Pure air, vegetation, quietness and peace characterize the green environment of the Varadero Golf Club, which was officially inaugurated over a year ago and is a complement to the offer of sea and sand of the world famous beach in eastern Cuba.

The facility, run by the group RUMBOS S.A., complements Cuba's attractions for international tourism with an excellent 18-hole golf course, and took the largest Antillean island to the select group of golf in the Caribbean.

That modality, a mix of sport and rest, originated in Scotland and was brought to our continent by the British, to stay forever and take root.

The Varadero Golf Club is located in Peñas de San Bernardino, where several decades ago, millionaire Irenne Du Pont de Nemours built a nine-hole course for his private enjoyment, in an exclusive area of 180 hectares, very close to the coastline of one of the best beaches in the world.

The new course was designed by architect Les Furbes, chairman of the Canadian company Golf Design Services, in a combination of styles, including the classic one with wide roads delimited by trees, with wide low-protected greens.

There is also the so-called target golf, with narrow roads and protected greens, surrounded by sand traps and inner salt-water lakes with direct communication with the sea, a characteristic that is not very common in the world.

The millionaire's former mansion, known as Xanadu, was turned into the Club House, where guests can enjoy beverages of different brands and countries.

Excellent wines from Cuba, France, Italy, Spain and Chile, including brands such as Chateau Laroque, Barbaresco, Santa Cristina, Faustino V, Marqués de Arienzo and Crozes Ermitage, just to mention some, are awaiting the arrival of guests interested in tasting them.

Built in the 1920s, the mansion has 11 bedrooms and a similar number of bathrooms, seven balconies, furniture and a private pier, and is a true museum of precious wood, including mahogany and cedar, which are combined with unique varieties of marble from Cuba, Spain and Italy.

For golf players, Xanadu is the ideal place to meet and rest after a day of sport or training in the 40-hectare course, which also provides the services of the Caddie House.

The Varadero Golf Club is more attractive because of its proximity to first-class hotels such as Meliá Las Américas, Meliá Varadero and Sol Club Palmeras, run by the Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá.

This new facility places Cuba in the select group of countries that can provide this kind of service as part of their tourist infrastructure, and opens the doors to the island's insertion into the Caribbean circuits.

Competition is strong, some 40 tourist facilities in Mexico and others in Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Saint Lucia, the Virgin Islands and Bermudas offer a wide variety of services to golf fans.

However, the Varadero Golf Club's combination of green and blue is gaining grounds and winning adepts, both in the American continent and Europe, promising to be a major offer in Cuba's tourist industry.