NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Jack Nicklaus, a longtime resident of North Palm Beach, has broken ground on a major renovation of the public North Palm Beach Country Club. At the end of his redesign, the 50-year-old municipal course will emerge as a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.
The work began Apr. 24 and is scheduled to conclude by the end of the year. Most of the construction should be completed by mid-August, with a re-opening of the course scheduled in November.
The renovation will include a new irrigation system, total re-grassing of all the playing surfaces, new greens construction and improved fairway surface drainage.
"I have lived in North Palm Beach for close to 40 years, and this gesture was a means for me to give back to the community that has meant a great deal to my family and me," Nicklaus said. "It is my hope that we will create a very playable golf course that is aesthetically pleasing and stands as a showcase piece for North Palm Beach, and something of which all residents and golfers can be proud. This community has embraced our family for so long, and I am delighted to be involved."
North Palm Beach Country Club will represent only the second municipal golf course that Nicklaus has designed. The first was Breckenridge Golf Club in Colorado, which opened more than 20 years ago to rave reviews and remains one of the state's most successful public-access courses. Breckenridge features 27 holes of Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf -- the last nine being built and opened in 2001 to accommodate the demand for play at the course.
The Colorado Golfer has named Breckenridge as state's Best Mountain Course for 10 straight years, and Golf Digest, in its "Places to Play" issue, rates Breckenridge as a 4-Star Award Winner and one of its top "Upscale Places To Play" in the nation. The Rocky Mountain Golf Writers Association, a 50-member organization of print and broadcast journalists who cover golf in the western states, voted Breckenridge the No. 1 Public Mountain Course in the State.
North Palm Beach Country Club is hoping to enjoy similar success.
"We're delighted and excited about what is happening to our facility," said North Palm Beach Mayor David Norris. "To have golf's greatest player and the world's leading golf course designer overseeing the renovation and redesign of our golf course is special in and by itself, but the fact Jack donated his design services to the project, demonstrates the kind of man and resident we have all respected for so many years."
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