How Can I Play El Camaleon Golf Club?

If you’re on the lookout for variety to truly test your ability, El Camaleon at Mayakoba resort in Mexico has an abundance. Located 35 minutes from Cancun airport, the Greg Norman-designed course has three distinct landscapes, each as spectacular and challenging as the other. 

There is tropical jungle to navigate, dense mangroves and long stretches of oceanfront sand through holes with limestone canals over its 7,039 yards, making it one of the more varied courses you’re likely to find. You may have guessed, but that is how it got its name – The Chameleon. 

Norman’s courses are typified by their “least disturbance” philosophy, which identifies the most desirable and attractive natural features on the terrain and then finds a way to incorporate them into the routing, and El Camaleon is no different. As well as the stunning natural landscapes used through the course, Norman even included a cenote, an ancient underground cavern common to the Mayan region, in the fairway of the first hole. 

The course, which is certified by Audubon International as a Cooperative Sanctuary, has several standout holes. Two par 3 holes, the fourth and 15th, benefit from spectacular views of the Caribbean Sea. Between them, another par 3, the 10th, has a green resembling a figure eight, which is guarded by bunkers and has limestone cliffs to the right. Meanwhile, perhaps the most diverse hole is the 13th, which begins in the jungle and ends in the mangroves.

The course opened in 2006 and it wasn’t long before the PGA Tour took notice. It began hosting one of its tournaments, the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, in 2007. Now named the World Wide Technology Championship, the tournament has had some big-name winners including Victor Hovland, who won in 2021 and Graeme McDowell, who won in 2015 when it was named the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.