Hola from Soles (so-lays) and the Dominican Republic

The best news today? That Damon's internet was down.

Darn. Guess I'll have to walk the 50 yards from his apartment to Soles, a bar on the beach with wireless internet and Presidente cerveza. (Damon, the superintendent at the Roco Ki resort, pictured here with his girlfriend, the amazingly sweet Anna.)

I got down here to the Dominican Republic with no problems. Nice flight. Damon was waiting for me at the airport. Once we got here, we immediately got to work, and headed to Cap Cana, the Punta Espada course, for a tour of the facility. Superintendent Roberto Garcia gave me a tour of all 18 holes. A few photos of the course included in this post.

The Dominican Republic is... beautiful. I can see why Harrison Ford was here with Calista Flockhart a few days ago. The weather is perfect, the views spectacular. Building golf courses all over this island is a no-brainer.

I was able to join Damon and his girlfriend Anna, as well as Julio Diaz, superintendent at Punta Cana Resort and Club, and the aforementioned Garcia (on the right, pictured with his assistant superintendent Wilson Contreras), for dinner at Soles. I was told to order the mahi mahi. I did, as did the rest of the group. After all, it was pulled from the Atlantic a few hours ago.

But then the cook came out, and apologized to Damon. There were only two left.

Well, somehow I still ended up with fresh mahi mahi. And yeah, it was delicious.

So here I am, back at Soles. All the superintendents have gone to bed. Tomorrow, I get a tour of Punta Cana, courtesy of Diaz. And then the meat of the trip begins -- the tour of Roco Ki, which is still growing in. I'll be staying with the Roco Ki folks for the remainder of my trip, but until then, I'm getting a great snapshot of the golf scene in southeastern DR. The Champions Tour will be coming to the DR, April 4th through 6th, the Cap Cana Championship. It'll be played at Garcia's course.

Before I came here, I had a lot of people ask me, "...Puerto Rico?" "...Costa Rica?"

I even had one friend talk to me in a fake Jamaican accent.

It's the Dominican Republic. I think it'll be making a name for itself in the golf world very soon.