Parque Omar

This guide to Parque Omar in Panama City starts in 1922, when a work crew cleared brush and strung barbed wire on donated land for the isthmus's first golf course, built by American and Panamanian enthusiasts tied to the Canal Zone. You'll hear how workers spent a decade laying out the fairways by hand while the finished club stayed an exclusive world, open to ordinary families only once a year on Children's Day. The guide follows General Omar Torrijos, who grew up nearby remembering those afternoons, into a negotiation with the club's owners. Listen for how a groundskeeper's daily grind became the ground you're standing on.