Elite Traveler Winter 2020

EXPLORE THE HOT LIST

GOLF, GOLF AND...DIAMONDS. THIS ISSUE’S HOT LIST FEATURES TWO INCREDIBLE, UNIQUE GOLF COURSES AND EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIPS, AS WELL AS A COUNTRY GETAWAY WITH A SPARKLING DIFFERENCE

A golf trip to Uruguay offers unrivaled tastes of exclusivity and a rare opportunity to play an untouched, historic course. I block my drive to the right on the eighth hole at the Garzón Tajamares Golf Club and watch as my ball sails over a small cluster of palm-fronded butia trees. When I arrive on the other side of the butias, a white Titleist quickly comes into view, sitting up in the rough. After assessing the ball’s position and determining the best angle to hit my approach shot, I select a club. That I never stop to first determine if the ball is mine is unusual. Under normal circumstances, such behavior would exemplify a lack of proper golf etiquette. Privacy and preservation

location of the misfire is mine. The logic is simple: There’s no one else on the course who could’ve hit it. Access to Garzón Tajamares is offered through membership in The Garzón Club, an exclusive wine and social society that carries $200,000 initiation fees and $10,000 annual dues. Both were created by Alejandro Bulgheroni, but the golf course was initially built to be Bulgheroni’s own private backyard oasis, a sanctuary that made it easier for the billionaire entrepreneur to occasionally play at least a few holes. Eventually, two-time major champion Angel Cabrera was brought in to subtly tweak the routing, lengthen the course, and improve its drainage and playability.

But these aren’t normal circumstances. And that realization is slowly sinking in as I finish the front nine. Set in southeastern Uruguay on the edge of the country’s thriving new wine region and less than 15 miles from the coast, Garzón Tajamares is a private golf course — so private, in fact, that less than 20 rounds of golf are typically played on it each year. Because of that, my three playing partners and I are the only golfers on the course today. As I’m later told, we may be the only golfers to play the course for weeks, maybe even months. With that in mind, I’ve learned that after hitting an errant shot, I can safely assume that any ball that turns up in the general