When most golf professionals from Canada go on a vacation during winter you can be sure they are taking their clubs to get a round or five in without being called into their pro shop to deal with a problem.
For River Bend’s Todd Fiske, he heads to the Dominican Republic on his annual getaway. It’s been a destination of choice for him since the early 90’s.
“I went down there on a vacation and then I ended up coming back to teach golf in Punta Cana,” said the long time pro in Red Deer, Alberta.
Back in the day he navigated the dirt roads to get to Casa De Campos which took him about two hours but now the same drive is almost cut in half with a four lane highway in place. This is where he plays his favorite course in the area, Teeth of the Dog.
The Pete Dye designed course which opened in 1971 got its name during construction where workers described the coral rock they had to break apart to form the course as “diente de perro” and so the name stuck.
He really likes the course as it is old style which hasn’t changed much. What does change however are the winds which sweep the area and provide a challenge, especially along a stretch of holes skirting the ocean on the front nine and those which the run opposite direction on the back nine.
“If you have one shot shape, movement on the ball, you’re going to have to pay the price on one side or the other depending on the winds.”
The Latin America amateur has been held at Teeth of the Dog where the winner gets an exemption in the Masters so the teeth are still sharp enough for the high-end players.
He feels the best change made over the years was putting in the paspalum grass on the greens, a strain which can handle warm weather and salt water. A new driving range was constructed and then there have been upgrades to the resort as well.
Now just up the coastline is the town of San Pedro De Macoris which baseball fans know as a MLB hotbed, producing players like Robinson Cano, former Blue Jay Tony Fernandez, Sammy Sosa and Alfonso Soriano.
So along with packing golf clubs Fiske and his group brought along some baseball gloves they gathered at garage sales to give to the young kids.Bringing golf gear is still a part of what they do but this is an island where baseball is similar in popularity as hockey is in Canada.
“We find some kids along our travels and hand them out some stuff at the ball park on a Saturday because they’re typically all out there. The kids have the nice uniforms and they’ve got the hats but some of the kids are out there in sandals and some are missing some gloves.”
He says they try not to be disruptive when handing out the gear but the impact is very noticeable. The attraction of sport is no different for these kids and a pick-up game of ball is a shout away.
“If you go into some of the towns they are still playing stick ball,” he said. “They will play with whatever they can find. If you can get them playing sports and doing stuff and keep them off the streets and doing whatever else it’s going to be better for them.”
He has always been leaving behind golf clubs, balls, gloves or shoes and says the game is gaining some traction there.
“They have some kids coming up that will be on the radar at some point.”
He has played many other courses with a higher pedigree but Teeth of the Dog ranks right up there as far as delivering scenery and challenge in his mind. The condition is always good and you never get bored playing the course, he said.
“One day you’ll get calm conditions and you can score real good on it if you’re hitting the ball good and the next day the wind will change or you will get different wind conditions.”
It’s also high on the list for a permanent mailing address some day.
“Yeah this would be a place where I could definitely shut it down and play. The weather’s always good. It’s pretty much summer all year round.”
So bring your golf gear but maybe toss in a baseball or a glove for good measure.
