Featured Golf Course

In this section learn more about the history of the course and its hometown, see a selection of historic and current images of the course, learn about what the course is like today, and discover nearby historic sites.

North Palm Beach Country Club

History

The North Palm Beach Country Club is located in the Village of North Palm Beach in Palm Beach County. In 1919, Palm Beach developer Paris Singer opened the Everglades Club in the town of Palm Beach. The Club had a 9-hole golf course designed by golf course architect Seth Raynor. Within two years of its opening the club, membership went from 25 to 500 members.  A few years later, Singer, along with Harry Kelsey, purchased land several miles north of the existing Everglades Club and adjacent to Kelsey City (Lake Park) to build a new golf course. 

In 1926, Singer presided over the opening of the new 18-hole golf course designed by Seth Raynor.  Newspaper articles described the new course as being accessible by either automobile or by fast motor boats direct from the club’s steps. The golf course became known as the Palm Beach Winter Club.

In 1935 the Winter Club was purchased by Sir Harry Oakes, who used the clubhouse as a part- time home. Several owners and years later, the club and golf course were purchased by the Village of North Palm Beach in 1962 and opened a year later. The original 1926 clubhouse remained until 1980.

In November 2006, after extensive renovations the North Palm Beach Country Club opened its newly renovated golf course, becoming only the second public municipal golf course in the United States at that time to bear the prestigious moniker of a Jack Nicklaus “Signature” Golf Course. Nicklaus stated that the North Palm Beach Country Club would be a great addition and showcase course for the Palm Beaches.

Workers and Mules During the Construction of Palm Beach Winter Club

Nines Holes Opened at Palm Beach Winter Club in 1925

Golf Course Architect Seth Raynor Reference

Original Routing Proposed by Daniel Wexler

1930s Aerial of the Palm Beach Winter Club

Palm Beach Winter Club Clubhouse and Golf Course - 1930s

Golfers at Palm Beach Winter Club Golf Course

Palm Beach Winter Club Scorecard c1946 - Outside

Palm Beach Winter Club Scorecard c1946 - Inside

Today

The North Palm Beach Country Club includes an 18-hole, par-71 golf course featuring five sets of tees, playing from 4,400 up to 7,000 yards, so each golfer may challenge the course in a manner that is equal to their individual game. The golf course at the North Palm Beach Country Club continues to celebrate a golf legacy that began on this site almost a century ago.

Boasting elevation changes, rarely found in South Florida, this unique course design features generous fairways and undulated well-bunkered greens. In addition to the unique topography, several holes wind along the beautiful Intracoastal Waterway offering a striking contrast of painted blues and rolling terrain.

The Nicklaus “Signature” North Palm Beach Country Club has received many accolades including the No. 1 ranked Municipal Course in Florida and No. 27 in America by Golfweek Magazine and voted the No.1 Public Course in Palm Beach County by the Palm Beach Post. In 2021, GOLF Magazine ranked the golf course the 20th  spot in the Top 30 Municipal Courses in America!

North Palm Beach Country Club Clubhouse and Entrance

5th hole at North Palm Beach Country Club

View of the 5th Hole Along the Intracoastal Waterway

18th Tee at North Palm Beach Country Club

18th Hole at North Palm Beach Country Club

Aerial View of 18th Green and Clubhouse at North Palm Beach Country Club

Layout of the North Palm Beach Country Club

Scorecard for the North Palm Beach Country Club

Local Knowledge

For the multi-million dollar 2006 renovation project, Jack Nicklaus charged the Town of North Palm Beach only one dollar. The Nicklaus Design team redesigned the golf course, which included a new irrigation system, total re-grassing of all the playing surfaces, new greens construction and improved fairway surface drainage. Latitude 36 Bermudagrass was used for tees, fairways and roughs, and TifEagle for greens.

“The course features two dramatic holes along the Intracoastal Waterway,” said Chad Goetz of Nicklaus Design. “It is routed on top of a natural sand dune [the Seminole Ridge] that offers elevation changes rarely found in southern Florida.”

Bunkers were filled with a fresh layer of distinctive orange sand, which is mined from the site. The property contained a variety of sands–white, gray and orange. According to Nicklaus, the orange sand turned out to be some of the best bunker sand they have found in the state.

 “I have lived in North Palm Beach for more than 35 years. I feel that it’s a good community, a community that has supported me and my family. This was my way to give a little something back to the community and the people who have given me so much. If I am able to do that with a very good, modestly priced golf course for the people of the Village, that brings a certain sense of satisfaction. This has been a fun project, and one of which I am very proud.” – Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Speaking at the Groundbreaking

Jack Nicklaus and the Design Team During Renovation

Jack Nicklaus Sketching Out the 4th Hole

Jack Nicklaus and Design Team at the 14th Green

The Nicklaus Designed 5th Hole

The Nicklaus Designed 6th Hole

The Nicklaus Designed 16th Hole

The Nicklaus Designed 18th Hole

Inside the Leather

Peanut Island Park - This unique 80 acre tropical park is situated in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Lake Worth Inlet. The park is a favorite destination for boaters and provides numerous recreational opportunities for visitors.

Peanut Island was originally created in 1918 as a result of material excavated when the Lake Worth Inlet was created. The name Peanut was given to the island when the State of Florida gave permission for use of the island as a terminal for shipping peanut oil. Plans for this enterprise were abandoned in 1946, but the name was retained.

In 1961, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the SeaBees secretly, and very quickly, built a bunker on Peanut Island for President John F. Kennedy, who spent a great deal of time at the Kennedy Compound in nearby Palm Beach. Although it would have been a temporary command center for the nation in a time of crisis, it was relatively small. It was constructed adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard Station, concealed in the woods and underground, but above the water table. The bunker had fallen into complete disrepair, but was restored in 1999 by the Palm Beach Maritime Museum. Visit Peanut Island Park for more details.

Aerial of Peanut Island

Entrance to President Kennedy's Bunker on Peanut Island

Inside President Kennedy's Bunker on Peanut Island

Map of Peanut Island

Visit - Contact

North Palm Beach Country Club

951 U.S. Highway 1
North Palm Beach, Florida 33408

951 U.S. Highway 1
North Palm Beach, Florida 33408

View the Website

Phone: 561.691.3433