This place is nonstop,” Oliver Riding said, pointing to the seat of our golf cart where his phone beeped and chirped constantly during our round at Santa Maria Hotel and Golf Resort. “Listen to this thing. I know what each (beep) means, so I know the important ones.”
There were a lot of important ones that morning, including an email from a group interested in bringing a major international tournament to this resort on the bustling east side of Panama City. Riding, the resort’s golf general manager, multitasked effortlessly, firing off texts and emails, returning calls and entertaining visiting writers while still managing to play a tidy round on the Santa Maria layout, a product of Jack Nicklaus’ design shop.
Santa Maria is a microcosm of Panama, which is buzzing with activity and optimism.
Panama’s economy has been one of the world’s strongest in recent years, and that is reflected in our surroundings. A decade ago the neighboring Costa del Este suburb was little more than scattered warehouses, mangrove and jungle. Troy Vincent, who oversaw design and construction of Santa Maria and its sister course, Buenaventura, said when he first arrived onsite at Santa Maria, the landscape reminded him of TPC Sawgrass before Pete Dye recreated it with bulldozers and an unlimited budget.
“It was entirely in wetlands area,” Vincent said. “That entire site was built up many, many meters.”
Now, soaring condo towers, retail destinations and office buildings line broad boulevards in a master-planned community along the Pacific. As Riding gave me a tour of this pop-up city – passing the regional headquarters for leading consumer brands such as Nestle, Samsung and Adidas – he compared it to a mini-Dubai. It creates a stunning backdrop around the urban oasis that is Santa Maria.
“When my daughters came here, they said, ‘Dad, this is like playing golf in Central Park,’” Riding recalled as we studied the sleek condominium towers and corporate offices that frame the approach to the par-5 10th.
More than a canal
Ask anyone who has never visited Panama to tell you what they know about the country, and most likely the first thing they’ll mention is the Panama Canal, the 50-mile waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The canal might be the only thing that person knows about Panama, other than some hazy memory of the spirited 1970s debate that preceded the decision to transfer control of the waterway from the U.S. to Panama, or the 1989 U.S. invasion that led to the removal of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
The canal was a technological marvel when it opened in 1914, and it remains so. It is mesmerizing to watch massive container ships gradually levitated, like some sort of magic trick, as they pass through the locks, allowing them to navigate Gatun Lake, 85 feet above sea level, on their way from the Gulf of Panama to the Caribbean Sea.
Panama has become an isthmus of stability in a turbulent region. Thanks in large part to the canal, including a recent expansion to accommodate the passage of even larger container ships, Panama has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The World Bank reported that Panama’s average annual growth rate over the past five years is 5.6 percent.
For adventurous Americans, Panama ticks off a lot of boxes. Panama’s currency is the dollar, which lends stability to the growing economy and heightens the country’s appeal to U.S. tourists. Panama is easy to reach, with direct flights from many major U.S. airports to Panama City. Visitors arriving from the southeastern United States, or even the northeast, could pick up their bags at Tocumen International Airport, be on the first tee at Santa Maria in less than an hour, play 18 holes and, if they’re feeling ambitious, still have time to catch a $12 Uber into Panama City for dinner.
Panama also presents visitors with options. While Panama City’s nearly 2 million residents live in and among sleek high-rises that line the Gulf, one of the most popular nighttime destinations is Panama City’s “old town,” Casco Viejo, whose streets are lined with bustling restaurants, bars and boutique hotels.
The Santa Maria and Buenaventura resorts are managed by Marriott, and Troon Golf oversees the golf operations, so guests unfamiliar with Panama will arrive safe in the knowledge they’ll be well-cared-for during their stays. It’s just a question of what they desire from their Panamanian experience. Are you interested in golf, creature comforts and cultural immersion in a dynamic city that this year celebrated its 500th anniversary? Or would you prefer a remote, laid-back, beachside escape? Given the proximity of Santa Maria and Buenaventura, there’s no reason you can’t have both.
Two styles at play
Vincent initially began working on Santa Maria and Buenaventura a decade ago while serving as a senior design associate for Nicklaus Design. By the time construction began, Vincent had hung out his own shingle, but the Nicklaus team asked him to shepherd the courses to completion.