Sriklin art
PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh likes to say that the soon-to-open PGA Frisco Complex, in North Texas, will be a laboratory for reinvention and promotion of golf.
On a smaller scale, he hopes The Park, a reimagined municipal golf facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, will achieve the same goals.
The Park has no official affiliation with the PGA of America, but Waugh has been deeply involved in its transformation, personally leading a fundraiser that garnered $55 million from private donors (including Tiger Woods, who helped open the course; Video below) to cover project costs. What was an old Muni – a Dick Wilson-designed opened in 1947 – is now a lively venue featuring a new 18-hole par-3 par 9-hole course redesigned by Gil Hansey, range and practice greens, and a new clubhouse. .
Park’s overall mission: to make the game more accessible.
Greens fees for West Palm residents start at $60, and the atmosphere caters to beginners and juniors. A floodlit par-3 course and no hole is played more than 100 yards (the 9th hole is a tribute to the 12th hole on the slope at Bandon Dunes’ par-3 course, Bandon Preserve, which invites players to use a putter off the tee). The range is Toptracer equipped, and there is also an extensive chipping and chipping area, space for private lessons and junior golf clinics.
“We wanted to call it The Park because this 190-acre space is owned by residents, and like a park, it should be open to everyone,” Wu said at the facility’s opening.
These messages seem to be everywhere you look.
Hats off at the pro shop promote the park’s “Open Golf” logo. Caddies wear bibs that read “Walking in the Park”. Scorecards encourage golfers to “play forward” listing the shortest tee distances first.
Hansi is best known for his work on the most incredible projects, including the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, renovations he’s made at key venues like Oakland Hills and Southern Hills and this year’s US Open venue, Los Angeles Country Club North. turn.
But that doesn’t mean Hanse and his design partner, Jim Wagner, are late to The Park. On the sandy, windswept site, they’ve built a course that will appeal to everyone from weekend hackers to slick players sure to draw from the area’s many famous private enclaves.
Hanse’s championship pedigree is evident throughout the par-71’s design, which can run up to 6,670 rear tees. The most memorable three-hole extension is the 9 to 11.
The ninth floor is a floor 5 with an open walkway, but an approach that strays too far from the line risks deep bunkers in front of the greens and trees on the right.
The tenth, in clear view of the clubhouse, is a dogleg right par-4 with another welcome fairway, but brush and trees along the right hand side, which can be problematic for anyone trying to cut a dogleg. The green is surrounded by trees on both sides and bunkers.
The par-3 eleven offers a simple looking shot, but the deep bunkers surrounding the green should be avoided.
So yes, The Park requires proper shot making to play well, but everyone can enjoy it too. This was evident on a recent afternoon when golfers stopping for lunch at the turn saw perhaps half a dozen rookies gleefully rolling down the hill to the left of the 10th tee.
I’m not going to see that in every cycle, and that’s kind of the point.