Wellington has long been known for the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and the Winter Equestrian Festival, but the Palm Beach County region is broadly recognized as Florida’s Golf Capitol. The region has beautiful temperate year round weather, with more than 160 picturesque golf courses in The Palm Beaches, making it Florida’s Golf Capital!
There are a plethora of award winning course options, and since the Wellington region does have visitors who are in the area for vacation or the high season, many clubs are semi-private and offer flexible memberships. For clients in town to look at properties with Wellington Equestrian Realty, getting in a round of golf at a top ranked course is easy! There are many impressive municipal, public and resort courses that rival some of the best golf in the country.
Palm Beach’s Top Ranked Golf Experiences
Modern Luxury Palm Beach magazine recently ranked the top golf courses, and if you’re looking for a quintessential Palm Beach experience, you’ll agree that the Ocean Course at The Breakers Resort earns the top spot. With ocean views and recently renovated by Rees Jones in 2018, the Ocean Course is a golfer’s paradise and open to the public and resort guests. The Breakers also boasts a second Rees Jones course, located 10 miles from the main resort, which is appropriate for any level golfer.
According to Golf Digest, other clubs that make their top choices are; Albacoa, Okeeheelee, The Links at Madison Green and the oceanfront old school Palm Beach Par 3. Commonality of all the best Palm Beach golf clubs is course design which focuses on the natural beauty of the area. Osprey Point, another public course, was awarded the designation as an Audubon International Classic Sanctuary, recognizing their dedication to environmental stewardship.
Exclusive private clubs also make the rankings, such as the Tom Fazio designed Emerald Dunes and the Raymond Floyd designed Old Palm Golf Club, in Palm Beach Gardens. What is special about these clubs is that every aspect of the course design was influenced by these legendary golfers. In fact, Palm Beach is such a renowned golf destination that the region is home to multiple tour players, including Nick Price, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Dustin Johnson and Ernie Els.
Photo compliments The Honda Classic
The Honda Classic Returns to PGA National February 24-27th, 2022!
Since 2007, The Honda Classic has hosted this PGA tour event at its permanent home at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach. The luxury resort is famous for its 6 championship, 18 hole courses, but the resort comes alive each year for this PGA tour event.
Widely known as one of the best spectator experiences on the PGA tour, the event is preparing for the crowds to enthusiastically return after a hiatus due to Covid-19. The event has built out the Double Decker Goslings Bear Trap viewing area of the 16th green and 17th hole, featuring a private hospitality area called Bear Trap Reserve. Throughout the course there are 2 dozen structures built on 11 holes for the ultimate in spectator experiences.
The player field has over 130 international players from the United States, England, Venezuela, Canada, Sweden, Austria, Slovakia, Chile, South Africa, Ireland, China, Korea, India, Argentina, Thailand, Australia, and New Caledonia. Recognizable faces on the PGA tour are Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood, Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Davis Love III, Louis Oosthuizen, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose.
The Honda Classic is also a major philanthropic event for southern Florida charities, awarding $5.1 million to 100 South Florida philanthropic organizations in 2021, a number that approached tournament record levels despite the widespread impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It has impacted the lives of more than 100,000 children in the past year and provided a much-needed boost to South Florida community charities that faced their own fiscal challenges in a tough year. “The Honda Classic has now surpassed $55 million in charitable contributions as American Honda approaches its 41st year as title sponsor of the PGA TOUR event, including almost $40 million in the 15 years since Children’s Healthcare Charity, Inc. became the host organization and moved the event to PGA National Resort and Spa.” (Source thehondaclassic.com)
Goslings Bear Trap tickets are $150 daily, and there are a variety of other admission options ranging from daily general grounds admission to all inclusive, VIP weekly packages. Practice rounds begin on Wednesday February 23rd, with the final round of the competition continuing through Sunday February 27th.
For more information on event details and ticket reservations, please visit https://thehondaclassic.com/.