When golfers hear “par-3 course,” I think there’s still a tendency to picture beginner golf.
Palm Beach Par 3 is a pretty good counterpoint.
I played the course years ago when I lived in Palm Beach and worked at a golf club there. During the slower summer months, some of the staff would head over for a round, simply because it was fun.
That was my first introduction to a pretty special place.
Palm Beach Par-3 sits on 39 acres between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. You drive right past it on A1A and considering the value of property in Palm Beach, the fact that this piece of land is being used for a public golf course is pretty incredible.
Years later, I came back for a very different reason.
This time, I brought my kids.
Coming back to Palm Beach Par-3
We live in Georgia now but get down to Florida a few times each year. Last year, while we were in Palm Beach, the kids saw the course and asked if we could play it sometime.
This year, before we left for our trip, we surprised them and told them we had booked a tee time.
It was summer in South Florida so I guess there are plenty of people who don’t want to play golf when it’s hot and humid. We had no trouble finding an early-morning weekend tee time.
From the time we arrived, the staff was incredibly helpful and accommodating. They explained where everything was, helped us get situated and made the entire process easy. The kids were welcomed, even for an early Sunday morning tee time.
The golf shop is well stocked and there is a restaurant upstairs with an incredible view of the course and ocean.
Summer public walking rates were $43 for adults and a little less for juniors when we played. Rates can vary by season but for Palm Beach, I thought the value was pretty clear.
We chose to walk. Palm Beach Par-3 is a very manageable walk and, for me, walking made the entire experience even better.
This isn’t a pitch-and-putt
One of the reasons I think some golfers overlook par-3 courses is that they assume every hole is going to be a little wedge shot.
That’s not the case here.
Palm Beach Par-3 has three sets of tees. From the white tees, the course measures 1,602 yards. Move all the way back and it stretches to more than 2,000 yards, with some holes reaching more than 200 yards.
There are plenty of shorter shots but you are still going to make full swings. Depending on which tees you play and how far you hit it, you’ll use more than a wedge.
Par-3s have a funny way of making a relatively simple golf hole feel much harder than it should.
Make a four on an 80-yard hole and you’ll understand pretty quickly. In some ways, I think playing a course like this can expose parts of your game faster than playing a full-length golf course.
The practice facilities and course conditions
We spent a little time practicing before our round. Palm Beach Par-3 has a driving range, putting green and practice bunker. The weekend we played, the range was on real grass.
The course itself was in good shape.
The greens were not fast but they rolled fine. I’ll also give some credit to anyone maintaining greens on a piece of land with salt water surrounding it.
Pace of play was also excellent. We moved around the course quickly, never felt rushed and never spent much time standing around waiting.
That’s another benefit of the short-course experience that I think gets overlooked. You can play an round of golf without giving up most of your day.
Why short courses work for so many golfers
My kids have come a long way with their golf this summer and they’re more than capable of playing full-length golf courses. However, if I were starting over with young golfers, I would spend a lot more time on par-3 courses. They make complete sense.
Kids get more opportunities to hit approach shots, chip, putt and make pars. They’re not standing 250 yards from a green after hitting two decent shots and wondering how much farther they have to go.
But I don’t think that benefit is limited to kids.
A newer golfer can play without being overwhelmed by distance. A higher-handicap golfer gets a lot of short-game practice. A better player has to control distance, hit targets and convert opportunities.
And a family can all play essentially the same golf course together.
That’s what I really liked. Everyone had a chance to hit a good shot. Everyone had a chance to make a par. There was no point where somebody was completely out of a hole because they couldn’t hit it far enough.
You don’t get that quite as easily on a 6,500-yard golf course.
Palm Beach Par-3 gets a lot right
One other thing that stood out to me was how much the course seemed to care about the experience.
After we played, I received a follow-up survey asking about our round. I filled it out and received a free bucket of range balls for the next time we visit. It’s a small thing but I appreciated it and I’ll be going back.
The staff was helpful, the facilities were good, pace of play was quick and the golf course itself was interesting enough that I never felt like I was playing a watered-down version of golf.
Final thoughts
I went back to Palm Beach Par-3 because my kids wanted to play it.
I left remembering why I enjoyed it years ago when I played it with other golf professionals.
Par-3 courses aren’t just for beginners. They’re not just for juniors and they’re not simply something to play when you don’t have time for “real” golf.
If you’re in Palm Beach, vacationing nearby or simply passing through South Florida, it’s a short course I would absolutely put on your list.
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