Aerial view of tropical golf course, Dominican Republic, Punta Cana (Image: Getty Images/500px Plus)
The par three was 165 yards and into an onshore breeze; the pin on a peninsula jutting in to the ocean. Anything weak and I'd be on rocks or waves of the Caribbean. Caddie Jacob (I'm not used to having a "carer", but Casa de Campo insist) reckoned it was too far for me to hit a five-iron but I was feeling strong and took a gamble. I hit the ball well, right on the Tiger line. As it flew towards the flag I just hoped it was enough...
Some years ago, when I first heard of a golf course called Teeth Of The Dog it went straight on my bucket list of courses to play. But as it's at the Dominican Republic's Casa de Campo resort in the Caribbean I figured my hope was rather forlorn.
The course was built by renowned course designer Pete Dye, who has had a home at Casa de Campo ever since the early 1970s when the resort was first developed by industrialist Charles Bluhdorn.
Their local labourers carved a track through the jungle and along the rocky La Romana coastline to create a beautiful layout, considered one of the finest golf courses ever since.
Since its opening in 1971 Teeth Of The Dog (it owes its name to the sharp rocks of the seven ocean holes) is regularly voted the No 1 course in the Caribbean and always figures in the top 50 world rankings.
Golf course architects are sometimes suspected of having a sadistic dislike of golfers (some make their courses almost unplayable) rather than any sense of humour, but as one of the other courses at Casa de Campo is called Dye Fore I liked his fun approach from the start.
I liked it even more when, earlier this year, I got the chance to go there with my wife Lynne and play the links ahead of the Latin America Amateur Championship. Casa de Campo ("country house" in Spanish) is an amazing gated community spread across some 7,000 acres on the south-eastern coast.With an idyllic, tropical climate, beaches on palm-fringed shores, an azure sea with even a couple of islands to explore, this piece of paradise is the last word in luxury living.
Nic Brook gets his jaws around Casa de Campo's stunning Teeth Of The Dog course (Image: Daily Mirror)
Think Gleneagles but with Caribbean sunshine and a golf course akin to America's renowned Pebble Beach - a golfer's paradise.
We went off exploring in a golf buggy to find three more courses in addition to the main championship layout, a 400-berth marina and shipyard, an equestrian centre that stables 220 horses and features three polo pitches, a lodge at the heart of a 245-acre shooting centre, not to mention the largest tennis academy in the Caribbean.
But the biggest discovery
