Golf in Cuba is enjoying a renaissance.

During the pre-Communist years (from the 1920s to the 1950s), the Caribbean island boasted seven courses, whose visitors included American players Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan.But after the Cuban revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro closed all the courses, regarding them as the very embodiment of bourgeois excess - although he himself played on the Havana course, where he often played a match against Che Guevara, the Bolivian in his famous camouflage outfit. Today, only 27 holes remain on the island.

There is an 18-hole course, Varadero GC, a nine-hole course near Havana, Habana GC, and a course at Guantanamo, used by the US military, which is naturally off-limits. But there are plans to build several new luxury courses and resorts as part of a multi-billion-dollar commitment between the Cuban government and foreign investors.

Varadero Golf Club

Located on the Hicacos peninsula, the Varadero course was designed by Canadian architect Les Furber, a former disciple of Robert Trent Jones, in 1998, on a 3.5 km strip of land between the Breezes SuperClubs and the Meliá Las América Hotel. With a length of 6,269 metres, it has hosted European Challenge Tour tournaments.

The course is flat, dotted with palm trees and seawater holes, with the outward journey easier than the return. Some holes border the beach, offering spectacular sea views, particularly the ^8th and ^18th holes. Despite its incomparable beauty, the Paraiso 8, a 162 m par 3, is a frightening hole with an elevated tee and the water taking in every pronounced hook. Another spectacular hole is 16, a 500 m par 5, the most representative of the course, with a fairway formed by 3 islands... Varadero GC also features three putting greens, a pitching green, practice bunkers and two driving ranges.

Standing majestically on the San Bernardino Rocks is the Mansion Xanadú, today the clubhouse of the Varadero Golf Club. Designed by M.M Cavarrocas and Govantes, it is an architectural treasure with 7 rooms. Its owner was French-born multi-billionaire Irenée Dupont de Nemours.

Precious woods such as mahogany, cedar, jiquí and sabicú were brought specially from Santiago de Cuba for use in roofs, balustrades and columns, while Cuban, Italian and Spanish marble was used for floors and toilets. Coconut palms were planted in the garden. Flowers and a vegetable garden populated the hillside. To the east, banana, papaya and avocado trees were planted around the old coconut trees. Parakeets and parrots were imported to enhance the tropical charm of the environment. On December 12, 1963, the Maison Dupont became the Restaurant "Las Américas". On the same day, Dupont died in the United States at the age of 85. Today, the beautifully restored Mansion Xanadú is the clubhouse of the Varadero Golf Club. The house has played host to such illustrious guests as Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, Géraldine Chaplin, Jean Paul Belmondo, Naomi Campbell, Ethel and Rory Kennedy and Vladimir Putin.

Next to the clubhouse you'll find the pro shop and the electric cart room.
Located close to the golf course, the 5-star Melia Las Americas luxury hotel faces the magnificent Varadero beach, with 220 standard rooms, 18 suites and 90 bungalows, numerous restaurants and bars, and five swimming pools.

Habana Golf Club

Habana GC's nine-hole par 35 course survived the Castro regime as a meeting place for visiting foreign diplomats and businessmen. Originally called Rover's Athletic Club, it was created by a group of British diplomats in the 1920s and was the scene of the match-play between Castro and Guevara played shortly after the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The holes are lined with palm trees and numerous bunkers dot the course. The clubhouse serves delicious local specialties. The course is just 20 minutes from Jose Marti International Airport and close to Havana.

The Cuban Golf Revolution

The big news is the ambition expressed by Manuel Marrero, Cuba's Minister of Tourism, to make Cuba one of the world's leading golf destinations, with a pharaonic project that skilfully combines political and economic realism, with the creation of no fewer than 24 golf courses over the next fifteen years.

What makes this project revolutionary is that it includes the opening up of the Cuban real estate market to foreigners, who could become owners of apartments or villas in specially created complexes around the golf courses. This ambitious project should make nearby Florida, which has always attracted a large number of wealthy retirees who could practice their favorite sport in a particularly mild climate, break out in a cold sweat. Cuba would have the same advantages, but with the addition of an incomparable "douceur de vivre" and a real sense of security no longer found in Florida.

4 major projects are already underway.

- Bello Monte (Havana) on 336 ha two 18-hole golf courses, 1 hotel with 500 rooms and 1,600 villas for sale in a joint venture with the Chinese company Beijing Enterprises.
- Punta Colorada (near Pinar del Rio) huge 6,000-hectare Cuban-Catalan joint-venture project. 7 18-hole golf courses, 5 hotels (1,060 rooms) and 20,000 villas to be marketed, as well as 3 marinas (1,400 moorings) plus a cruise ship terminal.
- El Salado (near Artemisa) an 18-hole golf course, 2 hotels (750 rooms) and 2,939 villas.
- Carbonera (Varadero) on 160 ha an 18-hole golf course, 1 hotel (120 rooms) and 1,000 villas (2,478 hp) with a British company.

Several other projects are currently being finalized.

Classic hotel business continues to expand

Cuba currently has 68,000 hotel rooms, 70% of which are 4- and 5-star. 64% of this stock, or around 43,000 rooms, is currently managed and marketed by no fewer than 20 major foreign groups, Melia being the leading one. The 2016-2030 plan calls for the construction of 103,000 additional rooms throughout Cuba.
The luxurious 246-room Kempinski Manzana opened a few months ago in the heart of Havana. The Packard Iberostar hotel on the Paseo del Prado and the Accord group's Prado y Malecon hotel at the tip of the Malecon are currently under construction and will soon add a total of 570 luxury rooms in Havana.

The worldwide craze for the destination and the arrival of a large number of American tourists in the coming years are challenges in terms of volume and quality of welcome that Cuba is determined to meet. With its evolving topography, its abundance of seaside attractions and its vibrant culture, Cuba has the potential to be a golf mecca.