Okeeheelee Golf Club (West Palm Beach, FL)

I’m not a big fan of twenty-seven hole golf courses. The architect usually has to compromise a superior routing to fit the extra nine holes in. Typically that means awkward doglegs and distances.

(The 464/425 yard ninth hole on the Eagle nine makes for an excellent ending hole. It doglegs right around the lake. The player willing to risk an aggressive line over the hazard will cut off a significant amount of yardage.) 

Okeeheelee was designed by Roy Case in 1995. It sits on a beautiful piece of property owned by the Palm Beach County park system and offers great views of the lake. It’s a municipal course that hosts numerous rounds each year, and is played by a wide ranging skill set of golfers. 

(The view of the clubhouse and practice green from the ninth tee. For a municipal golf course, the setting is first rate and is one of the reasons why it’s very popular with visitors and locals.)

Roy Case is known more for his work with landfills and his ability to engineer golf courses on brownfields. (His work with Eric Bergstol at Bayonne GC in New Jersey is his best known design) Okeeheelee is way different and is on the other side of the spectrum with natural beauty. In his interview with Golfclubatlas in February 2008, he mentions Okeeheelee multiple times. It’s obviously a source of great pride for him, and the fact that it was going to host it’s 1,000,000 round that year is validation of his philosophy. 

(The 395/386 yard par four seventh hole on the Heron nine is a cape hole featuring dramatic carries from the tee and into the green.) 

Okeeheelee does a lot with little. It’s not overly bunkered and while there’s water everywhere, it’s placed in spots where it can be avoided. There’s no intimidated carries from the tee, and does a good job making average players feel confident. The greens however are quite challenging. Many of them have the high point in the middle with the left and right sides sloping away. Obviously putting up and over the high spot demands deft touch. Case also did a good job placing the greens in the highest spots. The par three ninth instantly comes to mind as the player tees off next to the lake and hits uphill to a green on a knob with fall offs on all sides. 

While the golf is good at Okeeheelee, the amount of wildlife increases the pleasure of playing here. My playing partner remarked he felt like he was in Jurassic Park because there were so many iguanas on the tee boxes. Toss in the birds and other creatures that make the lake their home, and it adds up to a grand day of golf. Yes there are some awkward holes that have weird doglegs, but overall, a really nice place for the locals and visitors alike. I give Okeeheelee a 4 (above average)(worth driving 30-40 min).