West Palm Beach, Florida’s former municipal golf course was reborn Monday into The Park, a redesigned, 192-acre facility that features state-of-the-art technology, a hilly 18-hole course, a nine-hole short course, putting greens, a driving range, a clubhouse, a restaurant and training facilities.
The Park is the culmination of a yearslong effort that saw hopes for the facility rise, fall and rise once again.
The new course is on the site of the former Dick Wilson-designed West Palm Beach Golf Course, which opened in 1947 and had been considered one of the best and most affordable municipal courses in the country. Following a redesign that went awry, the course deteriorated and interest waned. It closed in 2018.
Fast-forward five years and city officials view The Park as a crown jewel that will draw golf-mad tourists from across the country and quench an ever-expanding thirst for the game in this area.
The demand in golf peaked during the Tiger Woods era of the late 1990s and early 2000s (Woods himself visited The Park in late March to introduce the course and hit the ceremonial first tee shot). Then, after a bit of a drop, demand surged again, thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down many businesses and industries, but not the space-distanced, outdoor arena of golf. According to the National Golf Foundation, golf rounds were up a staggering 45 percent from March 2020 to March 2021, peak COVID times.
The result? Another boom and the capitalism-fueled increase in prices to play the mentally demanding game.
The Park West Palm Beach on Monday, April 17, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo: Thomas Cordy/USA TODAY)
Rates for The Park will range anywhere from $80 to $200 based on city resident discounts to peak season out-of-staters.
Those rates are on par with some of Palm Beach County’s top-rated public courses, including Abacoa (low of $65 in the summer to a $165 peak winter rate) and North Palm Beach Country Club ($55 summer to $160 winter).
Abacoa’s golf shop reports that during season golfers need to book at least two weeks ahead of time to get one of those $165 coveted morning tee times.
Those $100-plus rates can be demanded for top public courses in Palm Beach County because it is one of the few places in the U.S. where people can play in the months of November through March. Florida has approximately 1,250 golf courses, and Palm Beach County has the most of any county in the U.S. at 160, according to the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Many of those, however, are private courses and not open to the public.
The Park will require a caddie for play before noon, something usually reserved for private courses. That, of course, will require another fee.
The exquisite facility is the product of a city-described public-private partnership that flowed from a handshake deal between Mayor Keith James and PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh, who said he has raised more than $55 million to rebuild and endow the facility.
A big chunk of the money raised — some $15 million to $20 million, according to Waugh — will serve as an endowment that can be tapped in the event the facility fails to break even financially each year.
But there are questions about the money Waugh says he has raised. He would not say who made the donations, telling The Palm Beach Post that the donors did not contribute to the project for public acknowledgment. Instead, Waugh said, the donors back the project’s goal of boosting youth golf and establishing a first-class golfing facility in the heart of West Palm Beach.
The Park’s 192 acres are owned by the city, and the course is public. Still, when asked by The Post for the names, dates and amounts of the donations used to rebuild and endow the facility, the city said it had no record of the donors.
Brian Conley, the manager of The Park, has not yet responded to a request from The Post for that donor information.
Waugh said a foundation will be established to oversee the facility. The foundation’s board is expected to have 10 members, with the city appointing two of them. It likely will hold fundraisers from time to time for specific projects and to boost the endowment, Waugh said.
Maintaining The Park’s immaculate landscape will be expensive
Golf courses are expensive to build, maintain and staff. Water, landscaping and fertilizer are significant cost drivers.
Lone Pine Golf Course in Riviera Beach, which closed Sunday, April 16, 2023, after serving for decades as a budget course beloved by beginners and weekend golfers, underscores the financial challenges some courses face.
Those challenges can be especially difficult to meet if, as is the case with The Park, money from pricey membership fees can’t be ploughed back into operations.
The Park won’t offer memberships, Waugh said, but the facility has several benefits that give it a leg up on others. The first is its quality.
Golfers who have had an early look rave about the course, which was designed by Gil Hanse, a renowned course architect whose restoration projects include famous courses such as Baltusrol in New Jersey, Winged Foot in New York and Southern Hills in Oklahoma. Those courses have hosted major championships, including the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
Hanse has also designed courses that dot the globe, including ones in Thailand, Scotland, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Mexico and France, not to mention nearly two dozen in the United States. He designed Jonathan’s Landing near Jupiter and Streamsong Black in Polk County.
“I really think this will be a bucket list place for people to play,” Waugh said of The Park. “It’s going to be a great amenity. We have a lot of things to attract people to come here. But we don’t have a ton of public golf.”
Beyond a top-notch golfing environment, The Park has other advantages that will keep it financially sound, Waugh said.
An outdoor seating area at The Park West Palm Beach during the grand opening of the new public golf course on Monday, April 17, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo: Thomas Cordy/USA TODAY)
“We have no debt,” he noted. “We have no rent. We have no (property) taxes because it is a city property, and we have essentially endless demand. It’s hard to imagine how the city will have any real liability here.”
James, who gave Waugh a 15-month window to follow through on a pledge to raise enough money to rebuild the facility, scoffed at the notion that The Park could go the way of Lone Pine.
“Really?” the mayor responded when asked if city residents needed to be concerned that The Park could eventually fall on hard times like Lone Pine and close.
“Has Lone Pine ever had private citizens donate $55 million toward the renovation of the golf course and construction of a clubhouse, community center, training facilities and enhanced programs for junior golfers?”
Joe Gerlach, who owns Lone Pine with four of his siblings, said The Park’s financial advantages are significant, including the absence of taxes on the land.
“That’s huge,” Gerlach said. “They can pass that savings to the golfers.”
How much will it cost?
Even with its financial advantages, The Park won’t be a budget course.
During the busy season — roughly from November and into April — greens fees are expected to range from $50 to $80 for West Palm Beach residents, Conley said. The cart fee will be $60.
The range of fees follows similar structures of other top public courses with escalating rates for city, state and out-of-state residents.
For Florida residents who don’t live in West Palm Beach, Conley said green fees will range from $120 to $180, climbing up to around $200 during particularly busy times.
Out-of-state residents will pay the most to play The Park — $180 to $280 and possibly more if market conditions allow, Conley said.
Conley added that The Park isn’t aiming to be the least expensive course in the market.
“You’re going to spend money at The Park, no doubt,” he said. “This isn’t a $15 kind of place to play. But if you’re spending money at The Park, you’re spending money in the community and supporting the community.”
Waugh added that he anticipates that “people are going to fly down and stay at The Breakers to play The Park.”
James said he has “no concerns” that The Park will be too expensive for the average golfer.
“I am quite confident that The Park will not have a shortage of golfers interested in playing the course,” he said. “Furthermore, there is a shortage of good, public golf facilities in the area. It is extremely difficult to get a tee time at a local golf course in season.”
The mayor pushed back on the notion that The Park won’t be reasonably priced.
“The Park’s green fees are affordable for West Palm Beach residents, starting around $60 for 18 holes,” he said. “Florida resident rates will be in line with high-end public course fees, and rates for out-of-state golfers will be comparable to destination public golf facilities.”
The Park’s pitch is the opportunity for someone who doesn’t enjoy the amenities of the numerous upscale private golf clubs in Palm Beach County to experience an immaculately manicured course that a professional golfer would play.
West Palm Beach Commissioner Christina Lambert, whose district includes The Park, said she’s also confident the facility will be within the financial reach of the average golfer.
She said golfers will soon learn that The Park will live up to its advanced billing.
“I keep telling people it’s everything we promised them and more,” she said. “I’m very confident that it will be extremely successful.”