Pompano Beach Municipal Golf Course (Pompano Beach, FL)

Pompano Beach was one of the liveliest places I've seen, and most of it had nothing to do with golf. The anchor was a great restaurant with an excellent bar. In fact, the bar was the first thing mentioned in all the reviews. And it's busier at night than during the day. 

(The Palms is the "lesser" of the two courses at Pompano Beach. The seventh shows it's teeth a good par three over water.) 

I only played nine holes here, but the city has two eighteen hole courses including a Greg Norman design called the Pines. I was put on the Palms, an older design that Bruce Devlin did in the '60s. The Palms was fun, and was pretty much what one would expect in Florida. My reason for including it in the blog was to show how a good location combine with several anmenities can make a municipal course profitable. Of course, having 36 holes available is a bonus. 

Having two golf courses allows more opportunities to accommodate big groups and regulars at the same time. I reckon that more serious players gravitate towards the Pines, while casual players and beginners veer towards the Palms. A municpal where beginners and accomplished players both call home is a winner to me. Next time I'm gonna play the Pines course. 

Jacaranda Golf Club - West (Plantation, Fl)

Jacaranda is a beautifully conditioned golf course with tropical vegatation landscaped throughout. 

(The dogleg left par five fourteenth is chocked full of strategy. The player must make decisions from tee to green to get the best opportunity to make birdie. The double plateau green is separated by a swale, with today's pin on the far right tier.) 

Jacaranda has two courses, both designed by local architect Mark Mahannah, the East in 1970 and the West in 1976. In 2006, There was a ten million dollar renovation project, and Bobby Weed did all the greens, tees, and bunkers. Seaside Paspalum was used for the fairways and tees, while the greens were done with TifEagle. These new grasses present near perfect conditions, and Jacaranda is widely known in the area for it! 

(The fairways and greens are beautiful in their texture and color, however, most overlook the bunkers. The shaping and placement of them, along with the firm sand, make them an intregal part of the design.)

The West course is the shorter of the two, but there are several doglegs that will make one ponder before teeing off. The long player has an opportunity to cut off a great deal of yardage if he can shape his shot properly. On the straightaway holes, the strategy may call for dropping down to hybrid or long iron from the tee. My opponent, who played for Southern Birmingham University, hit a variety of clubs off the tee. Being in the short grass, he hit thirteen greens including eight shots inside ten feet for birdie. (He shot 73 which was in my opinion the highest he could've scored) The fairways are so perfect that it's a distinguishable advantage to play from them. 

(The short par three third has water left, right, and short. It can be a tricky shot into a crosswind.) 

(The sixth is a solid par four. The water does come in play off the tee but there's plenty of room to be aggressive with a driver.)

Jacaranda's greens are all slightly elevated. Mahannah built up the green pads, a design feature I associate a lot with courses from the '60s and '70s, and then laid out the putting surface on top of it. 

(This pic is from rear right of the green. The putting surface is five to seven feet above the fairway. As one can see, even the back of the green slopes down to the rough.) 

The bunkers are flat in the front, and then they crest up like a wave. The crest will catch the ball like a baseball mitt, and roll it back to the front of trap. It's a very effective hazard. The crest also hides the view of what is beyond it. Often times there's space between it and the green. 

(With hard packed sand at the top, balls hit the slope and roll back to base of the trap. This is a modest bunker. There are some with much higher crests!)

Jacaranda is a solid golf course, and it has many classic characteristics to it. The shots are framed well, the challenges are presented well, and it's very playable for players of all levels. The conditioning however is the main feature, and that is what people remember long after the round is over. 

(The par five tenth doglegs slightly around water, with trees and bunkers dictating an intelligent approach to secure a chance for birdie.) 

Jacaranda is close to the Fort Lauderdale airport, so if one is looking for a place to play, I would recommend it. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour). 

(Eighteen is a driveable par four. I was quite happy to see an old fashion short par four close things out. Obviously, with water and large crest bunkers staunchly defending it, the player is left figuring out how best to make a three.) 

North Palm Beach Country Club (North Palm Beach, FL)

North Palm Beach Country Club was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus for one dollar as a way to show his appreciation to the community for all the support given to him and his family over the years. 

(The excellent par four sixth plays along the intercostal waterway. Two centerline bunkers force the player to choose a strategy off the tee. This is the view from the left one.)

Like most municipal golf courses, NPB is rich in history. Paris Singer, of Singer Sewing Machine fame, established the Everglades Club in 1918, and decided to build a golf course for his members. Seth Raynor did the front nine in 1918-1919, and then did the back nine in 1924-1926 using the dredged fill.  This eighteen hole course eventually became North Palm Beach Country Club. 

(While a few holes touch the intercoastal, most of the course plays in an urban setting as this pic shows.) 

Jack redesigned the course in 2006. (From my reading different articles, the old Seth Raynor course, while flat and not all that difficult, hosted 70,000 rounds a year! One wonders if any redesign was ever needed. While it raised the caliber of the course, it also raised the green fees and displaced many of the seniors that called NPB home.) Jack moved a lot of dirt, creating a good deal of elevation and a lot of movement in the fairway. I loved his use of fairway bunkers, often times placing them in the middle of the fairway, or having them squeeze the landing zone. 

(The eighth is a wonderful cape hole. The deep bunkers on the far side prevent the player from simply bailing left. This forces a strong confident shot across the water to the fairway. A good drive makes the elevated green easier to access.) 

(The fourth doglegs left with a chute of trees leading to the green. The fairway is very wide for the player, but to leave a mid iron approach, the drive has to edge towards the turn.) 

(The beautiful par three fifth brings players to the water's edge. Unfortunately, only two holes play along the intercoastal.) 

The greens stand out too with many humps and mounds throughout the putting surfaces. Reading putts is very difficult especially when the slope pitches it one way, but a mound pushes it the other way. All the greens are well bunkered too, with most of the traps fronting.

(With the ball below the golfers feet, the approach to the ninth can prove to be very difficult.)

(I've read that Nicklaus' courses tend to favor a high fade. The par five thirteenth supports that theory...

...but the long par three fifteenth favors a tight draw, showing that Nicklaus demands the golfer have an ability to hit a wide variety of shots.) 

North Palm Beach is consistently ranked as one of the top municipal courses. It's a course that stands above the crowd, especially in south Florida. It's an easy 6 (very good)(worth driving two hours). I love muni golf, and I hope locals are able to get a good rate. City courses have an obligation to provide enjoyment to it's citizens, and whether it's an old boring course or a beautiful new Nicklaus one, it must be affordable to those that live in the community. 

(Look at the elevation of the eighteenth green! It's a strong par five that demands three good shots. The tiger golfer might be able to reach it in two, but the second best be high and land soft, just like Jack in his prime.)