Pristine Bay Paradise and the World’s Best Tee
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - PRISTINE BAY PARADISE AND THE WORLD’S BEST TEE
No. 11 at Pristine Bay Resort’s Black Pearl GC on the island of Roatan.
One of my most anticipated media junkets—assuming it comes to pass—will be Pristine Bay Resort on the island of Roatan in the Western Caribbean. The resort’s Pete & Perry Dye-designed Black Pearl Golf Course isn’t completed just yet (nine holes are expected to open in January, with the remaining nine targeted for Easter). But it’s hard not to lick your chops over this project.
Long a favourite of scuba divers and boasting the world’s second largest barrier reef, the lush, tropical island of Roatan sits 35 miles off the coast of Honduras.
It’s Black Pearl layout will feature 14 holes with Caribbean views, and likely excellent conditioning, thanks in part to the use of an environmentally friendly, saltwater-tolerant strand of Paspalum turf, which Dye Designs pioneered for tropics-based projects.
The Black Pearl’s 15th hole shows off the island’s undulating terrain.
The 400-acre resort itself will offer bayview and golf course condos; two-, three-, and four-bedroom villas and one-quarter-acre custom home lots, many with unobstructed ocean views. (Villas start at $600,000 and range up to $1 million, with lots running from $230,000 to $700,000; and condos from $348,000 to $700,000.)
THE WORLD’S BEST TEE
I knew Evolve Golf’s Epoch tee boated some serious numbers—I mean with 123 major Tour wins, including 46 PGA Tour victories, since it 2004 debut, and all. But now it’s official, thanks to GolfTest USA’s 2009 “Comprehensive Golf Tee Test.”
The Epoch tee downed 24 competing designs from every other leading manufacturer. Determined by a panel of 60 testers rating each tee in 10 categories, the test examined performance, appearance, ease of use, durability and eco-friendly composition. (Technically, the Epoch tied for the overall top mark with the Perfect Tee, but since it kicked Perfect Tee’s ass in the distance category, I’m giving Evolve Golf the edge.) Check out the results here.
