Rodney Dodig

 Bajamar Mexico: Golfing with the SIU Women’s Golf Team

By: Rodney L. Dodig

Recently a group of friends and I traveled to Bajamar, Mexico with the SIU Women’s Golf Team for a tournament. The trip offered a great opportunity to stay at the Bajamar Golf Resort and play a round of golf with the players during their practice round before the tournament started. The tournament was hosted by Southern Mississippi State and a total of nine teams participated.

SIU Coach Diane Daugherty had sent families of the players and her boosters a copy of the flyer offering a package deal that included some nice benefits: a round of golf with the players, hotel room, several meals with the players and transportation from the airport at San Diego to the Bajamar Resort in Mexico. The course and surroundings looked beautiful so I contacted some friends and we decided to take the trip and support our Salukis.

We had a little trouble getting some information we needed from the hosts of the tournament so I decided to make the travel arrangements myself. Going on line and finding a home for rent in the Bajamar compound, airfare and car rental; I managed to save us between $300 and $400 a piece over the package price.

When we arrived at the airport in San Diego, getting the car and insurance for Mexico was very easy and reasonable. A midsize for the four of us turned out to be perfect.

We stopped just before the border and bought some groceries to tide us over at the house. The border crossing was very easy and the drive down the Baja Coast gave us some spectacular scenery. We encountered no problems along the way and the exit to the Bajamar Resort was clearly marked.

Bajamar is a gated community that includes homes, a hotel, restaurant, golf course and spa but no grocery stores or Pharmacies that are readily accessible. The closest being about a thirty minute drive from the resort area.

When we arrived at Bajamar we were stopped at the gate to check in. From there we had directions to the home of the lady who was renting us the house. Her home was easy to find and she was waiting there to show us to our house.

Our house was a beautiful four bedroom home on the bluffs overlooking four holes of the 27 holes in the resort. There are three nine hole courses in the resort. The Lagos and Vista courses are both off the ocean; the Oceanus has the four holes that border the Pacific.

Golf Rates were very reasonable since we were with the Salukis at the Tournament. A round of golf was $59.00 which included the cart. Not bad for a Sunday round of golf at a premier, four star golf resort called the Pebble Beach of Baja.

I won’t embarrass myself or friends by telling you our scores but we had a great time playing the course. I found the Vista course to be the most difficult of the nine hole courses and Coach Daugherty agreed with me after her girls finished their practice rounds.

It was breathtaking playing those four Ocean holes. The first was a 185 yard par 3 mostly over ocean waves crashing on the lava rocks of the coast. This was followed by two par fours and a par five; each inviting you to take a short cut across the water at your peril.

The next two days I spent watching the Salukis play their way to a third place finish in the tournament. It was exciting to watch and the players certainly appreciated having fans there to cheer them on. The Lagos course was kept open for players who were not interested in watching tournament play.

For things to do after golf the area has many offerings. There are lots of local wineries, whale watching, diving, kayaking, sport fishing, surfing and lots of others too numerous to mention here. Bajamar is also conveniently located between Rosarito and Ensenada for shopping, museums and galleries.

The Saluki’s will be playing in this tournament again. It’s a great opportunity for fans and golfers from Southern Illinois to join them there. You get to play a great resort course, visit a very scenic and beautiful area of Mexico and support one of the Saluki Sports Teams. I have to mention again how much Coach and the team appreciated us being there.

It was also a great opportunity to get to meet the players and Coach up close and personal. I was very impressed with these young ladies and their level of professionalism and sportsmanship.

The Salukis will be playing in this tournament again so think about joining them in Mexico for some great golf and a chance to support your Lady Salukis. If you are just interested in going on your own you can check out their web site. http://www.golfbajamar.com/  If you want to rent a home and make all your own arrangements contact Ruth at RRockwellA@aol.com.