Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club

Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club is a private resort community in the Northeastern Bahamas.[1] The development is located near Baker's Bay in Great Guana Cay situated between the Sea of Abaco and the Atlantic Ocean. The 585-acre (2.37 km2) project is a resort development of 385 homes. Developed by Discovery Land Company, the project will include a Tom Fazio-designed 18 hole golf course, 200-slip marina, Marina Village resort area, and a private club that includes beach club and spa.

This article is about a development on Great Guana Cay in the Abaco Islands. There is also a "Great Guana Cay" in the Exuma Cays.

Great Guana Cay
Location of Great Guana Cay within the Bahamas

The golf course is notable for its very relaxed dress code, which permits and even encourages golfers to play barefoot.[2] The club and its dress code received media attention when Welsh professional footballer Gareth Bale completed the course wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.[3]

Lawsuits

The majority of Great Guana Cay residents have taken Baker's Bay Club to court.[4] A group of residents, supported by the coral reef conservation community, believe the development will destroy their coral reef.[5]

Seventy five of the ninety one Bahamians on Great Guana Cay oppose Baker's Bay Club over the subject of whether the central government of the Bahamas has the right to offer public land to foreign developers at the expense of Bahamian use and preservation of the land.

The initial lawsuit by Save Guana Cay Reef lost in the Supreme Court after the developer halted development for several months.

In a Freeport Tribune article, attorney Fred Smith was quoted, "We believe we have a very strong case, and have been denied due process. The issue of the ability of the Prime Minister to bind the country as to Heads of Agreement will be determined at the highest level… for the future development of the Bahamas, these are matters which are of fundamental importance."[6]

In 2006, Jean-Michel Cousteau stated in a letter to the Prime Minister, "...the Bakers Bay Golf and Ocean Club development on Great Guana Cay may undermine the environmental health of the region; specifically affecting the nesting sea turtles of Gumelemi Cay and to the north, and impacting the neighboring reefs adjacent to the proposed golf course."

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References
  1. Smith, Larry (30 March 2005). "The Guana Cay Controversy". Freeport Tribune. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  2. Heitner, Darren. "Where Athletes And Off-Duty PGA Golfers Play Barefoot". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  3. "Gareth Bale performs incredible golf trick shot in Bahamas". Mail Online. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  4. Castle, Teresa (13 February 2006). "Reef defenders in Bahamas sue over mega-resort / S.F. developer sees Baker's Bay as model for sensitive construction on fragile islands". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  5. "Sierra Club Amicus Curiae Brief". Notes from the Road. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2012. Filed by Simons Muirhead & Burton, 8-9 Frith Street, London W1D 3JB
  6. Freeport Tribune, August 2008
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