Lagunita Country Club

Overview: Lagunita Country Club is an 18-hole, par-70 parkland course in El Hatillo, in the hills east of Caracas. The directory lists 6,890 yards from the longer tees. The course is associated with American designers Dick Wilson and Joe Lee and moves through a landscape of rolling ground, mature planting and changing elevation rather than a flat urban grid. Its fairways, green approaches and water features are integrated into the wider La Lagunita development, which gives the course a strong relationship with the surrounding residential landscape. This profile refers to the Venezuelan Lagunita in El Hatillo, not a same-name course elsewhere.

History: La Lagunita began as a planned development in the 1950s, and the golf course formed part of that original vision. Heritage research dates the design project to 1956-57, with the first nine holes built in 1958-59 and the remaining holes following in the early 1960s. Top100 Golf Courses records the 18-hole course as completed in 1964, the year before Wilson died. The exact chronology reflects the difference between construction milestones and the completed course date, so 1964 is retained for the current course record. The design is credited to Wilson and Lee, with additional landscape work connected to the development around it.

Did You Know? Lagunita hosted the 1974 World Cup of Golf, when South Africa's Bobby Cole and Dale Hayes won the two-man event. The course later became a regular venue for Venezuelan national golf, including the Venezuelan Open. Its tournament history is notable because it places a Caracas residential course within the international schedule soon after the 18-hole layout was completed.