4 minute read
Golf History
North Palm Beach CC, courtesy of the Jack Nicklaus Design Group
While Florida is the home of more than
1,100 golf courses, the heartbeat of golf in the Sunshine State is Palm Beach County, which has more than 160 golf courses. Some of Palm Beach County’s more well-known layouts include: PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, the annual home of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic; the ever-exclusive Seminole Golf Club in Tequesta hosted this year’s Walker Cup; the Ocean Course at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach is Florida’s oldest 18-hole golf course; and the LPGA has staged past events at the Wycliffe Golf & Country Club in Wellington and the Stonebridge Country Club in Boca Raton. While the list of Palm Beach County’s top-tier golf courses is lengthy, four of Palm Beach County’s most treasured golf courses are part of the Florida Historic Golf Trail (FHGT), which has 53 golf courses that stretch from Pensacola to Key West. Palm Beach County’s four FHGT courses are the North Palm Beach CC, Lake Worth Beach GC, Delray Beach GC, and the Resort Course at the Boca Raton Hotel & Club. At one time, these golf courses were the cream of the crop for golf in Palm Beach County. These four courses are still great destinations, but they now share that distinction with other great golf courses around Palm Beach County. But, other local golf courses lack the cool, quaint and historical appeal which the North Palm Beach CC, Lake Worth Beach GC, Delray Beach GC, and the Resort Course all share. The year 1926 was significant for golf in Palm Beach County as all four courses opened for play that year. Funded by developers Paris Singer and Harry Kelsey and designed by golf course architect Seth Raynor, the North
Delray Beach Golf Club
Palm Beach CC was originally called the Palm Beach Winter Club. In 2006, local resident and golf legend Jack Nicklaus entered the picture. He oversaw major renovations on the golf course. By November of that year, the course reopened for play. Since then, the renovated North Palm Beach CC has received many accolades -- the #1 municipal golf course in Florida and the #27 municipal golf course in the U.S. by Golfweek. The Palm Beach Post has ranked the North Palm Beach CC as the top public golf course in Palm Beach County. And, AAA Magazine rates this course as a Must Play Course in Florida. The Lake Worth Beach GC, designed by Theodore J. Moreau and William Langford, is perched on one of the most scenic parts of south Florida – adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway. In 1948, Dick Wilson redesigned the existing nine holes and added nine more to create today’s par-70 layout. Every day, Lake Worth Beach GC plays like a classic links golf course as the wind is everpresent. It’s worth noting that baseball legend Babe Ruth -- the acclaimed Sultan of Swat --played here in the late 1920s. Designed by the legendary golf course architect Donald Ross, the Delray Beach Golf Club, a par-72 layout, has stood the test of time and remains as enjoyable to play now as it was back in the 1920s. Ross’ concept of building raised greens protected by sand bunkers was a great idea in the 1920s and remains relevant to this day. In the 1950s, golf journalists were so impressed that they listed the Delray Beach GC as one of America’s top ten courses. The sense of elegance that emanates from the Delray Beach GC is also present in the clubhouse that exudes the charm of the 1920s and ‘30s from the outside, while having modernday amenities on the inside. Donald Ross was also the original designer of the Resort course, which is not long -- just over 6,200 yards from the back tees (gold tees) – but it’s cleverly designed. The Resort Course is proof positive that length is not necessary for a course to have a certain degree of difficulty. It’s also easy on the eyes as beautiful flowers, plant life, and shrubs dominate the course’s landscape. Here, water is never out of sight, thanks to the existence of 12 acres of lakes. A ‘watery grave’ is usually one swing away. In 1987, the Resort Course was dedicated to a pair of golfing ‘heavyweights,’ who served as golf professionals at the Resort, ‘back in the day’ -- Scotland’s Tommy Armour from 1926 to 1955 and Virginia’s Sam Snead from 1956 to 1969. So, on your next trip to Palm Beach County, you now have four cool and quaint golf courses to play, as each one has historical appeal.
