Its paradise for pesos, plus a shot at Dye Brothers course on Mexico ’s Sea of Cortes.

A million years before some unknown pioneer struck Mexico ’s first golf shot, a volcanic eruption split the earth to form Baja California and the Sea of Cortes . At its northern end, the Sea boarders Mexico ’s Sonora Desert, which in turn borders Arizona . Nestled between sea and dessert lies a dazzling jewel of blue water called Bahia San Carlos. And next, to this sits a gem of a course by the often eccentric, but always exciting designers.

Bahia San Carlos is not a place that sprung full blown from a blueprint. It is not Mazatlan nor Cabo nor Puerto Vallarta . There are no celebrities to patronize sophisticated haunts. No gleaming lodgings streaked like Mayan temples. No organized joy. No chic shops. San Carlos is a peaceful retreat without pretentions.

Over 30 years ago the Estrada family started to add to all this—slowly. They built a clubhouse for golf and tennis, put in an artistically tiled pool, and began the construction of villas, residential sub-divisions and a central lodging - Solimar Condominiums at the San Carlos Country Club for visitors.

Each of these constructions was done the best way money can buy at the time. When it came time to build a golf course, they went to course designers who usually work for people with private plans—the Dye brothers. In this case, it was Roy who did most of the designing. Roy is the Western side of the Dye tandem. While Pete stayed in Florida , Roy has moved to Phoenix where he concentrates on courses in the Southwest and Mexico . He is the author of the opulent and sometimes outrageous design at Las Hadas, the millionaire fairyland near Manzanillo and Los Cabos Country Club in Cabo San Lucas.

The land Dye worked with at San Carlos is on the edge of the desert—hard and rocky. In order to excavate some of the deep bunkers fronting the greens, it was necessary to use jackhammers.

Annual rainfall here is a meager four inches, and Dye’s success has depended heavily on his ability to use every arroyo and mountain water source to produce fairways and greens that are green and lucious.

From the elevated tee shot on the first hole, named El Mirador, until you hit home to the 4000-square-foot green at 18, you will have the feeling of walking on a verdant sanctuary which compliments the rugged character of the surrounding land. As Dye would put it, “My aim is to dramatize nature, to make a course look like it’s been here 80 years.” For example, the second hole is a par five that goes uphill, following the natural contour of the ground, through the native palo verde, cacti, brittlebush, tamarisk and mesquite. When, as in the fifth hole, there in no contour at all, Dye rolls the ground from tee to green to produces Las Ondas or “The Waves.” The par three, in particular numbers 3 and 17, offer a wonderful combination of the natural and the decorative.

On number 3 Dye has created a 190 yard shot over a barranquita festooned with wildflowers and plants and situated tight to the green. Seventeen is Dye's choice for most beautiful hole and his tribute to Old Mexico , with a green protected by one sand bunker and ringed with ancient field stone he collected from an arroyo.

There are other touches that distinguish the course: a mix of sand, grass and pot bunkers, climaxing with the huge hole at 18, reminiscent of the 18 th at Yale, University. Dye‘s alma mater. The back nine is full of the subtle contours similar to what brother Pete put in at Oak Tree in Oklahoma . Last, you will find some deceitful—blind shots that, as Dye says, “heighten the nervous tension and expectation of the golfer.”

The golf course will be your only exasperation at San Carlos . You can stay in a condominium, a private home or a hotel, where handsome waiters will serve you breakfast on terrace that overlooks the peaks which guard the serenity of your visit. A few miles south at Guaymas, there is some of the finest fishing in the world. You can walk north for seven miles until you come to Los Algodones Beach and see movie sets where: