PuntaCana Dreaming - Memories Made At Puntacana Resort

In response our recent spate of unseasonably chill Connecticut weather I've been waxing nostalgic for the sun saturated DR and the sublime Puntacana Resort and Club.  

You see, it's been just over a week since I returned from a paradisical Punta Cana getaway and the memories are still so fresh. 

In fact, as I was playing a windswept round on our local course a few days ago, my thoughts kept taking me back to the stunning breakers of Corales Golf Course;  all of a sudden.... there I'd be... back on the terrace of the VIP lounge, sipping an excellent espresso and watching the Web.com Tour pros confront Devil's Elbow, Corales. That is until a gust of icy wind knocked my back to the reality of New England.

It was a thrill to attend the 2nd annual Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, and so exciting to watch the Web.com Tour pros tackle the spectacular seaside course.  A Tom Fazio design, Corales is breathtaking, and Devil's Elbow, the beautiful, brutal final three holes, make for a uniquely exciting finish. 

In keeping with the excellence of the venue The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship will be transitioning to a PGA tour event starting March 2018.  At the presser, where the official announcement was made, we learned about the orgins of this magical resort and heard the moving story of Frank Rainier, the visionary Dominican businessman who patiently and responsibly developed Puntacana Resort & Club over many years, taking it from a swatch of beach and dense jungle, to what it is today, a multi-faceted vacation destination encompassing a wide variety of resort and residential communities, created with a dedication to sustainable tourism.

In addition to Corales, the resort is home to La Cana Golf Course; 27 holes with surfside tees and ocean views galor, and very playable, even by mere mortals such as myself, who would, I'm guessing, find the Devils Elbow...  quite Hellish!  

The thing is, outstanding golf is only one part of what makes this resort uber wonderful.  My stay at the superlative Westin Puntacana Resort & Club was sublime. Ocean view rooms on Playa Blanca beach and an expansive pool complex create the perfect setting for a family getaway...whether or not golf is in the equation. 

Accomodations also include Four Points by Sheraton Puntacana Village with it's myriad of shopping and dining venues, plus the fabulously luxurious five diamond Tortuga Bay an amazing 30 room boutique hotel designed by the late Oscar de la Renta.  

As for dining... and drinking... the choices are endless from casually elegant sand-in-your-toes beach bars like Playa Blanca ...serving a superlative cherveich... to the 4 star Bamboo, featuring an array of ultra-fresh, eclectic entrees most of the created with local ingredients. This reflects the commitment the resort and its founder have to sustainability, which I got to experience first hand on a tour of the Ojos Indigenas Ecological Park where  there are environmental projects of all sorts underway under the canopy of a lush green rainforest.

Just then... I felt an icy rain begin to fall and found myself back in Connecticut on a chilly, gray golf course, whistfully pursuing my Puntacana daydreams.