Take a sneak peek at West Palm Beach's exquisite new municipal golf course
West Palm Beach's reimagined municipal golf course opens for business this month with everything available for beginners to elite golfers and its appeal will rival any public golf course in golf-rich Palm Beach County as well as the state of Florida.
The facility, at 7301 Georgia Ave., is on the city's south end and borders Lake Worth Beach. Palm Beach has more golf courses, public and private, than just about any county in the United States, but in recent years many have closed, turning numerous courses into more coveted residential and commercial real estate for developers.
West Palm Beach closed its 179-acre site in 2018 and initially discussed a series of proposals that would have converted part of the property into condos or townhomes.
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Enter PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh, who spearheaded the project on an individual basis, separate form PGA, and raised $55 million to build and endow it.
The facililty will include a Gil Hanse-designed 18-hole course, a nine-hole short course similar to his "Cradle" course at Pinehurst in North Carolina, a full short-game area, two putting greens, a practice range, clubhouse and facilities. There will be instruction for golfers of all abilities as well as in-school golf programs that bring students for their first golf outings. There'll be practice facilities for high school golf teams, scholarship awards and a caddy program.
A history of West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course
The original course was an old 1947 Dick Wilson design and was a popular, affordable course for many years. By the turn of the century, it needed work and golfer Mark McCumber renovated the course, exposing the sandy terrain and removing many of the trees. The city spent millions refurbishing the course, but the greens and clubhouse ultimately fell into disrepair.
By 2015, then-Mayor Jeri Muoio had the clubhouse demolished, saying it it was too moldy to repair.
Three years later, the city closed the course, hoping to save on maintenance costs while starting the search for a developer. Those searches spawned consultants and requests for proposals, but none of the proposals moved forward.
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A Texas golf instructor, Mike McGetrick, proposed redeveloping the course through a nonprofit foundation instead of relying on construction profits. McGetrick, however, could not come up with financing before the city's deadline expired in November 2019.
PGA of America's Waugh then stepped into the picture and along with local investment and a new mission, West Palm Golf Park was born.
There's no water on the new course, but lots of sand
The good news for golfers — there is no water hazards on the course. The bad news — there is sand. Lots of it. The course is expansive over the rolling terrain with oak trees and sabal palmetto landscape. It's very plausible you will not lose a golf ball during an 18-hole round.
The greens are expected to be spectacular, but tricky even for the best of golfers.
In Palm Beach County, The Park will be among the best public golf courses, including Abacoa, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach National and Osprey Point.
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James Coleman is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jcoleman@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The Park, West Palm Beach's new municipal golf course opens soon
