Santa Maria Golf Club, a venue designed by Jack Nicklaus against the backdrop of Panama City's skyline and host of the ninth edition of the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC), is readying its defenses to neutralize the attacks of the best amateur golfers in the region. This seemingly benevolent course can counter the precise strokes of the talented players in the field with the undulations of its greens, the braids of tall grass and the changing wind that runs along the fairways flanked by bunkers and lakes. For the 2024 LAAC, Santa Maria Golf Club will feature a par 70 of more than 7,000 yards. It has hosted numerous national and international championships where some of the Panamanians who will represent their country have triumphed. Here's their analysis of the next site of the Latin America Amateur Championship:
UNDULATING GREENS
"The greatest defense of the course is the undulations and the green complexes. If you land the ball in the wrong section, it's going to be very difficult to make two putts," explained Miguel Ordóñez, a golf assistant at Santa Maria preparing to participate in his ninth LAAC.
"The greens are very undulating and lend themselves to quite difficult and demanding pin positions," said Raúl Carbonell, the winner in March 2023 of the Isthmian Championship, Panama's national amateur championship played over four courses.
"The LAAC champion will be the one who best positions the ball and gives himself the most birdie opportunities. Missing greens with the rough around them will be criminal," added the 24-year-old Panamanian, who is going to compete in his fifth LAAC and shot a 67 on the last day of the Isthmian Championship at Santa Maria.
FLANKED FAIRWAYS
"In Santa Maria it is essential to have very good control of the tee shots. It is an open course with out-of-bounds on all the holes, water on many, and a very complicated paspallum rough where you can lose the ball," explained Omar Tejeira, winner of the Santa Maria Amateur in April 2023 and one of the favorites to win at his third LAAC.
"Visually, it's not intimidating from the tee, but the fairways are laid out and there can be wind of up to 18 miles per hour," warns Ordóñez. "There are holes that invite you to be more aggressive than you should be," said Carbonell, underlining the added difficulty of transforming two par fives into par fours of 525 yards (No. 7) and 509 yards (No. 16).
According to Álvaro Venegas, Director of Golf at Santa Maria Golf Club: "Up to the eighth hole you can gain strokes to the course and the pressure starts on the ninth hole with a risk-reward dynamic. Holes 10 through 12 (Saint Mary’s Corner) aren't difficult, but if you get stuck, you can end up with double bogey instead of birdie."
HOLES 9 AND 18
"The ninth hole is very difficult. When we play local tournaments, this hole defines the competition," said Ordóñez, recalling that Tejeira scored a quadruple bogey on that hole on his way to victory at the Santa Maria Amateur in April. "The 18th is a long hole and very complicated as well."
Carbonell played in the second-to-last group of that same tournament in April and his partner scored a 12 on that hole. "The ninth is the most dangerous hole off the tee and the most emblematic of the course, in front of the hotel and the clubhouse," said Carbonell.
PAR THREES
For Omar Tejeira, Santa Maria Golf Club's other defense is the four challenging par threes. "The third hole, with up to 230 yards and quite a bit of undulation. The 177-yard fifth has three levels separated by steep slopes and surrounded by water," explained Tejeira.
On the back nine, the 220-yard 14th features a steep green, bunker, false fronts, and crosswinds; and the decisive 187-yards 17th hole is full of bunkers and unevenness. "The par threes are neither short nor easy," added Tejeira.
