Here’s the truth about George Washington, the president who could not tell a lie: He left the country exactly once. That lone trip was to Barbados, where he spent six weeks in a house that bears his name today.

Washington was traveling with his half-brother Lawrence, who was seeking relief from tuberculosis. The island’s balmy climate was known as that: a balm.

Rest and relaxation. Then, as now, Barbados is a fine place for R&R. It’s also become a great place for golf.

Apes Hill Barbados, a new addition to GOLF’s list of the Top 100 Resorts in the World, sits 1,000 feet above sea level, spread across some 475 acres of bluffs blanketed in lush rain forest, with views of both the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts. The resort offers an array of splurges and diversions, but the centerpiece is a championship course by the late Ron Kirby, which rolls beautifully across the landscape. The setting is what used to be called postcard perfect. In contemporary lingo, it’s Instagram-ready.

Either way, you get the gist. The surroundings are stunning, and Kirby’s layout makes the most of them. It rambles over ravines and around forested gullies, with coral cave backdrops. Holes tumble along ridgelines and dive toward the water. It’s an arresting canvas where the rain forest surges up against the sea.

Apes Hill takes its name from the Barbados green monkey, a playful primate with fur the color of a cocktail olive. Like George Washington, the monkeys aren’t native to the island. They arrived on ships from West Africa some 350 years ago. Today, they’re beloved local emblems. There’s a chocolate brand named in their honor, and a nature preserve where you can watch them being fed.

You can also spot them around Apes Hill, frolicking in the trees that fringe the course. They’re not the only ones having fun.

The golf at Apes Hill is everything you’d want from a tropical resort. Richly entertaining and impeccably conditioned, with eye-popping panoramas. The par-3 12th is among the high points, a long one-shotter that plays downhill, with turquoise water stretching in the distance. The layout has a bonus: a par-319th hole with an island green, the ideal place to settle your bets, though you’ll want to play it even if there’s nothing on the line.

Former Masters champion Ian Woosnam is a brand ambassador at Apes Hill and seasonal resident of the resort. Hard to blame him. The weather sure beats what he gets back home in Wales. Among other roles at the property, Woosnam hosts the Barbados Legends, an annual event in which amateur golfers play tournament rounds alongside the pros. But not everything has to be a competition.

Off the course, there’s no shortage of ways to unwind. The resort’s beach club is a tranquil escape along the island’s northwest shore. Family-friendly activities abound, including natural hikes and catamaran cruises. Dining runs from casual to refined. There’s padel and tennis, plus assorted water sports.

Two years ago, the resort cut the ribbon on Little Apes, a nine-hole, par-27 course that’s perfect for kids and other newbies to the game but artfully designed to challenge more serious sticks. You can play it in flip-flops with a cocktail in hand. Or waggle purposefully, take dead aim and give your lofted irons a test.

Keeping score is optional. But if you to choose to tally up your strokes, channel George Washington and don’t fudge it. Save the embellishments for the stories you tell around the bar.

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