No water. No homes. Instead, an authentic design in lovely situation. Welcome to West Palm Beach’s latest public course.
Connor Federico
The Park isn’t even a yr previous but. But since its opening in April, it’s already made a distinction within the lives of West Palm Beach residents and close by golf lovers.
It’s not only a brand-new Gil Hanse design open to the general public. The Park West Palm is a neighborhood middle. Local kids be taught the sport and get free assist with their schoolwork. Aspiring execs apply for hours on finish, and golfers of all handicaps and backgrounds get pleasure from a state-of-the-art facility.
Unlike most golf experiences, The Park West Palm is open lengthy into the night time. Their 9-hole brief course — a enjoyable problem for under $30 — is surrounded by flood lights, so is the placing course and short-game apply space. Food, drinks and music assist give the place a relaxed ambiance. It’s the right spot to deliver family and friends who aren’t into enjoying a full spherical within the Florida solar.
Connor Federico
But if you choose the 18-hole expertise, a spherical at The Park will rapidly illustrate why it’s my favourite course I performed this yr.
The Park breaks the mould for South Florida public-access golf programs. There are not any homes and yard out-of-bounds stakes. There aren’t any artifical ponds — in reality there’s no water on the course at all. But there are many sprawling bunkers, rolling fairways and inventive inexperienced complexes. It’s a high-quality course that sits on the identical sand ridge as world-famous Seminole.
“It’s the most fun golf course I’ve ever played,” says Cody Sinkler, The Park’s first director of golf. “If you stop and just look around, there’s nothing but golf all around you. That’s pretty cool.”
It’s not troublesome to get from tee to inexperienced at The Park, however scoring is enjoyable and difficult. Inviting, broad fairways greet golfers earlier than troublesome strategy pictures. Many of the greens are topped, rejecting lengthy irons again into fairway assortment areas.
Other greens are surrounded by deep bunkers, just like the par-3 seventeenth gap, or function a number of tiers with big-breaking putts, just like the par-3 eleventh. No two holes are the identical at The Park, and none are straightforward.
Connor Federico
Also upending the South Florida established order, The Park West Palm encourages gamers to stroll, limiting carts till the afternoon. The course has a thriving caddie program that present well being advantages and retirement financial savings applications.
My caddie for the day, Tanner, had simply moved to West Palm Beach after ending school. He simply turned professional, enjoying at small occasions round Florida and making an attempt to interrupt into Q School.
For him, The Park offers each day work, and he makes use of that cash to cowl his occasion charges and journey prices. But additionally they let their caddies play the course and use the apply amenities at any time when there’s an open spot. Tanner says he’s by no means heard of one other caddie program prefer it; he says he virtually lives at the place.
His relationship with The Park, identical to its budding relationship with the encompassing neighborhood, is understanding simply nice.
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