Villa Espada Golf Guide · 2026
Las Iguanas is the newest Jack Nicklaus Signature course in the Caribbean — the back nine is open now at Cap Cana, including the oceanside holes — and it gives the community something rare: a second championship course, two minutes from the villa, built to feel nothing like it. Here is what is known so far, how it compares to Punta Espada, and how to play both.
Villa Espada sits on Punta Espada’s Fairway 5, about two minutes by cart from the Las Iguanas first tee. Two golf carts are included and the butler arranges tee times at both courses.
Check availability →Las Iguanas is a par-72 Jack Nicklaus Signature course inside the gated Cap Cana community in the Dominican Republic — the second Nicklaus course here, alongside Punta Espada, which GolfWeek ranks the number-one course in the Caribbean and Mexico for eight consecutive years. Built on a reported $26 million investment, with the back nine open now, including the oceanside holes, it was designed with a clear brief: complement Punta Espada rather than repeat it. Where its neighbor is a wind-blasted coastal course, Las Iguanas takes a parkland-and-wetland approach, weaving through a nature-preserve setting with ten inland lakes in play and a calmer, more sheltered atmosphere.
For a Caribbean resort course, Las Iguanas plays across unusually varied ground. The inland stretches move through preserve and wetland, where the ten lakes are distributed across the round rather than clustered, so water is a recurring strategic question instead of a one-time gimmick. It is a placement-and-course-management course; length matters less than picking the right line and the right club.
Then it turns to the sea. The standout stretch is the oceanside run on the back nine — consecutive holes along the rocky Caribbean coastline. These holes sit on the back nine, and several oceanside holes are already open to play. That transition from sheltered parkland into the ocean run and back is designed to give the round a rhythm that is genuinely uncommon on resort courses. Because Las Iguanas is so new, detailed hole-by-hole yardages are still emerging; what is already clear is that the design achieves its goal of contrast.
The two courses invite comparison because they share a designer and a postcode. The honest answer is that they are built to be different, and playing both is the point.
| Las Iguanas | Punta Espada | |
|---|---|---|
| Opened | Back nine open, incl. oceanside holes; front nine expected around spring 2027 | 2006 |
| Designer | Jack Nicklaus Signature | Jack Nicklaus Signature |
| Setting | Parkland & wetland, nature preserve | Coastal limestone headland |
| Water | 10 inland lakes | 8 holes on the Caribbean Sea |
| Ocean holes | Back nine (open now) | 8 |
| Feel | Sheltered, strategic, quieter | Exposed, dramatic, windy |
| Ranking | New — still being rated | GolfWeek #1 in the Caribbean & Mexico |
| Rate for villa guests | Regular rates | Member-guest discounted rate |
In practice, most golfers who play Cap Cana for more than a day or two play both, often on the same day. Punta Espada is the bucket-list round; Las Iguanas is the one that surprises you and that you will happily play twice.
The course sits inside Cap Cana, so access runs through the community. The simplest route is to stay inside the gates and have your tee times arranged for you. Guests at Villa Espada, on the Punta Espada fairway, are about two minutes by cart from the Las Iguanas first tee, with two six-person carts included and the butler booking rounds at both courses. Las Iguanas is played at its regular published rates; the member-guest discounted rate that saves villa guests roughly $200 per round applies specifically at Punta Espada.
There is a small window with any acclaimed new course where you can play it before the crowds and the rankings catch up, and Las Iguanas is squarely in it. It is a new Nicklaus Signature design that most of the golf world has not seen yet, two minutes from the best course in the Caribbean, on a site that took $26 million to build. For a golf trip in the next couple of seasons, being able to say you played it early is part of the appeal.
Las Iguanas is one of the newest Jack Nicklaus Signature courses in the world: the back nine is open now, including the oceanside holes. It was built on a reported $26 million investment as Cap Cana's second Nicklaus course, alongside the long-established Punta Espada.
About three minutes by golf cart. Both courses sit inside the gates of Cap Cana; once Las Iguanas is complete, a 36-hole day across the two of them will be genuinely easy. Guests at Villa Espada, on the Punta Espada fairway, reach either first tee in a few minutes.
It is a parkland-and-wetland course rather than a cliffside one. Ten inland lakes come into play through a nature-preserve setting, giving it a calmer, more sheltered character than wind-exposed Punta Espada, and its oceanside holes on the back nine, several of which are already open, run along the Caribbean coast. It rewards placement and course management over brute length.
Las Iguanas is played at its regular published rates, and the villa's butler arranges tee times as part of your stay. The member-guest discounted rate that saves villa guests about $200 per round applies specifically at Punta Espada; Las Iguanas is booked at standard rates.
If you have time, play both — they are designed to contrast, and three minutes apart there is no reason not to. If you must choose one, Punta Espada is the higher-ranked, more dramatic round and the one most golfers travel for. Las Iguanas is the fresher, more sheltered, more strategic complement.
Villa Espada — 6 or 8 bedrooms on Punta Espada’s Fairway 5, sleeps up to 22, full staff, member-guest discounted golf rate at Punta Espada, two carts included. We respond within 2 hours.
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