Palm Beach National Golf Course

Built in the 1960's, Palm Beach National Golf Course has been around for quite some time, which has its pro's and con's. While the clubhouse is in need of remodeling, the course couldn't have remained open for about 50 years if it wasn't popular and didn't offer an enjoyable experience.

The Highlights

 

 

The Details

 

The facilities of Palm Beach National are a little bit of good and a little bit of not so good. If you were looking for rigorous practice, we would recommend other courses, but the facilities were sufficient for the pre-round warm-up.

Wear on driving range

The pro shop is not bad and offers a decent selection of clothing, and accessories (golf balls, tees, etc). The staff was very friendly and the check-in process was easy. The clubhouse is a separate building from the pro shop along with the restaurant and it is much in need of updating. The course was designed in the 60’s and it feels as though the locker rooms have not been updated since. The locker room is comfortable and functional, but the restroom and décor could use upgrades, which would make the place feel new and interesting. Although the locker rooms are older, the course does have new electric carts that run very nicely, although they do not have GPS or touch screens.

As for the golfing practice facilities, Palm Beach National has all of the necessary facilities, but they are not overly impressive. The driving range has a small hitting area and it is significantly worn. The putting green is small and squeezed between the pro shop and the driving range and the feeling is that the range and the putting green are right on top of each other. There are two other greens for chipping, one to the left of the driving range and another less noticeable one near the 18^th landing area. 

Difficulty:

Palm Beach National golf course is not a difficult course to play mainly because of the wide landing areas off the tee. Many of the holes are very similar in that they have wide fairways leading up to slightly elevated average size greens with some average size bunkers protecting them. We also note that the score card listed a black tee as seen in our summary above, but during our latest round we could not find a single black tee box on the course.

One of many wide fairways

There are no real defining attributes of Palm Beach National such as long roughs, fast greens or abundant water that would make us consider it a difficult course. There is some water on the course and it does play a factor on some holes, most noticeably on the 3^rd, 15^th and 18^th holes; but the water isn’t a major concern for many other holes. There are bunkers on the course, but they, for the most part, are neither deep nor difficult to hit from. The golfer is rarely punished for missing fairways, since the rough is not thick and the trees are not overly abundant.

If we had to pick the more difficult holes on the course we would choose #6, #15, and #18. The #1 handicap is the par-4 hole #6 that is a bit tricky on the drive because it is a dogleg right that will hurt you if you pull the ball to the left and drive through the fairway. Also, the approach shot will be one of the longer ones you will have all day. The 15^th and 18^th are also doglegs which present water along the right side of their fairways. There is a temptation to cut the corner on these holes, which can cause trouble and the risk isn’t necessary considering the second shots are not very long. The 18^th has a decent incline leading up to the green and a large trap in front making it a decent finishing hole.

Condition:

Low water on 15th hole

The condition of Palm Beach National as it pertains to the tee boxes, fairways and greens is pretty good. The tee boxes have a bit of wear but that is to be expected to some degree on a course that is heavily played. We feel the fairways are well kept and the course seems sufficiently watered and green. The greens are a bit slow, but rolled true and were not pitted with ball marks or patchy dead spots. As it pertains to the playing area, the course was decently manicured and we were happy with the experience.

We did notice that the water on the course was extremely low. On the 15th in particular, the water is currently all but dried up with the exception of about 2 inches deep of water remaining in the middle. We have had some dry conditions over the last few months and unfortunately many lakes in South Florida are low, but the 15^th was very noticeable. Although it doesn’t look so nice currently, we have played other times and the water has been at a normal level, so hopefully a little rain will bring the water level back to normal. 

Value:

It is tough to get a good picture of the relative value of Palm Beach National for a couple of reasons. First, it depends whether the difficulty of the course has any bearing on how much you are willing to pay to play. As discussed above, Palm Beach National is not a difficult course, but it is decently kept and offers a nice playing experience with new carts, on course restrooms, well kept greens, etc. In terms of just plain experience, it is a decent value if you are not looking for a tour quality challenge.

18th hole green

The other reason why it is difficult to determine the value of this course is that we have observed varying greens fee prices from day to day. We have searched Palm Beach National’s website and have found in season (November to March) rates ranging from $45-$69 per round with weekends and holidays being towards the higher end of the range. Offseason rates can be about $20 cheaper and twilight rates are in the mid $20’s after 3pm. Additionally, Palm Beach National offers golfing and dining combination deals and all you can play golf on select days among other deals from time to time. The course also sells frequent player cards, which offer discount rates and free range balls and Palm Beach National also offers deals in connection with purchasing golf lessons. This course also lists select tee times on discount booking websites, which provide the opportunity to play at an even better rate if you are flexible on tee times.

In general, the rack rate pricing is a little above average for courses of similar quality, but taking advantage of the many deals offered would allow you to play for an equal price to Palm Beach National’s peers.

Overall:

 

Palm Beach National is a good course for the leisure golfer who is looking for an enjoyable experience. When we were writing this review, we wanted to comment on the course’s motto of being “Palm Beach County’s most fun and friendly golf course” but didn’t really know how to rank fun and friendly in the four categories above so we decided to include in the overall rating. Palm Beach National will not have the best facilities or offer the toughest layout, but we have to agree that it is an enjoyable time and the staff is very friendly. We like that the course has unique promotions and caters to those who don’t rank difficulty or challenge as their main reason for golfing, which many people do not. A remodel of the clubhouse would do a lot for Palm Beach National, but they do a lot with what they have and come through in their aim to give golfers a fun golfing experience.