El Monteon's Field of Dreams Golf Course

A remarkable dream comes true!

By Bette Venturi

Someone in our foursome hollers, “Hola!” and a moment later the proprietor, Gerardo, emerges from his house squinting, looking as though he’s been enjoying the ubiquitous summer nap himself. Without having to ask, he equips us all with an extremely cold bottle of Corona.  Now we are ready to play a round of what we like to call “Extreme Golf”. It’s like regular golf, but when you add 90-degree weather and 90% humidity to the challenge, the result is a game of golf that is not for the weak of heart or for the sound of mind.

Being the only woman in our group, the others give me the honor of teeing off first. The slight drizzle that coated our windshield on the way to the course has stopped and the sun is poking its way out from behind a cloud.  I can feel the heat rise off the grass as I line up my first drive of the day.  I wind up and shoot and the ball sails through a pearly haze straight for the pin and lands ten yards short of the first green. Thankful I don’t have to look for my ball, I take a seat on a bench beneath the shade of a palapa, my shirt already soaking through, and wait for the others to tee off. I gaze out over the green mounds and reflect on the course’s transformation over the past several years.

In 1998, the course in El Monteon, which presently comprises ten and a half hectares of native Bermuda greens and fairways, was a cow pasture. Prior to that, it was a bean farm.

Gerardo  Cervontes,a Mexican man from Monterrey, considering it to be a good investment, purchased the property and began a restaurant business, serving roadside Mexican fare and frosty cervezas. The restaurant was built on the side of Highway 200, known as the Carretera Costera.  The highway starts in the state of Nayarit and travels the Pacific coast south to the Guatemala border. For two years, Gerardo’s restaurant captured the traffic of many hungry and thirsty travelers, especially during the week of Semana Santa (Easter week) when many Guadalajara families traditionally vacation by the sea.

One day, a man stopped in for a cold beer and asked, “What are you going to do with all those hectares, Gerardo?” as his eyes roamed thoughtfully over the flat land behind the restaurant. Gerardo had a few ideas, but hadn’t settled on anything yet. Being an avid golfer, the man suggested that it would be a perfect place for a driving range.  

Some time later, a group of American and Canadian retirees from nearby pueblos banned together for regular visits to Gerardo’s highway eatery.  Sometimes, they stopped in for a cold one, driving north from a round of golf in Puerto Vallarta. The drive, although beautiful, is grueling and dangerous.  The roadside is sprinkled with white crosses attesting to the highways notoriety as one of the most perilous in Mexico. Mexicans cross themselves before pulling their cars on to the treacherous two-lane road.

Sometimes, the golfers talked to Gerardo about golf, about his land, about the feasibility and the benefits of building a local and affordable golf course.  

Sure, they said, Puerto Vallarta boasts several highly rated and beautifully maintained courses, but the drive can take almost two hours on the Diablo of all roads. Plus, not all golf enthusiasts, especially those on fixed incomes, have the ability to shell out hundreds of dollars to tee off.

Over time, their enthusiasm captured Gerardo’s imagination. He had never played golf himself, but with his band of golfers encouragement he began to see the possibilities and devise a plan for the future. “Build it, and they will come,” became the mantra and soon Gerardo’s land would be known as the Field of Dreams.   

Armed with pencils and a vision, Gerardo and his band of golfers sat down to design a golf course.  Under the direction of Gerardo, a small group of volunteers and a few paid laborers set to work on a dream. Each possessed varied skills, and Gerardo matched these to the tasks at hand. One might operate the road grater and another drive the tractor to level out fairways. There were machetadors to hack out the unwanted flora. Friends, relatives, Gerardo’s partner, Alejandrina; all contributed their particular abilities toward their final goal.  

Sand and gravel were laid, and rhizomes, which are horizontal, underground stems, were transported from a nearby golf resort in Nuevo Vallarta. They didn’t grow very well, however, so the native Bermuda grass was encouraged to seed itself.

When the grass came in, the fairways were mowed by hand until a gas-powered mower could be purchased.  Even before the grass began to grow, the course was in full swing, with Gerardo, friends, and family playing their first round of golf. There were six holes, fairways of dirt, and “greens” with a paint can sunk into the ground to serve as a hole. The winds kicked up to 60 miles per hour that day, and when the golfers finished the round they were covered in dirt and in need of a fire hose.  

There are many stories of those early days. Like the time a man from Guayabitas rescued a python that was going to be killed. He paid 100 pesos for it and brought it to the course where it was released into the natural pond that now surrounds the 6^th green.  I am told the snake is long gone, and so far I’ve only seen turtles and a few languid fish, but I still take an uneasy look around before making my putt.

The course has an interesting array of wildlife, including vultures, frigates, vermillion flycatchers, swifts, and white-tailed kites. Deer have been sighted on the seventh green, and once, someone spied a Buffo, one of the largest species of toad in the world. There are coyotes, iguanas, and many species of snake, including, the moccasin and the Sonora king snake. Caution is paramount when looking for stray balls in the tall grass.

 
View El Monteon Field of Dreams Golf Course in a larger map

Over the years, the fairways became longer and the greens became greener. The nine-hole course has recently undergone a redesign, replacing two par-threes with par-fours, altering several other holes, and constructing a new outdoor clubhouse, complete with a full bar, dance floor, and breakfast buffet.

On December 15^th, 2009, Gerardo and Alejandrina held the grand opening of their new and improved golf course. The fiesta was a celebration with good friends, friends who had been there from the beginning. There was carne asada, a 70’s rock band, door prizes and piñatas.  The friends wiggled on the shiny new dance floor, kicking up their heels to a rendition of Highway to Hell, with silly grins of pride for Gerardo’s success smeared on their faces.

During the winter season, the days of “Extreme Golf” are a distant memory. Up above the sun’s edges melt into a sea of blue. The weather is warm, but tolerable, and a slight breeze flutters through the palm fronds. Inhaling the smell of freshly cut grass, I nestle in to my driving stance and set my sights on the sixth pin. As I line up my shot a flap of movement distracts me. I turn in time to see an exquisite Great White Egret take flight.

I watch it slowly gain altitude and then return to my drive, trying to wrap my head around this new challenge. The sixth hole is known as the “Island Hole”, and it’s the first of the new par fours. At 328 yards from the men’s tee, the green sits unforgiving in its watery oasis. My drive is clean and straight and the ball comes to a stop in the center of the fairway, 140 yards from the green. My second shot sends my ball into the water’s murky depths, where it will lie at the bottom with hundreds of others, like eggs waiting to hatch.  I take a stroke and try again.  The latter shot follows the former. “One of these days… I’ll par this &$#@* hole”, I mutter, “but not today.”

“Build it and they will come”, and they did come, from as far away as Iceland. The course has seen golfers from every continent. Most members reside in surrounding pueblos, such as, Bucerias, Litibu, Sayulita, San Pancho, Lo de Marcos, Guayabitos, and La Penita. During the season, Gerardo might see 500-700 rounds of golf played by his 50 members, some occasional players, and drop-ins.  

After playing golf at one of the more costly courses in Puerto Vallarta a few weeks back, I looked forward to returning to the Field of Dreams.  Gerardo and Alexandrina have created a golf course that offers the golfer an affordable day of golf in a relaxed family atmosphere. Over the years, I have come to meet a variety of people who have contributed to the Field of Dreams becoming more than a golf course. It is a community hub, where friends meet up, year after year, to golf, socialize, and enjoy the casual charm of the course and Gerardo’s family. No need for a shirt with a collar, the right shoes, or a caddy and cart. No need to make a tee time, as the course operates on a first-come and first-serve basis.

 The community involvement during the creation of the course manifests itself today in the fund-raising tournaments held each year. The first Jaltemba Cup was held in 2006 and has been played every year since. Past tournament benefactors have been, Casa de Los Ninos after-school program in Lo de Marcos and an area Secondaria School in La Penita. The funds raised have been used to acquire new computers and provide library support for students.

 In late March, with only a few days left in Mexico before I return to grey and rainy Oregon, I am enjoying my last day of golf in the sun for a while. After my first round, I stop at the clubhouse for a refreshing cerveza y hamburguesa con papas. Sitting under the canopy of a two hundred year old Chalate tree I admire its’ grand and gnarly root structure.

From the rhizome of an idea, and with camaraderie and a lot of hard work, a golf course was born, nurtured, and continues to flourish today in Nayarit. The Chalate stands like a symbol of what can develop from a seed.

Learn Spanish Online

Get the most of out of your experience in Mexico - by learning some Spanish...

Being able to converse in Spanish will give you better access to the culture and make your visit or lifestyle in Mexico much more enjoyable and rewarding.

If you are traveling on business, being able to speak at least a little Spanish will go a long way to helping your negotiations.

Visual Link Spanish offers a unique learning experience that enables you to start speaking Spanish right away.

Spanish Lessons Online - Free

Most language courses teach a lot of grammar rules and verb conjugations, but when you're done you can't actually speak Spanish.

The Visual Link Spanish system is effective in building your conversation skills, because it teaches you to build sentences, ask and answer useful, everyday, questions and truly communicate in Spanish.

These online Spanish lessons will enable you to start speaking and understanding basic Spanish now, and they'll also provide a solid foundation for you to progress onto higher levels later on.

The course is excellent, and because of the way it's presented and structured, you'll begin to speak and understand basic Spanish right away.

Start your free interactive Visual Link Spanish lessons online now

A new window will open when you click one of the links above.