For centuries Barbados has been known for sugar cane plantations and fine rum. The sugar cane plantations were originally cultivated by white slaves and criminals exiled to Barbados from Europe. The indigenous Amerindians had been killed off by the importation of European small pox brought by the Spanish in the late 15^th century, creating the need for low cost labor to work the fields. In 1652, the descendents of Sir Charles Williams were given a choice by Lord Protector of the British Commonwealth Oliver Cromwell; Banishment to Barbados or execution!

            The present day contributions to Bajan (or Barbadian) society by Sir Charles, known to his friends as Cow (Charles Othneil Williams), would suggest that his ancestors chose wisely. Sir Charles, now 77 years old, has become one of the most successful business men and sportsmen of the Caribbean Islands. Sir Charles was conferred Knighthood by the Queen of England in 2000, recognizing his contributions to the development of Barbados in such diverse arenas as construction, dairy farming, horticulture, agriculture and sports. His company, C.O. Williams Construction Ltd., has built roads, airports, marinas, residential and public housing and is one of the most successful company’s native to Barbados.

            Sir Charles’ newest and likely most important project in Barbados is the development known as Apes Hill Club. Apes Hill Club is a residential and destination property situated on approximately 470 acres close to 1000 feet above sea level in the center of the island of Barbados. He has chosen to partner in this venture with the highly esteemed Wentworth Club of England and Landmark Land, the U.S.-based developer best know for having developed La Quinta in California and Kiawah Island in South Carolina. But make no mistake about it, Sir Charles is the driving force behind this venture.

            The Apes Hill Club is more than a new, high end residential community in the making. It is more than luxury villas that are available for guests to rent. It is more than just a golf course and a polo field. It is also home to several members of the Williams family. When you discuss various locations of the property with family members you can tell they have spent much of their lives on this piece of land. The development of this land, in harmony with the natural environment and respecting the Bajan government’s need to accomplish various political objectives, shows not only Sir Charles’ reverence for the land but also his commitment to the economic development of the island. If your goal is to build a high end second home or a retirement residence, you should take great comfort knowing the family who supplied you the property still resides on the property.

The carved entrance road at Apes Hill

            When you first drive into Apes Hill it is readily apparent that specialized construction skills were required simply to lay in the entrance road. You cut though machine-carved escarpments of coral reef that millions of years ago were under the ocean and today still inhabit the top of the island. There is a fascinating mixture of planned horticultural refinement embedded into the wildness offered by the surrounding jungles. You simply cannot always tell where the manicuring stops and the jungle starts. This adds immeasurably to the charm of the property. You learn that many trees that were misplaced in the creation of Apes Hill Club were lovingly replanted in new strategic locations designed to enhance the overall scenery. Nothing gets wasted if it can be replanted. After a few days at Apes Hill it all seems to harmonize into one cogent theme; natural beauty.

            There has obviously been a tremendous amount of work done here. After all, a world class residential and sporting facility doesn’t just spring up out of the ground. But the effort required enhancing the land rather than dramatically altering the land leaves one with the feeling of being inside of a nature preserve. Still, the amenities that high end luxury visitors demand are present and accounted for.

Watching Sir Charles charge around the polo field at the age of 72, driving other players off the ball, gives one the feeling that Apes Hill is not just for the casual polo enthusiast. In fact, Sir Charles has sponsored a very successful professional polo team based out of Apes Hill Club’s Waterhall Polo Centre, where residents and guests can watch world class polo, learn to play, or simply enjoy the fabulous riding facilities. Perhaps you’ll overhear Sir Charles mention that in a lifetime of competitive polo, Waterhall is the best surface he has ever played on.

The first class villas are available to rent for a vacation or to purchase in an innovative purchase/leaseback arrangement with the Apes Hill Club partners. The villas are well appointed and tastefully decorated in upscale Bajan style, including the required hot tubs and infinity pools one comes to expect from such high end developments.

But what really caught our attention was the new Apes Hill Golf Club, designed by Jeff Potts and Chris Cole. Mr. Potts spent the better part of his career tutoring with the famous course designer Pete Dye, and Mr. Cole has worked on several world class courses for Landmark Land. The visual aspects remind one of the Plantation Course at Kapalua, with the dramatic elevation changes as your ball rides the trade winds heading towards the Caribbean Sea. What really excites golfers of all skill levels is how British links-like the course plays. Golf is simply at its best when the player can identify humps and moguls and play the ball along the ground, using contours to shape and create the necessary shots. Keeping your ball down near the ground is crucial to the strategy of attacking the course because the trade wind is ever-present and usually full of teeth.

The course start out with a modest length 500 yard par five that offers an opening challenge because it plays modestly uphill and into the prevailing trade wind. The driving areas on most long holes are generous as the designers recognized that the devilish winds required ample landing room. This opening hole offers the player a reasonable chance to open the round with a solid score.

After the first hole, things get a lot more interesting. The second hole kicks off one of the most interesting groupings of par threes on any course we know. Most courses are fortunate to feature one great par three. Apes Hill features five of them! Number two requires a medium to long iron shot into the trade wind to a green that runs away from the player front right to back left. The green angles behind a craggy, rock-filled wash that hugs the left side of the green. Thus, the hole favors a draw into the wind, but overdo it and you have serious trouble on the rocks. Players will bail out right in order to protect their scorecard, but then the undulating green will make getting up and down for par a sincere challenge.

The next par three, number five, is like no other par three we have ever played. The hole is cut out of a coral cliff-side, with stacked white coral walls shining at the player from the right side of the green. The trade winds are ripping across the hole from the right, so your ball must be aimed at the coral walls and allowed to ride the wind into the green. Two bunkers left of the green offer catch-basins for the ball that is not started out far enough right, but overshoot the catch-basins to the left and you are teeing up a new one. The back drop for the hole is pure jungle with an Indiana Jones-like bridge running across a chasm and up the hill to the next teeing ground.

Number eight plays like a downhill version of a redan hole. The hole plays 195 yards from the tips but rarely requires more than a short iron. It plays not only downhill but also down wind, and the player has to play the shot well short and right of the green in order to bounce the ball in off the contours of the land. Flying the ball to the green surface will almost certainly result in a ball that is well past the flag, if it stays on the green at all. But if you hit the shot correctly it will release towards the hole like a putt and offer the potential of making a hole-in-one.

As you emerge onto the tee of the next par three, number twelve, you will find yourself almost dizzyingly high near the apex of the property. As you look down from the multiple tees you see a wide expanse of green some 200 plus yards away with outcroppings of coral and surrounded left and right by dense jungle vegetation. Because of the elevation, the jungle appears to be much closer to being in play than it really is. In fact, there is a generous amount of landing room. The real treat is when you reach the bottom and look back up at the hole. On the left you see coral facades that held the terraced tees with biological tendrils that give the appearance of multiple Babylonian hanging gardens. To the right you see a dark, foreboding jungle cut into the hills where you can imagine any form of wildlife springing out through the dense banyan trees. One is shocked to learn from the sons of Sir Charles that years ago Bajan squatters actually lived in that cut!

After four wonderful par threes, it seems hard to imagine it can get better. But the sixteenth hole is the signature hole of the golf course, as it features a geological specimen that we have not seen on any hole we have ever played. The hole is built inside of a quarry that had tons of coral mined out. It is easy to forget the helping wind and overshoot the green because you are in a carved-out bowl and protected from the wind for the first time. The green runs front left to back right hard against a man-made reservoir built along the right side of the green. Thus the bail out area is long left, where you stare at a natural coral arch left from the quarrying operation. This totally unique feature cannot be replicated anywhere in the world, and needless to say it is spectacular!

Looking Down at Apes Hill's 12th green

The par fours and fives at Apes Hill Golf Club are equally as good as the par threes. Your will find yourself reading putts by wind direction as much as by slope. The course looks harder than it plays, and plays in such an enjoyable fashion for golfers of all levels that Apes Hill will soon be regarded as one of the finest golf courses in the Caribbean.

We look forward to returning in ten years to see how the residential aspect of the property has developed. As we toured the golf course we could see particular plots that are likely to become world class residences. We love the fact that the residential sites will be integrated into the golf course, but that neither will intrude upon the other. Our favorite was clearly the site to the left of the tenth hole, where there is a lot on top of the hill, overlooking not only the golf course but staring out into the Caribbean Sea. There will be sunsets for the eventual owners of this lot and a truly unique vision of the property for the players. It will be a signature property for the Apes Hill Club member wise enough to acquire this once-in-the-world piece of land.

The Apes Hill Club seems destined for success. The affluent clientele will seek out Apes Hill, and thrive in the beauty, diversity and privacy of the club and Barbados. The property carved out by Sir Charles Williams and his family offer a once-in-a-lifetime venue for those seeking to make a personal statement. Barbados offers a political and economic climate that rivals the weather for its hospitality. Barbados also offers the warmth of the Bajan people and the wonderful local Bajan rum. With a combination like that, it is hard to go wrong.