The PGA Tour returns to stroke play action south of the border for the fully sanctioned Mexico Open. Located a few miles off the Pacific coast near the town of Puerto Vallarta, the Vidanta Vallarta Resort (one of the highest-rated hotels in Mexico) and its “Signature Course” designed by Greg Norman, will host this event for the next three years.
Dating back to 1944, the Mexico Open has quite a historic past and has been considered Mexico’s national championship. With the PGA Tour pulling out of certain World Golf Championship (WGC) events such as the one at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Naucalpan, Mexico, this tournament will be an official FedExCup event with a purse of $7.3 million and 500 points to the winner.
Overall, the strength of this field is quite weak. With it being an international event, along with an unknown course, and a long plane ride to next week’s esteemed Wells Fargo Championship, it is easy to see why few top-ranked players would choose to make the trip. Headlining the 144-player field is the world’s third-ranked player, Jon Rahm. Other golfers ranked in the top-50 that are scheduled to attend include Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Kevin Na, Abraham Ancer, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, and Cameron Tringale.
Two Mexican natives to keep an eye on this week are Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. Along with past successes in their native land, they should be very motivated to play in front of their home fans this week. Ortiz has three top-16 finishes on Mexican soil, while Ancer has three top-18s.
Vidanta Vallarta – Norman Signature Course Overview
Tucked away along the banks of the Ameca River in between the beaches of Nuevo Vallarta and the resort town of Puerto Vallarta sits Greg Norman’s “Signature Course” at Vidanta. Featuring panoramic views of the Sierra Madre mountain range and the Banderas Bay to the southwest, this recent design from 2015 is surrounded by parota trees, native grasses, and patches of lush jungle.
With no data or prior course history to draw from and a dearth of information about the course (including from the actual PGA Tour and its reporters), we have to dig deep into satellite photos and past reviews. With the exception of their plane trip to nearby Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, it appears that even the players are flying blind this week as Chase Seiffert remarked that he “knows nothing about it except what I’ve seen from above.”
One thing that is for sure when viewing the course from on high is that it’s isolated on its own little plot of unspoiled tropical serenity with no housing or commercial developments in sight. Just to get to the course players will have to cross the Ameca River on the world’s longest golf cart suspension bridge.
Similar to a couple of his other courses at TPC San Antonio and El Camaleon, Greg Norman tries to closely incorporate elements of nature into his layouts. This includes water, elevation changes, native plant life, and an appreciation for the surrounding scenery. While it is a fairly flat piece of property, each of these other elements is definitely seen here at Vidanta.
As Norman said in his own words, “When designing this course, respecting and promoting the conservation of ecologically sensitive areas was of primary concern. As a result, routing was dictated by nature, according to dense vegetation corridors, streams, and wetlands.”
Course Details
Vidanta Vallarta is a par-71 course that measures out to 7,456 yards. It ranks as the 7th longest course on Tour. It is a unique track that has five par-3s to go with four par-5s and only nine par-4s. While the par-3s are average in length, five of the par-4s are over 475 yards and three of the par-5s are over 585 yards.
Most of the holes are quite straightforward and non-descript with either large waste areas and bunkers or water lining each fairway. The 7th hole is a 297-yard par-4 that is described as risk-reward but it doesn’t really have much risk because the water to the left side of the fairway is non-threatening. Players should have little trouble driving the green and ending up with eagle and birdie chances. The 18th hole should also set up some excitement as in typical Norman fashion there is a closing par-5. At only 548 yards, it is very reachable in two shots even with the jungle area on the right and waste area on the left.
The course features wall-to-wall paspalum grass surfaces. Paspalum is a very common grass used on coastal courses that is known for its “stickiness”. This means that drives will not roll out as much on the fairways and will stop much quicker on the greens. The rough here is quite short and non-penal. Greens should run around a slow 10.5 on the stimpmeter.
Whenever there is a new course that will become an annual event, such as this week, the PGA Tour generally prefers a more conservative and scoreable setup. I believe we can infer this to be the case once again as the Vidante Vallarta course has wide fairways, sticky grass, and simple greens. Let’s not forget that this is a resort course designed for golfers with higher handicaps, not PGA Tour professionals. Though the course has been lengthened and changed from a par-73 to a par-71, if the coastal winds are not significant, the winning score should easily reach 20-under.
Speaking of winds, they appear to be one of the course’s most prominent defenses. With the Pacific coast just down the road, crosswinds are known to impact the course starting around 11 am on most days. Along with the wind and the aforementioned length, there are 11 holes with water danger, 106 bunkers, numerous large sandy waste areas, and patches of indigenous vegetation that can cause trouble.
Strokes Gained Analysis
Off the tee, players will be met with wide landing areas on fairways that are perfect for bombers who love to hit a ton of drivers. While there are five holes that present water danger off the tee, only two feature water that is tight to landing areas. Along with the rough being non-penal, the slower paspalum fairways will give an added bonus to those with longer carry distance.
With this being such a lengthy course, expect players to have a higher than average amount of approach shots from 175+ yards. They will also have to take on 10 different greens that have water in the vicinity on approach. And in typical Greg Norman fashion, most greens have at least two deep bunkers players will have to deal with. So while the greens are larger than average, second-shot accuracy will still be crucial, especially if coastal winds have an impact.
It’s hard to get an accurate read of how difficult play will be on and around the greens. Some course reviews mention greens being elevated with severe collection areas from behind on long approaches. With all the bunker areas, sand saves will take on added importance. One thing is for sure, with sticky rough areas and slower greens, less touch is involved with regard to chipping which should make the short game much easier.
With no true idea yet on how much contouring these greens have we do know that because they are larger, 3-putt avoidance will be key. Also, paspalum greens tend to neutralize putting for both good and bad putters alike.
Featured Image Credit: Grupo Vidanta