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.)