Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club

Few courses in the Caribbean can claim the kind of raw, dramatic oceanfront setting that defines Playa Grande. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1997, it occupies a striking stretch of the Dominican Republic's north coast — the Amber Coast — where the Atlantic crashes against limestone cliffs and the trade winds are a constant, invisible playing partner. Jones reportedly called it one of the finest pieces of land he ever built on, and the routing makes that easy to believe, with several holes riding the cliff's edge above open ocean.

Rio San Juan is a small fishing town, unhurried and far removed from the resort corridors of Punta Cana to the south. The golf here feels like a deliberate escape — the surrounding landscape is lush and tropical, the Atlantic views unrelenting, and the atmosphere far more raw than manicured.

The back 9 in particular has earned an outsized reputation, delivering a sequence of oceanside holes that belong in any serious conversation about the Caribbean's best golf experiences.