La Romana, Dominican Republic - August 2026 Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo® Resort & Villas has taken first place in the Public/Resort category of the Renovation of the Year 2026 awards published by Golf Inc. magazine, following the full-scale rebuild of the 1971 Pete Dye layout.

For operators programming the Caribbean winter, the award turns a claim into a verifiable reference. The course is no longer only famous. It is now independently recognised for how it plays.

The judging panel included John Sparrow, general manager of Bobby Jones Golf Club, Jerry Lemons of ASGCA, superintendent Ryan Walsh of Woods Hole Golf Club and Don Mahaffey of Wolf Point Golf Company. Walsh summed up the entry as a "spectacular presentation".

What was actually rebuilt matters more than the trophy.

Teeth of the Dog sits on a bed of coralina stone with only an inch or two of soil above it. In places the rock reached the surface. That is the reason conditioning was historically inconsistent on a course everyone wanted to sell.

The renovation, carried out by Jerry Pate Design with Total Golf Construction, went underneath the problem rather than around it.

All fairways and tees were sand capped. Six inches of sand were replaced beneath the greens. Dozens of drainage sumps were drilled deep into the rock layer and connected to new surface inlets.

Green complexes were re-grassed with Dynasty Paspalum and nearly all putting surfaces were slightly enlarged. Bunkers were relocated closer to the line of play and reshaped with flat sand bottoms and stepped grass faces, in keeping with the original architectural style.

Every tee complex was levelled and enlarged, with additional tees built on specific holes. A new central irrigation control system and new heads throughout the course allow precise water management.

Three of those points translate directly into group work.

More teeing ground means wear is distributed across repeat departures, which is what a 40-player group does to a course in three days. Sand capping and new drainage mean the course recovers quickly after tropical rain, protecting tee times that would previously have been at risk. Enlarged greens and relocated bunkers give a wider range of set-ups for events and shotgun starts.

The practical consequence for the operator is a stronger sell to the client and fewer conditioning caveats in the proposal.

Casa de Campo continues to sell as a three-course resort. Teeth of the Dog, Dye Fore and The Links share the same property, the same fleet and the same starter, which keeps multi-round itineraries simple to build and simple to quote.

About Casa de Campo® Resort & Villas

Casa de Campo is a 7,000-acre resort on the south-east coast of the Dominican Republic, in La Romana. It is home to three Pete Dye courses: Teeth of the Dog, ranked among the leading courses in the Caribbean, Dye Fore and The Links. The resort combines hotel rooms, suites and private villas with a marina, a private beach and the artisan village of Altos de Chavón. Casa de Campo has been recognised by IAGTO on multiple occasions, including Golf Resort of the Year for Latin America and the Caribbean. La Romana International Airport is a ten-minute drive from the property.

Contact
Monica Diaz Vecino
Director of Golf Sales
Casa de Campo® Resort & Villas
monica@ccampo.com