La Reunión Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala’s first golf resort, opened last month.

Built on what used to be a coffee plantation outside the colonial town of Antigua (a Unesco World Heritage site), the property is lodged between four volcanoes, at 3,700 feet above sea level, with the Pacific Ocean about 30 minutes away.

Twenty-six golf casitas, each with personal infinity pools and indoor/outdoor showers, have been built, and there are plans for a boutique hotel and a spa.

Long-term plans call for 950 residential units, including private lots and villas.

The centerpiece of the resort is the 18-hole golf course itself, called Fuego Maya (Mayan Fire), named after the active volcano that looms over it, and designed by Pete Dye, the golf course architect, along with his son, Perry Dye.

The course plays to a par 72 and 7,302 yards, and winds along canyons, signature Dye bunkering and bent grass greens.

“La Reunion will be Guatemala’s first foray in the golf tourism business,” said Roberto Roesch, one of the project’s developers.

“We hope to put Guatemala on the map as a world-class destination and attract golfers and general tourists to our resort.”

Guatemala is located between Mexico and Honduras and is known as the “country of the eternal spring” because of the mild temperature throughout the year.

With the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific to the south, Guatemala offers unparalleled sport fishing, as well as a world center for Mayan culture.

Source: NYtimes