World Wide Technology Championship: El Cardonal at Diamante Hole-by-Hole Walkthrough

This year’s World Wide Technology Championship will be the second year that El Cardonal at Diamante will host the PGA tour event, with last year’s winning score of -27 going to Erik Van Rooyen. El Cardonal is the first course designed by  Tiger Woods to host a PGA tour event. Positioned along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean in Cabo San Lucas, the course provides a mix of desert and beach course characteristics, but lots of scoring opportunities. Field average for birdies or better last year was 5.02.

Hole 1: Par 5, 582 yards

From the clubhouse, you approach the tee box of the 582-yard par 5. The layout is pretty benign with fairway bunkers lining the right side of the fairway, with desrt akin to waste areas on either side of the fairway. One greenside bunker protects the back left pin placements, requiring a high, soft-landing approach shot to get close, but providing little protection for front and middle right flags from shots to get on in two.

Hole 2: Par 3, 208 yards

Hole 2 is a relatively harmless 208-yard par 3 with a green that is wider than it is long, and a greenside bunker short front and a backstop long mitigating runout. This should be an easy 6-iron for most players this weekend.

 Hole 3:  Par 4, 351 yards

Hole 3 is a first of many risk/reward holes from the tee box. Playing only 351 yards, taking driver off the tee is an aggressive move that with placement just right of the middle bunker, can provide an easy up-and-down from green-side. Taking a shorter club off the tee and positioning just short left of the middle bunker gives the player a little more space to hit a pitch approach and get some spin on the ball.

Hole 4: Par 4, 483 yards

Hole 4 is a straight away par 4 off the tee with a slight left turn on approach to the elevated green. Another relatively harmless par 4, the field ate this one up last year.

Hole 5: Par 4, 438 yards

Hole 5 is a 438-yard par 4 with a fairway sloping left to right and fairway bunkers on the left. A solid tee shot should leave players this week with an easy wedge on approach, hopefully yielding a strong birdie opportunity.

Hole 6: Par 5, 601 yards

The second par 5 on the front 9 caters to players with a distance advantage off the tee. At 601 yards, the hole requires a +320 yard drive off the tee for a chance to get on the green in 2 without playing Driver-Driver. With fairway bunkers strategic placed around the 2nd shot layup position, pushing the second shot as far as possible up the left takes these out of play and sets up an easy pitch shot in regulation.

Hole 7: Par 4, 489 yards

At 489-yards, hole 7 plays shorter than the stated distance with the fairway running downhill towards the green, so a nice tee shot will runout to a good approach distance for an aggressive play at the flag.

Hole 8: Par 4, 474 yards

Hole 8 is a 474-yard par 4 with sandy arroyo transition areas splitting the tee, landing area, and the green requiring more strategic play tee to green. With the field only finding birdie 6.87% last year, #8 is one of the more challenging holes to score.

 Hole 9: Par 3, 200 yards

Hitting into the wind, the par 3 9th requires an accurate iron shot of the tee. The left side is protected with a bunker and waste area, leaving the right side of the green as the safe play and bail-out area.

Hole 10: Par 4, 344 yards

#10 is a short par 4 scoring opportunity to kick off the back 9. Longer players will try to push closer to the green, splitting a few fairway bunkers. While a more cautious approach would be to lay back to left-fairway, leaving a short pitch into the wishbone shaped green.

Hole 11: Par 3, 189 yards

A benign mid-length par 3, this hole plays slightly downhill giving players the choice to hit short-right and use the right to left slope of the green complex to feed their shot towards the center of the green. Or be more aggressive and carry their tee shot to the flag. For a par 3, this hole was giving out charity like UNISEF last year.

Hole 12: Par 4, 401 yards

This par 4 rewards aggressive tee shots carrying the left fairway bunker, gifting a favorable kick back down the hill. Tee shots to the right side of the fairway play significantly longer, and the right to left characteristics around the green can come into play from that angle.

Hole 13: Par 4, 475 yards

Hole 13 requires a forced carry tee shot over a waste area. Choosing a more aggressive line towards the right side of the fairway gives players the best angle into the right-to-left sloping green.

Hole 14: Par 5, 554 yards

The 14th par 5 consists of a long waste area lining the entire right side of the hole. Longer players off the tee will opt to push it up the left side for the shorter second shot. The second landing area is split with a fairway bunker leaving left and right sections for the approach. The left section is the more optimal play, leaving a drama-free approach shot.

Hole 15: Par 4, 462 yards

A dogleg-left playing uphill and bunkers lining the left side of the fairway, the 15th consists of a deceptively generous landing area just beyond the left fairway bunkers. The right-to-left feeder slope around the green gives players options on how to tackle the approach.

Hole 16: Par 3, 154 yards

The shortest par 3 at El Cardonal, what the 16th lacks in distance it makes up in potential drama, with an all-or-nothing forced carry to a three-tiered green. Accuracy with the short iron is key to making sure the tee shot lands on the right section for a cortisol-free par or better.

Hole 17: Par 4, 462 yards

The tee box of the 17th hole sits at the highest point on the golf course, offering the best views of the round. Right-of-center fairway tee shots yield the best approach angles and this hole has proven to be a good final scoring opportunity.

Hole 18: Par 5, 585 yards

Everybody loves to close a round with a par 5 that lets “the big dog eat”. This hole invites an aggressive tee shot, playing downhill 60+ feet. Big hitters will aim to carry the cross bunkers to the second landing area, which will give a favorable kick forward towards the green. In 2023, this hole played as close to a layup as you can get in golf.

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