Adam Lawrence visits Guacalito de la Isla, Nicaragua’s first world-class golf resort.

David McLay Kidd is a changed man. Stung by the flak he received over the perceived difficulty – especially the greens – of the courses he and his team built in St Andrews, at Tetherow in Oregon and to an extent at Machrihanish Dunes, he says he has rediscovered the joys of fun golf.

Kidd’s new course at the Guacalito de la Isla development on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua is his first exhibit in support of his claim, and not a bad one either. Recognising that Guacalito, Nicaragua’s first world-class golf resort, is hardly a place people will come for championship-style golf, Kidd has built a wide, natural-feeling course that feels intimately connected to the surrounding forest. It’s not too difficult, but there are plenty of holes and shots where braver golfers can shave strokes off their score by making an aggressive play. Isn’t that the definition of fun golf?

Guacalito is the brainchild of Carlos Pellas Chamorro, Nicaragua’s richest man. Don Carlos, as he’s known to everyone, seems to have a finger in most pies in the country. During the turbulent times of the 1980s, the Pellas family, which has been based in Nicaragua since an ancestor moved there from Italy in the nineteenth century, remained in the country, and as political normality returned, the family’s businesses regained their prominence. Pellas’ interests encompass sugar plantations, biofuel, the well-known (and extremely tasty) Flor de Cana rum brand, plus car dealerships, plant hire and many other sectors. He and his wife Vivian are committed to philanthropic programmes aimed at raising the standard of living for ordinary Nicaraguans – the country is the second poorest in the western hemisphere.

Economic development is a key goal behind Pellas’ creation of Guacalito de la Isla. Located on the Pacific coast in the south of the country, not far from the Costa Rican border, the property is intended to be a showpiece for Nicaragua. Tourism development is a central part of the country’s economic strategy, but, according to general manager Federico Spada, the lack of high-end tourist facilities means that everything – from service culture to transport infrastructure – has to be built from scratch. He’s not kidding: the last few kilometres of the road to Guacalito are not yet paved: the construction crew was building the new surface when we visited.

This lack of infrastructure meant that Kidd and his team, including lead associate Casey Krahlenbuhl, who moved to Nicaragua to oversee construction, had a tough task constructing the golf course. A team of over 100 locals was trained and deployed as part of the construction crew, and most of those are now employed at the resort, helping show the project’s economic development credentials. The first construction task, in fact, related not to the course at all: Kidd and crew built a football pitch for local villagers.

The construction challenge was made more intense still by Pellas’ commitment to environmental as well as social sustainability. “Don Carlos told me that we had to build the course without cutting down any of the large native trees in the forest,” says Kidd. “At first I thought he was joking, but it soon became clear he wasn’t. In fact, he said he’d fire me on the spot if he found we had cut down any of these trees.”

Pellas’ directive meant the crew had to transplant hundreds of large trees, where Kidd’s routing could not be made to go around them, doubtless adding cost and time to the build. But it does mean the course already feels rooted in the Nicaraguan forest which is unusual in that it is tropical rain forest, but with a six month dry season. When we visited, the area was parched, and the undergrowth down; later in the year, no doubt, the property will have an entirely different character.

Kidd’s course measures less than 6,700 yards from the back tees, a far cry from some of the monsters he has built in recent years. It’s also significant, I think, that most of the standout holes are short ones, either one shotters or relatively short par fours like the downhill ‘bottleneck’ seventeenth. Without doubt the most dramatic is the closing hole, a par three whose green is literally on the beach. Surrounded by beach sand, the green can only be a few feet above the level of high tide, and it is likely that a big winter storm will damage it. But, as Kidd says, the process of rebuilding will be straightforward (and the paspalum with which the course is grassed will resist salt incursion better than other species), and thus the risk was judged worthwhile. It is certainly a remarkable way to finish a round of golf, and will be made even more so when the ‘clubhouse’ (actually the resort’s beach club) is finished: golfers will simply step off the green, take off their golf shoes and settle down on the beach.

The tiny downhill par three sixth is another vexing but entertaining hole. Even from the back tee, it measures only 134 yards, but the stone wall that holds up the front of the green (and the green’s firmness) make getting at front pins extremely challenging. There’s a small kicker mound at the front right that can be used to swing the ball left towards the hole, but the shot requires a knockdown wedge of great precision. On a larger scale, the fifteenth is unique in my experience, a hybrid of the classic Redan and Biarritz green concepts. Again, a running shot is needed to access tucked pins (unless you can hit a ferociously accurate and spinning iron into the prevailing strong wind), but watching your ball catch the right to left slope and run through the deep swale to nestle close to the flag will be a highlight for anyone.

Of the par fours, the best in my opinion is the bottleneck seventeenth. From a highly elevated tee, with a massive expanse of rollicking fairway, split by a chain of central bunkers, the golfer has a range of options. Lay up down the right side, and you’ll leave a tricky, largely blind pitch. Go left of the bunkers to the top of the slope, and the approach will be easier. Or, finally, take your courage in both hands and bash driver into the distance: clear the final bunker and catch the slope, and you may just run down onto the green. It’s a great hole.

The Mukul resort that is Guacalito’s first public accommodation is remarkable. In the super-luxury bracket, its 37 rooms all have private pools and 24 hour butler service. For all that, though, the overwhelming feeling at Guacalito is one of relaxation. It is an incredibly chilled place, the atmosphere set by the owner, who is generally seen in shorts. For those lucky enough to build homes there – including Kidd, whose house is already in construction – it will be a regular paradise. For others, it may be a once in a lifetime visit. But the memories will never fade.

This article first appeared in issue 32 of Golf Course Architecture, published April 2013.