But no shortage of hazards awaits, among them the water and the ubiquitous gators. There is also a profusion of gravelly sand traps guarding the greens, and von Hagge's signature moguls lining the fairways, some of them ten or twelve feet high. If your ball stops along the side of one of these humps, you may forget that you ever had a balance point. At 6,781 yards, the Marina course runs about a hundred yards shorter than the Campo de Golf. Its undulating greens play faster and hold better, and cup placements are fair.
Water runs along the entire left side of the fairway, with clusters of humps along the right.
The passage between the two hazards can narrow to fifteen yards. Even a long hitter will need three shots to reach the green. Most players aim to lay up on a plateau to the right, even though that leaves them a long seven-iron to the green, against the sea breeze. Fernandez estimated that perhaps two in twenty players make par on the eighteenth. People love Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo for its variety, and golfers are no exception.