With five golf courses in the Montego Bay area, you’re in golfer heaven.
Among other delights, Montego Bay is famed for its stunning beaches and vibrant food scene. But did you know that there are also five golf courses to choose from? Four are nearby, and another is in Negril about an hour and a half away.
So if you are coming to Jamaica to tee up, some of the Caribbean’s premier golfing destinations are right here in beautiful Montego Bay.
Tryall Golf Club
All of our guests enjoy complimentary beach membership and access to Round Hill Resort, a 110-acre private enclave of luxury villas and award-winning amenities. Round Hill is just a five-minute car ride from Coconut Cottage in picturesque Montego Bay, and your dedicated driver can take you there and back. One of the many advantages of the Round Hill complimentary membership is access to the nearby Tryall Golf Club, a sprawling 18-hole, par-72 championship golf course that has hosted such prestigious international events as the Johnnie Walker World Championship. Transportation between the grounds of the resort and the golf course is complimentary.
The Tryall Golf Club is part of the exclusive Tryall Club, a golf, tennis, and beach resort about 12.4 miles (20 km) west of Montego Bay. The golf club was built in 1960 by Texas architect Ralph Plummer, and in more recent years it has been restored. Tryall’s 6,772-yard golf course skirts the water before climbing through coconut groves and returning to the sea.
Half Moon Golf Course
Considered one of the best walking courses on the island, Half Moon was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1961 as part of the eponymous luxury resort east of Montego Bay. Its guest list has included the Kennedys and Queen Elizabeth II. Renovated in 2005, the 18-hole par-72 is home to PGA tournaments like the European PGA Senior Tour and the Jamaica Open. It is also only minutes away from two other golf courses, the White Witch and Cinnamon Hill. Golf lessons are available. There’s a pro shop and an adjacent bar called the 19th Hole Bar.
Cinnamon Hill
Another Jamaican golf course among the best in the Caribbean is the stunning 18-hole, 6,828-yard Cinnamon Hill, which lies on a former sugar plantation in Montego Bay. The course was designed by Hank Smedley in 1969 and redesigned by Robert von Hagge and Rick Baril in 2001. A couple of the golf holes have storied associations. The waterfall at the 15th hole has appeared in the James Bond spy thriller “Live and Let Die.” For thirty years, country music legend Johnny Cash and his wife lived in the Cinnamon Hill Great House next to the 14th hole.
White Witch
Just east of Montego Bay, the 18th-century Rose Hall Great House presides over a 6,600-acre hillside estate. The so-called “calendar house” — it once had 365 windows, 12 bedrooms, and 52 doors — is supposedly haunted by its infamous mistress, Annie Palmer, called the White Witch. The legend is that she murdered all three of her husbands and several slave lovers.
Climbing as it does the slopes of Mount Zion, the 6,758-yard, 16-hole White Witch course is one of the more difficult terrains to navigate. But if you are up to the challenge of trekking through rocky surfaces and ravines, you’ll be rewarded with panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea.
Designed by Robert Von Hagge and Rick Baril, the White Witch golf course is part of the rolling countryside of the historic Rose Hall Estate, located 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from Cinnamon Hill.
Negril Hills Golf Club
This 18-hole, par-72, 6,333-yard golf course is about an hour and a half drive from the airport in Montego Bay and from Coconut Cottage, and it’s a few minutes away from Negril’s picturesque Seven Mile Beach and beautiful cliffside resorts. Famous for stunning views of the Caribbean Sea, the Negril Hills golf course offers some topographical challenges, since most of its greens and tees are elevated. But the course is suitable for golfers of every skill level. Negril Hills also features tennis courts, a clubhouse, and a full-service restaurant.
The weather is perfect, the vegetation lush, the seascape enchanting. So get your clubs ready and let’s play some golf!
If you have any questions, please check out our FAQ for additional details about staying at our private villa, or if you’re ready for your Caribbean adventure, book your stay with us.