In the realms of imagination and magical tales, there exists a captivating story of a white witch who took up the sport of golf. This mystical being, draped in an ethereal gown of pure white, stood out on the emerald green fairway like a beacon of enchantment. With a graceful swing and a flick of her wand, she would send the golf ball soaring through the air, defying all earthly laws of physics. It would loop and twirl, guided by her magical powers, finding its way to the perfect spot on the golf course. As she navigated through the course, the white witch encountered various challenges that would have ordinary golfers scratching their heads in frustration. But with a simple wave of her wand, she would cast spells to bend the branches of trees, part the waters of streams, and even teleport herself across large sand traps.
Experienced traveling golfers realize that the conditioning of the golf courses abroad and particularly in the Caribbean can vary and may often be rough around the edges, but when I first visited White Witch, the conditioning was excellent, Candidlly, during my last visit in the last quarter of 2014, the conditioning particularly of the putting surfaces had fallen into a state of disrepair. While I am more apt to be tolerant of spotty conditioning of the tees or fairways (which had many bare spots despite rain) because you can tee it up, I feel that poor green conditions really sully the golf experience. This was also the case for the adjoining Cinnamon Hill Golf Course and the conditioning was not consistent with a golf course charging in the mid to high $100 USD. The putting surfaces had patches of bumpy bare sand and were very inconsistent in speed with little grass and thick grainy growth in other areas - typical of a course charging $100 or more less per round. If you expect average to good conditions for your green fee investment, I suggest you carefully research conditions prior to booking your tee time at the White Witch as course conditions could change. No soap or paper towels and less than clean appealing conditions in the locker/restrooms were likewise indications of neglect. Left as is without improvement, sadly the golf course cannot sustain its reputation as a premier destination.
There is no doubt that the White Witch is one of most dramatic and exciting visual golf experiences you will enjoy, and I have an affinity for much of it. The original vision of this idea of multiple golf courses and a short course and practice course and all this fun stuff immediately resonated with me, Welling said.
But with a simple wave of her wand, she would cast spells to bend the branches of trees, part the waters of streams, and even teleport herself across large sand traps. The white witch's golf game was a mesmerizing sight to behold. Each stroke she made was infused with a magical energy, as if the elements of nature themselves were conspiring to ensure her success.
The Jamaica Golf Experience
I love Jamaica. I have been to the island for several trips with my family and the feeling I get every time I think about a next visit is always exciting. On past trips, I have made Jamaican friends that I will remember for the rest of my life. The people there are so happy and good. One Love. The “no problem ‘mon'” culture just becomes a part of you when you’re there, creating a special atmosphere that lets you escape it all. I keep Red Stripe beer in my fridge at home in Fort Worth, Texas, all year — a reminder of the island I love with every sip. So when I received an invitation to play in The Jamaica Pro-Am, I was quick to accept.
The Jamaica Pro-Am (aka Annie’s Revenge — more on that later) is an annual tournament held each year in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Four-man teams constructed of three amateurs and one PGA Professional, the tournament is typically played on three of Jamaica’s finest golf courses — Half Moon, Cinnamon Hill, and White Witch. I attended this year’s tournament as a playing observer, confined to the “media team” and partaking in the festivities. Ya’mon.
The tournament field gets to stay at the beautiful Iberostar Grand Rose Hotel, conveniently located near all three courses and more importantly, right on the beach. The hotel is indeed grand and all-inclusive, providing guests with a wristband that gets you whatever you’d like to eat or drink from any of the onsite bars and restaurants — no questions asked. Less than 30 minutes from the airport, if Montego Bay is your desired city for your next Jamaican vacation, I’d imagine this hotel is tough to beat.
The first night of the tournament is the welcome dinner and reception on the beach. A full Jamaican buffet complete with jerk chicken and pork, beef patties, fried plantains, rice and peas, and cabbage. A true taste of the Caribbean, accompanied of course with whatever rum drink your heart desires. Appleton is the island favorite, and it mixes well with pretty much everything when you’re toes are in the sand. There was a live reggae band playing the Bob Marley songs everyone knows.
While the festivities were for the tournament participants, there was still plenty of activity and vibe for the other hotel guests. This is Jamaica. There was music and fun all around the hotel every moment of this trip. No worries, everything is irie. I have a real love for the island. The people are kind, the food is fantastic, and the waters are the finest in the world.
Day One: Half Moon Golf Club
Quite understandably, Jamaica has been hit hard by COVID-19, with tourism taking a substantial dip in the past year and a half. The golf has seen a dip in numbers as a result, but the courses are in gorgeous shape with foot and cart traffic just now picking back up.
Half Moon was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and it opened in 1962. The course rests between the Blue Mountains and the sea, playing a mostly flat 7,120 yards from the back tees. Half Moon does offer several tee box options and could be played as short as 5,032 yards, making it a pleasant resort course, should that be your speed.
The course is beautiful and very well maintained. The greens were a bit shaggy, but luscious, playing at a slower pace than I am used to. I am not sure if that is by design or a side effect of the pandemic, as I do know the Jamaican golf courses have been short-staffed and without the usual supplies this past season. That appears to be a thing of the past, however, as the course looks to have turned a corner.
Most fairways are lined by palm trees, adding something to avoid off the tee, but there is enough space between each trunk to give you a full swing if you do miss left or right. The coconuts that drop, luckily, are loose impediments.
Half Moon is a resort course through and through. There are elements of character and excitement, but it mostly just provides a beautiful and benign setting for fun island golf. The fairways are dressed with multiple well-placed bunkers which provide the only designed protection against low scores. The driver could be used on virtually every non-par 3, but the course is better suited to be thought around and played to avoid the sand.
Built on a retired sugar cane estate, the other real hazard (water doesn’t come into play much at all) is the coastal winds that pick up mid-morning each day. With little besides the coconut trees to protect your ball from gusts, the wind becomes a real challenge on this bow-tie routed design. Holes into the wind were a beast, and when we finally turned with the wind at our back, it was time for a Red Stripe and a sigh of relief.
Those winds are a big reason why this tournament is called “Annie’s Revenge.” Named after Annie Palmer, the White Witch of Rose Hall, the namesake is one of Jamaica’s most famous local legends. Rose Hall’s Great House, just down the road towards Cinnamon Hill Golf Course, was home to Palmer, a Haitian-born white woman who grew up studying voodoo and witchcraft. Thus the nickname, the White Witch. She moved to Jamaica when she married John Palmer, the owner of Rose Hall, and unfortunately, her practice of dark magic proved too powerful for those around her. Legend tells she murdered her husband (and two more after that) along with many of her slaves. She herself was eventually killed, but to this day, the locals claim to have witnessed Palmer’s ghost riding her horse around the Jamaican plantations.
The strong coastal winds are Annie’s Revenge on any golfer trying to enjoy the land she once owned. They got the best of me a time or two.
Days Two and Three: Cinnamon Hill
Both Cinnamon Hill and White Witch Golf Course are members of the Rose Hall family. Typically, in the “Annie’s Revenge” tournament format, the courses are played once each in the three-day event. However, White Witch is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its owners made the financial decision to proceed through these tough times with only one course due to the limited play and the costs of upkeep. While disappointed to not play White Witch, playing Cinnamon Hill twice instead more than satisfied my appetite for Jamaican golf. This is my favorite course on the island.
Cinnamon Hill was designed by Rick Baril and opened in 1969. It was later renovated and redesigned by Robert von Hagge. The greens here were much quicker than those at Half Moon, which I certainly appreciated. The two nines of Cinnamon Hill play in complementing contrast to one another, with the front providing low coastal play while the back nine rises into the tropical Blue Mountains.
Tipping out at 6,828 yards, the front nine marches and builds towards the ocean, with two phenomenal holes hugging the coastline. This is unusual for Jamaica, as most of the shore is saved for sandy beaches and rum-flavored sips under thatch umbrellas.
I played Cinnamon Hill with my cart partner, Jason Deegan of GolfPass.com. Our hosts for our rounds at Rose Hall were Keith Stein, the Director of Golf Course Operations for both Cinnamon Hill and White Witch, and Donnie Dawson, the Deputy Director of Tourism for the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Keith is a very good golfer with a smooth swing. He is originally from Toronto but has lived in Jamaica for 30 years. Donnie is a world-class storyteller who grew up in Kingston and has been playing these courses his entire life. It was a real treat to be able to play the course with both fine gentlemen, see how they play each hole, and hear their tales. The best story came on hole four, a 170-yard par 3 over marshy ponds.
Donnie Dawson and one of his stories
As we approached the fourth tee box, Donnie pointed out a concrete wall just behind the markers and informed us that a cemetery lay just beyond. Peering over, we could see the gravestones in this centuries-old burial plot for the family of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The grass is grown tall because the golf course staff, local Jamaicans, refuse to go inside.
Donnie told us 20 or so years ago, he was playing this course with a caddie named “Teeth,” a moniker he was given based on the looper’s colored and decorated top front teeth. As they approached the fourth tee box, a man was sitting on the concrete wall bordering the cemetery. He tossed Donnie a ball and said “hit this one, mon.” Donnie complied and the three men watched the shot bounce twice and roll directly into the cup. A hole-in-one with accompanied celebration. When they reached the green, Donnie and Teeth looked into the cup to retrieve the ball, and, to their surprise, it had vanished. Disappeared from the hole. They looked to the tee box and the kind stranger on the wall was gone as well. Perhaps a ghost from the ancient graves. Donnie said Teeth, a believer in local legend, took off running and didn’t stop for three miles.
Hole Four Green, site of the vanishing ball
Holes five and six provide tremendous views right along the quietly crashing waves. The par-3 sixth hole, arguably the prettiest hole on the island, is a 178-yard carry over the Caribbean with bailout room to the left. Just a gorgeous hole that I would have been happy to play all day. Cinnamon Hill does not waste their par 3s.
Hole five fairway
Keith Stein, yours truly and Jason Deegan
Par three sixth hole
The course is also home to an ancient aqueduct that winds through both the front and back nine. The now-ruins provide an interesting backdrop to island golf, whereas they used to be a working part of the sugar cane plantation and used to grind and transport one of Jamaica’s top export products for commerce.
The back nine brings you up the mountains, with the 17th tee box sitting nearly 400 feet above sea level. What that provides, obviously, is wonderful views of the ocean through and over jungle leaves, along with challenging golf shots. On the fairway of the 14th hole sits one of the few homes on course, but one has some historical value: The Cinnamon Hill Great House was the second home of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash for 30 years.
Cinnamon Hill Great House
The 15th hole is another tremendous par 3 measuring 220 yards from the back but playing much shorter straight down the hill to a large green nestled beneath a waterfall. The waterfall, in case it looks familiar, was the backdrop of a famous scene in “Live and Let Die” — one of the best James Bond films ever made. Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond series, lived and wrote many of the books here on the island at Golden Eye.
Cinnamon Hill takes the driver out of your hand on many holes, forcing you to find the right club on every tee shot. You need to be prepared to hit mid-irons off some par fours as angles are often more important than distance. And with the undulating back nine, distances are sometimes deceiving. Cheers to my caddie for keeping the right club in my hand all trip.
Back to the hotel for the final ceremony and last sleep on the island. The Jamaica Pro-Am is open to anyone willing to pay the entry fee, but if you come to Jamaica for just a family vacation, don’t forget about the golf. Most travelers to Jamaica come for the beaches and the island lifestyle, and they aren’t wrong to do so. But next time you visit, I suggest you bring your clubs, mon.
- LIKE 75
- LEGIT 41
- WOW 15
- LOL 0
- IDHT 0
- FLOP 0
- OB 0
- SHANK 1
Inside Pebble Beach’s “The Hay” Short Course (designed by Tiger Woods/TGR)
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Johnny Newbern writes for GolfWRX from Fort Worth, Texas. His loving wife lets him play more golf than is reasonable and his three-year-old son is a tremendous cart partner. He is a Scotty Cameron loyalist and a lover of links-style courses. He believes Coore/Crenshaw can do no wrong, Gil Hanse is the king of renovations, and hole-in-ones are earned, not given. Johnny holds a degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University.
1 Comment1 Comment
Chris Smedley Mar 21, 2023 at 11:04 amWrong info on Cinnamon Hill GC It was originally built and designed by Henry C Smedley. Originally named Rose Hall GC.
Built for John Rollins, Pan Am Airlines, and Intercontinental Holels.
All of the holes were named by Henry Smedley as well. I still have many of the original drawings. The course was later redesigned by Von Hagge.
I know Keith Stein and he should certainly be able to verify this.
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The wind would carry her ball just a little further, the birds would sing a sweet melody as she teed off, and the sun would shine a little brighter on her path. Word of the white witch's prowess soon spread across the golfing community, attracting both admirers and skeptics. Some accused her of cheating, arguing that her magical abilities gave her unfair advantages on the course. But for others, the white witch's golf game was a symbol of hope and inspiration. If a mythical being could master a sport as challenging as golf, then surely anything was possible. In the end, it was not the scores on her card that defined the white witch's venture into golf, but the magic she brought to the game. She showed us that even in the most ordinary of pursuits, there is room for a touch of enchantment. She reminded us that the power of imagination and belief can transform something mundane into something extraordinary. So, the next time you step onto the golf course, remember the tale of the white witch and let her magic guide your swing. Let her be a reminder that golf, like life itself, is not merely a matter of skill and technique, but a canvas for dreams and wonder..
Reviews for "Tapping into the Otherworldly: Golf Stories from a White Witch"
1. John - 2 stars - I found "Golf played by a white witch" to be a completely bizarre and unfocused film. The plot was nonexistent, and the characters were poorly developed. It seemed like the director was more interested in creating weird and random scenes than telling a coherent story. The whole film felt disjointed and confusing, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. Overall, I was highly disappointed and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
2. Sarah - 1 star - I have never felt so bored and confused while watching a movie. "Golf played by a white witch" was a complete waste of my time. The dialogue was unintelligible, and the acting was horrendous. I honestly couldn't tell you what the film was about because it was so poorly executed. I found myself checking my watch every few minutes, just waiting for it to end. Save yourself the agony and avoid this film at all costs.
3. David - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Golf played by a white witch" after hearing some positive reviews, but I was sorely disappointed. The film lacked any clear direction or purpose. It seemed like a mishmash of random scenes that made no sense. The pacing was slow, and the dialogue was pretentious. I kept waiting for something meaningful to happen, but it never did. Overall, this film left me feeling confused and unsatisfied.
4. Emily - 1 star - This movie was a complete waste of my time and money. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about "Golf played by a white witch." The acting was terrible, the storyline was nonsensical, and the cinematography was amateurish at best. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I would strongly advise anyone considering watching this film to save their time and watch something else instead.