REVISTA PALMAS 68 OCTUBRE 2022

Palmas
golf history
strokes, sweat & tears
Luis Rosado, Golf Correspondent
When we see Palmas Del Mar’s golf courses these days, we don’t realize
how much sweat, tears, and strokes (Hearth Attacks) it costs to become
one of the primary golf destinations in the Caribbean. Palmas Del Mar is
the product of a group of people that came together at different times and
each one of them contributed something to the final product that is today
the Flamboyan and Palm golf courses.
Going back in time, and reviewing some history, in 1966 C. Brewer Caribe,
a sugar company stationed in Hawaii was expanding their business
to Puerto Rico. They had a big piece of land in Humacao and contracted
architect Esteban Steve Padilla to study the terrain and develop a project.
Three years later, C. Brewer got the initial approval of the Puerto Rico Planning
Board.
Later, between 1969 and 1970, the property was sold to Charles E. Fraser,
who was a real estate developer of a very successful project called “Sea
Pines” in Hilton Head; Sea Pines is home of the Harbour Town Golf Links
and Amelia Island Plantation, both located in South Carolina.
But the story of how Fraser bought this property is interesting. Fraser
was visiting Hawaii looking for a place where the Hilton Head residents
could travel to during the winter season, but he could not find anything
that convinced him. During that trip, he visited the C. Brewer Company
and there he saw a photo that caught his attention immediately...it was a
picture of Palmas. “Why hadn’t you shown me that property before?” he
asked a C. Brewer executive. What happened next? Charles Fraser bought
Palmas del Mar. He fell in love just by a photo! Fraser then contracted
Architect Esteban Padilla to work on the development of Palmas and later
to oversee the designing of the resort. At that time, Palmas used to have
around 400 employees: architects, engineers, landscaping architects, planners,
CPA’s, among others; there was construction all over.
The force and the continuity behind Palmas Del Mar Golf becoming a
premium destination is thanks to our own Seth Bull. With complete confidence
he says that Palmas is among the very best destinations in the
Caribbean for golf, taking into consideration all the other amenities Palmas
has to offer to our visitors.
In 1973, Seth arrived in Puerto Rico employed by Sea Pines to take
charge of what was to become the golf courses of Palmas del Mar. At the
end of that year, the first nine holes were completed when the Good Lord
“Both golf courses
in Palmas are
environmentally
sound and they adapt
to the land where they
are built to disrupt the
ecosystem as little as
possible. The original
owner Mr. Fraser,
also a developer, was
an environmentalist
before it was
cool to be one”