The first six holes of Jamaica’s Tryall Golf Club have been solid, but for the most part a little underwhelming. But the walk through a tunnel, beneath Highway A1, transforms us into a different world.

As we emerge from the tunnel and wind left toward the championship tee of the 437-yard par-4 7th, vestiges of the grounds’ extensive history reveal themselves, including a 300-year-old operating water wheel (momentarily idle during course renovations) and the ruins of a cut-stone aqueduct—both of which once served Tryall’s sugar and coconut plantation.

Home to the now-defunct Johnny Walker World Golf Championship from 1991 to 1995, this classy facility is part of a 2,200-acre private enclave not far from Montego Bay. But there is no pretentiousness and nothing forced about this classic 1958 Ralph Plummer layout.

Reaching the back tee deck, we swing around to see the hole perfectly framed by a gap in the aqueduct.

“This has to be one of the coolest tee shots in the world of golf,” I think to myself as I brush away the morning humidity of the autumn hurricane season. One of our playing companions, the club’s director of golf Ewan Peebles, regales us with the intriguing history of the hole, but all I can think about is, “Please don’t hit the aqueduct.”

I have no desire to literally carve my place of history in this treasured place.