Mexico boasts more than 120 golf courses, and more are being built each year. Los Cabos, Acapulco, Ixtapa, Cancun and Mazatlan are all popular coastal resorts that have recently inaugurated new courses, laid out in most cases by top-name designers

Courses in resort areas were built with tourists in mind, or are operated as integral parts of a hotel, so access is fairly easy. Take Los Cabos in Baja California, which has become a "must" golfing destination for aficionados.

The resort area offers five courses, four of them designed by legendary golfers: Jack Nicklaus' masterpieces, the PalmillaandCabo del Sol, the latter described by golfing experts as Mexico's Pebble Beach; the Robert Trent Jones-designed Cabo Real; and the Cabo San Lucas Country Club, designed by Roy Dye.

There are magnificent golf courses in Acapulco at the Tres Vidas Club, and the Princess and Pierre Marques hotels, regarded as three of the finest courses in Mexico.

Some of the country's finest courses are in Mexico City, at exclusive country clubs, such as the Chapultepec Golf Club and Los Encinos. Unfortunately, most of these are not open to the public and require that a visitor be a guest of a member. Some hotels, however, can arrange for non-members to shoot a round at certain courses