The national winners of the BMW Golf Cup International will compete in Los Cabos, from March 18 – 23.
The BMW Golf Cup International is the world’s largest international tournament series for amateur golfers.
Each year, approximately 100,000 amateur golfers from 35 countries play a series of tournaments around the world as part of the BMW Golf Cup International. Each player has a single goal in mind: qualification for the World Final. Approximately 100 players will gather to play in this unique global event, to which BMW has invited top performers since 1995.
Situated where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortes at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos has an extraordinary mountain-desert-ocean environment, where the game’s top designers have crafted some of the world’s finest courses.
The World Final will be played at Cabo del Sol. Finalists and their guests will stay next to the 36-hole golf club at Sheraton Grand Los Cabos Hacienda del Mar, a property patterned after a colonial Mexican village.
“The BMW Golf Cup International boasts everything that makes the sport of golf so special: beautiful yet demanding courses, competitive and high-class competition, but also respect for each other and the opportunity to make new friendships and have a great time together,” said Christian Masanz, head of BMW Golfsport Marketing. “This is also why we have chosen Los Cabos as the venue for the World Final. This beautiful place has everything to fulfill this promise.”
The BMW Golf Cup International is open to golfers who are members of an internationally recognized national association through their golf club. The tournament is divided into three handicap classes: Men A (up to handicap 12); Men B (handicap 13 to 28); and Ladies (up to handicap 28). Each nation determines a winner in each category at qualification tournaments in their respective home countries, organized by BMW dealerships. The number and format of these qualification tournaments can vary in individual countries. However, one aspect remains the same in all participating nations: the victorious trio travels to the World Final.
Each course at Cabo del Sol will be utilized during the World Final. The Ocean Course, featuring several holes set along the Sea of Cortes, is the layout that put Los Cabos on the international golf map when it opened in 1994. Intent on producing the ‘Pebble Beach of the Baja,’ designer Jack Nicklaus charted grand-scale holes across gently sloping terrain creased by sandy arroyos and backdropped by stony mountains. The ebb and flow routing leads players to the sea on both nines. Giant cardon cacti, craggy granite outcrops and deep sculpted bunkers frame the fairways and greens.
Routed in mountain foothills high above the Ocean Course, the Desert Course at Cabo del Sol, debuted in 2001, was Tom Weiskopf’s first design in Mexico. All 18 holes serve up panoramic views of the glittering sea. Shoehorning holes into rugged desert terrain crisscrossed by canyon-like barrancas, Weiskopf produced a brilliant layout, dishing out broad fairways flanked by rock outcrops and a dense cactus forest. To defend the sloping greens, Weiskopf built large bunkers with distinctive capes and bays. With its strategic risk-reward options and enticing blend of long and short holes, the Desert Course presents a classic test.
Feature Photo: The Ocean Course (Nicklaus.com)