JTOG Day 43: Pristine Bay Resort, A Golfer’s Paradise!

I think it should be called Tranquility Bay Resort... though how tranquil can you be on a Pete & Perry Dye masterpiece? Certainly not all 18 holes!

I think it should be called Tranquility Bay Resort… though how tranquil can you be on a Pete & Perry Dye masterpiece? Certainly not all 18 holes!

I love the Pristine Bay Resort and The Black Pearl Pete and Perry Dye designed golf course. I do not want to leave. Seriously, I mean that. We all have “jumping off points” in our life for a variety of reasons. If I wasn’t on and committed to the ‘Journey to Olympic Golf’ or could have somehow found a spot for me there, I could have easily stayed for the rest of my life! I hope to make it back and find out. I hope you make the visit and find out for yourself how uniquely special is this golfer’s paradise called the Pristine Bay Resort on the Island of Roatan in Honduras.

A most enjoyable 45 holes of golf with Enrique at The Black Pearl.

A most enjoyable 45 holes of golf with Enrique at The Black Pearl.

JTOG Day 43 was fun, entertaining and meaningful playing golf again with Enrique Toriello the Vice President of Finance & Operations and from what I could tell runs the whole kit and caboodle of Pristine Bay Resort. A golf nut like me I felt flattered that he could play with me twice during my three-day stay. In fact, he suggested another trip around the back nine of The Black Pearl and to play it from the tips to get the full Dye experience. I think he felt sorry for me hitting both tee balls in the water at the par-3 island green 11th hole the first two trips around this Caribbean seaside course. The third time was the charm as I safely landed on the island and two-putted from thirty feet for my par!

CLICK here for a Video Interview with Enrique Toriello, Vice President of Finance & Operations, Pristine Bay Resort.

The 170-yard par-3 7th hole. Somewhere up there is the green and a hole with a flagstick in it. Pete & Perry Dye at their best!

The 170-yard par-3 7th hole. Somewhere up there is the green and a hole with a flagstick in it. Pete & Perry Dye at their best!

What can I say that this video does not say? Enrique Toriello is a great guy and the Pristine Bay Resort is a great place to visit or live there part time if you can manage it. I found it interesting that Enrique is a third generation golfer starting with his grandfather and then his father at an early age. Golf never found my father’s father in eastern Slovakia. It was only after emigrating to the United States and having my father who started as a caddie at Scranton CC in Pennsylvania that golf came to my family.That’s what is beautiful about the game of golf, no matter how you get to put the tee in the ground, the important point is that you get there and put a tee in the ground. The game, soon to be an Olympic sport, is a game for a lifetime and time well spent in life meeting people like Enrique Toriello.

A baby iguana amidst the nature at Pristine Bay Resort. There are birds galore too!

A baby iguana amidst the nature at Pristine Bay Resort. There are birds galore too!

Pristine Bay Resort can be marketed so many ways but it is definitely a golfer’s resort. The Black Pearl is so versatile in design that it has all types and all difficulties of challenge for a high or low handicap golfer. From challenging par-3s, the other three are as memorable as the 11th, to the short 324-yard par-4 5th, to the fun and variable par-5s and to the grand finale of each nine—the 498-yard par-4 9th and the 469-yard par-4 home hole, there is nothing missing for the golfer on this eighteen holes of golf extraordinaire. My only birdie came at the 358-yard par 4 12th hole where I  missed the green left but chipped in like a pro! Plus I did par the island green par-3 11th hole too! Two of many great golfing memories!

Poolside with my scorecard reliving the golf played and enjoying one last evening poolside.

Poolside with my scorecard reliving the golf played and enjoying one last evening poolside.

Pristine Bay Resort is a family resort when the family comes with the kids or a romantic getaway when the kids are left at home or there are no kids. It was romantic for me and I came alone and fell in love with the place and its pristine spirit of adventure and sport. I did take a quick tour of the island, including the West End with Erlin in the resort van early in the morning. There are other beautiful beaches and some quaint places to eat and socialize but I saw nothing that would require me to leave the resort other than coming and going. My documentation was complete with only my voyage to the Pristine Bay Resort says this golf voyager and documentarian. Check out the Pristine Bay Resort, you will be glad you did!

The Black Pearl, The Golf Course blew me away and the Pristine Bay Resort reeled me in for keeps!

The Black Pearl, The Golf Course blew me away and the Pristine Bay Resort reeled me in for keeps!

I was still a long way from Rio as my days enroute approached the halfway point. Tomorrow I would do something I have yet to do on the Journey. I will fly back to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras and then drive through (hopefully) the border to Nicaragua and find my bed with new friends that I haven’t yet met but was connected to via my tout buddy Jorge on the Guatemala-El Salvador border on JTOG Day No. 37. To me, it seemed as if my connection to Connie and Ernesto Cantu was almost spiritual as I would be finding my way up to their home in the mountains near Matagalpa somehow, some way, But that was tomorrow and today I am enjoying my last night in splendor on Roatan at the Pristine Bay Resort.

I love the Pristine Bay Resort and The Black Pearl Pete and Perry Dye designed golf course. I do not want to leave. Seriously, I mean that. Did I say that before? Should I jump off?

There are some more stories in the pictures below this request to make a donation to The First Tee… please make a donation today. Much appreciated.

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The First Tee has a positive impact on young kids in life and on the golf course.

The First Tee has a positive impact on young kids in life and on the golf course.

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The short par-4 5th green. Like many short par-4s length is the bait and the green complex the hook. I was hooked!

The short par-4 5th green. Like many short par-4s length is the bait and the green complex the hook. I was hooked!

The beautiful signature hole- the par-3 11th with an island green.

The beautiful signature hole- the par-3 11th with an island green.

Variety is the name of the game. Here is the green at the par-5 13th with seeminly no bunkers, at least none that you can see from behind the green!

Variety is the name of the game. Here is the green at the par-5 13th with seeminly no bunkers, at least none that you can see from behind the green!