After a break from action over the past week, the PGA Tour heads to a relatively new course, El Cardonal, in Los Cabos, Mexico, for the World Wide Technology Championship. Opened in 2014, this 225-acre parcel in the foothills of the Baja California desert is the first golf course designed by 82-time PGA winner Tiger Woods.
El Cardonal’s design was inspired by the classic Golden Age courses on the West Coast that Woods played in his youth. Thanks to several options for navigating each hole, proper decision-making is rewarded, as El Cardonal is a course that emphasizes strategy and creativity.
Offering dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean, Diamante is a private resort situated at the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, in the state of Baja California Sur. In addition to El Cardonal, Diamante also features the Dunes Course, designed by Davis Love III. The World Wide Technology Championship is one of two FedExCup events in Mexico, along with the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Previously, the event was held at El Camaleon Golf Club, south of Cancun, in Mexico’s Riviera Maya.
Characterized by wide fairways, strategically placed bunkers, and enormous undulated greens, the resort-style course is a birdie-maker’s delight, as evidenced by the -27 winning score by Erik van Rooyen in 2023 and followed up by Austin Eckroat‘s -24 winning score last year. While potential howling winds off the coast and the encroaching desert arroyos will provide some pushback, El Cardonal should once again feature plenty of scoring opportunities throughout.
The Field
It’s a surprisingly quality field in Mexico for this year’s World Wide Technology Championship. Headliners in attendance include Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor, Max Greyserman, and the recent winner of the Bank of Utah Championship, Michael Brennan. In total, 28 players in the field have won a PGA Tour event in the last two years.
Featuring a field of 120 players, 500 FedExCup points, and jobs are on the line as time is running out to become eligible to make the final top 100 for next year’s season, which begins in January. Eligibility for the first few signature events next year is also based on points from these fall events, so positioning as close as possible inside the top 10 of the FedEx Cup Fall standings is vital.
Among those fighting for full status next year are Max McGreevy (96), Thorbjorn Olesen (97), Beau Hossler (98), David Lipsky (100), Sami Valimaki (102), Isaiah Salinda (103), and Patrick Fishburn (104).
Course Features
Named after the tall, multi-armed cactus that thrives in the natural environment on the Baja California peninsula, El Cardonal at Diamante is a par-72 layout that stretches to 7,452 yards from the back tees. When taking into account the annual courses that encompass the Tour schedule, it ranks as the 15th longest. With fairways averaging 60 yards wide, it has the widest landing zones of any course played over the past decade, except the Old Course at St. Andrews. Players can bomb away with the driver on every par 4 and par 5 hole.
The scale of El Cardonal is vast. With many elevated areas and the ocean in view, it seems the course stretches as far as the eye can see. The land drops over 240 feet along the mile stretch of land from the 17th tee to the third fairway. The course sits on a broad landscape dotted with palo verde trees, cacti, and desert flora.
From a data perspective, it’s important to note that though we have two years of course history at El Cardonal, there is no ShotLink data. This means that the only information we can make assumptions from is the “old-school” golf metrics like Driving Accuracy and GIR%. That being said, last year it played as the second easiest course on Tour (only behind the Plantation Course at Kapalua), averaging -2.38 strokes per round.
Off the tee, the desert arroyos, native dunes, and well-placed fairway bunkers provide numerous risk-reward options. Somewhat similar to the barrancas found at the Los Angeles Country Club, the site of the 2023 U.S. Open, an arroyo is simply a narrow, steep-sided sandy channel in the ground that is usually dry except after heavy rain. Numerous fairways are routed around these sandy arroyos. With no rough in play this week, and only one hole with a planned water hazard, these arroyos are among the only obstacles for golfers to overcome.
Due in large part to the expansive fairways, there are a variety of angles and options off the tee in strategizing for the best possible approach to the green. Players must decide whether to take on the arroyos and bunkers to set up easier approaches or to play it more conservatively, which results in a longer approach. Over the first two years, the hazards had little effect as Driving Accuracy was a laughable 89.7%. The Good Drive rate was even easier at 94.2%.
Tiger Woods said about El Cardonal, “I set up the golf strategy to make golfers think and make choices. Regardless of your handicap, there are going to be different ways to play every hole. Angles of approach are going to be very important and will dictate the type of shots you should consider. I love this kind of golf.” As you can imagine, based on the previous data, the GIR rate of 78.6% is the highest from any course on Tour.
Another potential course defense is the ocean winds that typically blow out of the north but can flip and gust from the south within minutes. Sudden reversals in conditions will provide a challenge to players and caddies alike.
The greens are massive, averaging 8,300 square feet, which places them as the second largest on Tour, behind only the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Lag putting will be one of the most important skills for having success this week. Thus far, the 3-putt rate at El Cardonal has been 3.94% which makes it the third-most difficult non-major course for that metric.
The greens here at El Cardonal have their own distinctive flair to them with their different forms and shapes. Examples are the T-shaped 8th green or the three-tiered surface on the 18th hole. Their size and contouring also allow for numerous options for pin positions. Though greens were missed on approach only 21% of the time, the scrambling rate is 5.2% tougher than average at 53.7%.
Looking at agronomy, golfers will see wall-to-wall Platinum paspalum, which is common on resort coastal courses. El Cardonal features seven acres of fairway on turf that normally plays firm and fast due to the dry and windy conditions. Paspalum often produces favorable lies in fairways and other short grass areas and produces a consistent roll on the putting surfaces that will run at a speed of around 11.5 on the stimpmeter. There’s also no rough at El Cardonal, which is not an uncommon omission on resort courses. This lack of rough around the greens will allow for an abundance of options in attempting to navigate the expansive putting surfaces.
El Cardonal weaves through dune-framed fairways on the front nine and over the desert arroyos on the back. The course begins and ends with a gentle handshake with two easy, downhill par 5s that will see plenty of birdies and eagles. Woods always feasted on the par 5s, so it’s no surprise he created four reachable scoring holes.
After going downhill for Nos. 1 and 2, the short, driveable 351-yard par 4 third hole is on flat ground on the lowest section of the course. It marks the transition point for the uphill climb, starting with the 483-yard, par-4 fourth that goes up 30 feet from tee to green. Following that, the 601-yard, par-5 sixth ascends 70 more feet to the green. The course then turns back down the hill at the 489-yard, par-4 seventh. That hole dives 60 feet from tee to green. The roller coaster ride continues with the stretch from the 10th to the 14th, involving up-and-down switchbacks on every hole.
Top 10 Most Important Stats For Success at El Cardonal at Diamante
- SG: APP
- Driving Distance
- 3-Putt AVD
- Birdie or Better %
- SG: Coastal/Wind
- Par 5 Scoring
- SG: Putting
- Sand Save %
- SG: Easy Scoring Conditions
- Proximity 175+ yds
Key Rabbit Hole Filters
- Course Region: Mexico
- Course Type: Coastal/Resort
- Scoring Conditions: Very Easy
- Field Strength: Weak
- Event Season: Fall
- Bunker #: Low
- Water Danger: Low
- Greens Surface: Paspalum
- OTT Club Type: Driver Heavy
- Gain OTT: Very Easy
- Gain APP: Easy
- Scrambling Short Grass: Difficult
- 3-Putt AVD: Difficult