Located on the Bay of Banderas, one of the world's most beautiful bays, it's easy to see why Puerto Vallarta turned from a tiny fishing village to a world-class beach resort with more than 16 miles of beaches.

In the last decade, ClubCorp definitely enhanced Puerto Vallarta's stature as a true golfing mecca when it added 36 holes at Vista Vallarta, located on a hillside six miles from this city on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

The Dallas-based company brought in two of the top golf architects—Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf—to handle the designs, opening the Jack Nicklaus Signature course in the spring of 2001 and the Weiskopf Course later in that same year.

The Nicklaus Course hosted the 2002 World Golf Championships EMC World Cup, where two-man teams from 24 countries around the world competed. The Japanese duo of Shigeki Maruyama and Toshi Izawa prevailed.

Four years later, the Champions Tour's Blue Agave was held on the same course with Morris Hatalsky emerging as the winner.

The Nicklaus Course, which can be stretched to 7,073 yards, is located on the highest part of Vista Vallarta, offering breathtaking views of PV, the marina and the bay. There are colorful flowering bougainvillea all over the place as the course meanders through grassy hillsides, Palm and Ficas trees, natural creeks and arroyos.

Our group of visiting writers enjoyed the course from the blue tees at 6,595 yards, agreeing that Nicklaus provided amble room off the tees for resort guests, but presented plenty of challenges at the same time.

My favorite hole had to be the 178-yard No. 9 (blue tees) that played over a deep arroyo with the pin on the back right of a 38-yard deep green slanted on an angle. I hit the wider left side of the green and made a nice saving par putt from six feet, but Wood made a birdie

I did make an unorthodox birdie on the 493-yard, par 5 No. 8. After hitting one of my best drives of the day on the dogleg left, I was left with only 218 yards to the green. However, the ball was above my feet. I had visions of getting home in two, but topped it, watching it roll down the hill 75 yards short—my favorite distance. I wedged to five feet and made the four.

Not realizing just how far it was to another deep arroyo on the 314-yard No. 13 almost proved costly for me. I hit my hybrid into it. Finding the ball next to a bush, I tried to advance it. However, the ball caromed off a rock and went only a few yards. A little upset with myself, I took a hard swing out of the rocks and was amazed when the ball flew out, landed on the front edge of a shallow green (only 13 yards deep) and rolled to within inches for a par.

The Weiskopf Course wasn't on the schedule that Walter DeMirci set up for us, but two other writers and I opted to get up early on the day of our departure to play it. We were all glad that we did, agreeing that Weiskopf had done a masterful job of blending all the elevation changes and natural jungle features into an interesting, but challenging playing experience.

“It's better than the Nicklaus Course,” said writer David Wood, and I had to agree.

The Weiskopf Course. which can be stretched to 6,993 yards and plays 6,595 from the blue tees and 6,031 from the white tees, had a great mix of holes, including a reachable par 5 early where I came close to an eagle, missing from 10 feet after hitting my 12-degree hybrid to within 10 feet.

Like the Nicklaus, there was a great par 3, the 173-yard No. 15, that played over a deep cavernous ravine. I found pulling my approach just a little left resulted in a double bogey, but managed to break 80 with three closing pars.

As usual, Weiskopf included a driveable par 4. The 18th measured about 300 yards, allowing long hitters a chance to challenge the bunkers on the left side to try and get home. Wood tried it, but hooked the drive and we never found it. I played safely to the right of the bunkers with my hybrid and wedged onto the green for an easy two putt par.

ClubCorp also owns and manages Marina Vallarta Club de Golf. This Joe Finger design is located in a fashionable neighborhood near the marina and is shorter (only 6,701 from the tips) and is a lot tighter than its two sister courses with plenty of water hazards waiting to catch errant tee shots. As two of the writers discovered when driving up to look for a ball in one of the hazards, there are alligators, too.

The good news is that the green fees are cheaper at $129 as compared to $183 at Vista Vallarta. If money is a concern, then I would instead opt for the twilight rates of $129 for the Nicklaus and Weiskopf designs that are a lot more fun to play. I would even consider playing both on the same day if you had to only pay for a cart in the afternoon.

Other golf courses in Puerto Vallarta include the Robert von-Hagge-designed El Tigre at Paradise Village, the Jim Lipe-designed Mayan Palace Golf Club and the Percy Clifford-designed Los Flamingos Country Club. Maybe I can play them on my next visit.

Just 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta is the Four Seasons Golf Club Punta Mita, a Nicklaus design that features eight ocean-side holes and an optional par 3 with a green that is set on a natural lava rock island that is accessible at low tide.

We stayed at the Sheraton Buganvilias and it would be a great place for all visitors to PV as it is within walking distance of the city with its cobblestone streets and outdoor markets. I really enjoyed sleeping on the pillow top mattress.

Other hotels such as CasaMagna Marriott, featuring the new Ohtli Spa where we all received massages and a tequila clinic during dinner, and the Velas Vallarta and Casa Velas in the marina area, where we had a nice lunch after golf, that offer special golf packages.

Puerto Vallarta is certainly deserving of its reputation as the culinary capital of Mexico with restaurants serving authentic traditional Mexican dishes to international delicacies.And of course, fresh fish caught in the nearby waters. My favorite restaurant was Cafe' des Artistes, featuring several different-themed eating areas plus a cigar bar and a wine bar. It was still packed when we left after 10 p.m.

While not my cup of tea, we did spend one day taking a ride on a catamaran over to Las Caletas, an exclusive tropical hideaway where you could swim with the sea lions, scuba dive or do nothing but sit by the beach and take a nap in one of the hammocks as I did.