The Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, one of two major pro golf events played at the Riviera Maya resort in Mexico (LIV Golf Mexico is the other), is played at El Camaleon, a resort course designed by Greg Norman through the jungle setting that is the Riviera Maya.
Amid that dense setting, Norman found a unique feature to be a centerpiece of one of the holes on the course: a cave.
That's right. A cave.
So, in the middle of the fairway on the first hole at Mayakoba Resort's El Camaleon course (the seventh for the old PGA Tour routing), there's a bunker that's built into the cave. Get a look at it.
The actual term for the cave in Spanish is a cenote (say-NO-tay), which roughly translates to sinkhole. These underground caverns were created thousands, if not millions, of years ago, and they've remained intact. There are four of various sizes on the course, and cenotes are numerous throughout the Riviera Maya portion of the country. Tourists often flock to the bigger ones to explore and, in some cases, go swimming.
At a theme park, Xcaret, you can actually swim through a fresh-water cenote. I should know; I did it on my honeymoon back in 2010.
The bunker built into the cenote has a small rock barrier at the back end of it so golf balls won't likely roll through the sand, over it and deeper into the cave. However, golfers have been forced to pitch out backwards because of the pitch of the cave or their precarious position.
Center-line bunkers are a common thing found on higher-end golf courses, so this is a unique take on that concept with a bunker in a cave that can be explored by resort guests as they play the course.
