10-14 are excellent holes, I lost my breath as we made the turn to the 15th hole and saw the vast ocean lining the entire right side. It’s a par-4 dogleg to the right and it’s unique in that it has a rock in the middle of the ocean with a flag that you can hit to for fun.

Making the turn to the front nine, the ocean is visible on hole #3, as it runs parallel to the 7th hole with only palm trees separating the fairways. Yet, the ocean with its crashing waves and howling wind, don’t directly threaten the player until the fifth hole.

The iconic hole where I felt the Dog showing its teeth and as I watched my brother’s ball flying directly at the flag with raised arms, we saw it land and disappear for a brief moment over the undulation of the green. In disbelief, we all stared at the green only to see it reappear as it rolled towards the pin and stopped only three feet from the hole. It wasn’t a hole-in-one, but it was a shot that none of us will ever forget.

What’s interesting is how beautiful the greens rolled on these holes where it’s impossible to stop the salt water from spraying and even splashing the grass. Bermudagrass isn’t exactly tolerant to saltwater, so how did they manage to keep these greens in such great condition? It’s a grass called seashore paspalum. The first ever trials of the grass were on holes #5, and #8 in 2001, and it still remains to this day. Check out this article the USGA posted about the seashore paspalum at Teeth of the Dog.

It's true what they say, you know; about the beauty of the course, the difficulty, and the rarity of finding a course with that many holes on the ocean. I'm not exactly someone that buys into the hype of things easily. In a world of social media (and blogs), where everyone is so connected all the time, all claiming to know the latest and greatest “must-try’s”, or “have-to-go-here’s”, I don’t really buy into it … most of the time.

But Teeth of the Dog is different. It’s worth it.

It was busy the day we played, and the round was long, but I never grew tired of being out there. The beauty of that day is permanently engraved in my mind, a memory that holds strong waiting for the day that I can go back and experience it again.

And here's a video of my brother's shot walking up to the 5th green!

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Golf Course Details

• Par 72

• Black Tees Course/Slope Rating: 76.0/135, Length: 7471 yds.

• Red Tees Course/Slope Rating: 68.0/118 Length (Women): 4,827 yds.

• Water lined holes: 5-8, and 15-17

• Course Designer: Pete Dye

• Opened in 1971

• Grass Type: Seashore Paspalum

• Course Type: Public