
The Redan par-3 seventh.
Trey Wren

Trey Wren

The par-3 17th.
Derek Duncan

The bare, crowned green at the par-4 13th.
Overview
In the current age of new elite private clubs and faraway destinatiion resorts, the opening of a public municipal-affiliated golf course in an urban area is major news—especially when Tiger Woods shows up for the grand opening, like he did in March 2023.
The Park is the latest in a growing trend of public/private partnerships that have fueled the redevelopment of numerous municipal courses around the country. The new course is set on the site of the former Dick Wilson-designed West Palm Beach Golf Course, one of the first notable designs of the post-World War II years when it opened in 1947 and long considered among the top municipal courses in the country.
That course closed in 2018 due to deteriorating playability and diminished interest and sat fallow for several years. Several plans for different uses of the land were proposed before a group of local citizens, led in part by Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, raised $56 million in individual donations to re-imagine the property as a community gathering space with amenities that include, in addition to golf, youth activities and educational programs, shopping and dining. Woods was one of the donors. (Note: the PGA of America is not connected to the project.)
The fundraisers and City of West Palm Beach hired Hanse and Wagner to create a new 18-hole course on the property’s existing site, located just off I-95 less than two miles south of the Palm Beach International Airport. Also included in the redevelopment is a state-of-the-art practice facility, a lighted nine-hole short course and a two-acre children’s-only golf zone.
Hanse and Wagner retained nothing of the Wilson course and originally envisioned using its deep, sandy terrain to craft holes that would look and play like the Sand Belt courses of Melbourne, Australia. In routing the course, however, they removed pockets of trees, palmetto and other vegetation—crucial ingredients of Sand Belt courses—that would have enhanced that effect.
“There are certain parts of the golf course where you get that Sand Belt feel—I hear the comparison a lot on 11, the par 3, and No. 6, the short par 4—but as Jim and I started to go through it we discussed how we were going to differentiate this golf course from some of the other things we’d done,” Hanse says. “We started to move away from the Sand Belt look and go more toward exposed sand areas because of the scale and width that we had.”
The width, exposure and sightlines that were created once the land was cleared came to define the design’s concept, specifically fairways of enormous breadth, greens that are shaped or oriented to receive shots from specific points in the fairways, and highly contoured putting surfaces.
“One of the cool things Tiger said when he was here, and he’s been by a few times, was this is a ‘one-ball course’—you’re not going to lose a ball out here,” Hanse says.
Read Derek Duncan's full piece here.
About
Awards

Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
Reviews
Review
“Exceeded my expectations, very enjoyable to play."
Read More2025
Review
“Solid Hanse renovation that is a lot of fun. The green complexes and bunkering are so much better than your average public course. The two short par 4's, numbers 6 and 16 are very strategic and they are great holes. The mix of holes make for great layout variety. The back none is pure Hanse and Wagner."
Read More2025
Review
“The Parks is an outstanding public course which is easily walkable and fun to play."
Read More2024
Review
“The Park is a fascinating high-end municipal course in West Palm Beach that opened in 2023. There's been a lot of buzz surrounding this course and it's not hard to see why. The whole complex is a golf wonderland with excellent practice facilities, a lit par 3 course, and overall amazing and inclusive vibes. When I finished my round at sunset, families and little kids were running around the patio and the whole place seemed vibrant and like it was succeeding in its goal to grow the game. The Gil Hanse designed championship layout at the Park is quite a unique course that doesn't feel like typical South Florida golf. There are no water hazards here and the scale and sandy wastlelands make the course feel like an Australian sandbelt. It scores highly in character and fun for these reasons and golfers of all abilities will enjoy this course. The course is an excellent walk with tees and greens in close proximity and the conditioning here is first-class, with firm and fast Bermuda and true greens. In terms of variety and shot options, The Park also scores highly with a wonderful and highly variable set of greens that offers plenty of challenge and strategic bunkering and numerous doglegs giving the golfer options. The Back 9 in particular is quite strong with a stellar set of par 3s (11 and 17), two challenging long dogleg lefts (12 and 14) and a reachable par 4 (16) and par 5 (15 and 18). As far as South Florida public golf is concerned, The Park is the best option there is and is well-worth a play."
Read More2024
Review
“The Park is a fascinating high-end municipal course in West Palm Beach that opened in 2023. There's been a lot of buzz surrounding this course and it's not hard to see why. The whole complex is a golf wonderland with excellent practice facilities, a lit par 3 course, and overall amazing and inclusive vibes. When I finished my round at sunset, families and little kids were running around the patio and the whole place seemed vibrant and like it was succeeding in its goal to grow the game. The Gil Hanse designed championship layout at the Park is quite a unique course that doesn't feel like typical South Florida golf. There are no water hazards here and the scale and sandy wastlelands make the course feel like an Australian sandbelt. It scores highly in character and fun for these reasons and golfers of all abilities will enjoy this course. The course is an excellent walk with tees and greens in close proximity and the conditioning here is first-class, with firm and fast Bermuda and true greens. In terms of variety and shot options, The Park also scores highly with a wonderful and highly variable set of greens that offers plenty of challenge and strategic bunkering and numerous doglegs giving the golfer options. The Back 9 in particular is quite strong with a stellar set of par 3s (11 and 17), two challenging long dogleg lefts (12 and 14) and a reachable par 4 (16) and par 5 (15 and 18). As far as South Florida public golf is concerned, The Park is the best option there is and is well-worth a play."
Read More2024
Review
“If you're like many a northerner visiting Florida it's sometimes hard to find a quality place to play that isn't private. The Park is the place for you! So fast, so firm, so fun - unlike anything else in Florida. This is a must visit for serious golfers on vacation in South Florida."
Read More2024
Review
“The Park speaks volumes for upholding the traditional values of the game while adding a modern touch that welcomes all."
Read More2024
Review
“Gil Hanse created a very fun course with some extremely creative bunkers and greens. It's playable by all skill levels and is very unique."
Read More2024
Review
“HIt all you want from the tees with massive landing areas. Tricky greens and lots of elevation changes are the challenge here. But a really fun place to play and pretty unique for South Florida."
Read More2024
Review
“The Park is a course that is hard to find a direct comparison to. The course features massive corridors on the par 4's and 5's with strategically placed bunkers and greens that reward the aggressive player (however at times they are so wide that they do not penalize poor shots either). The scale of the property and bunkers is used masterfully, with greens perched and tucked around different areas to create unique feels. the set of par 3's (especially the world class 11th) all ask for different shots and are hard to find many courses that significantly outpace the class of the 5 par 3's here. Overall the course holds many of the qualities of other great courses in the US."
Read More2024
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