Rory McIlroy, ranked the world’s No. 2 golfer, is among the many players flocking to the Park.

Above Par

The ritzy residents of Palm Beach usually play golf at their exclusive—and expensive—country clubs. Now they’re teeing up at a municipal course open to the public

By Andrew Zucker

In Palm Beach, residents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to join some of the country’s more expensive golf clubs, such as the Everglades, the Breakers, and Emerald Dunes. Valets park members’ Porsches as caddies set up their golf bags on the driving range. After the 18 holes are up, bartenders have members’ favorite drinks prepared. While this grandiose service has long been the norm for the town’s moneyed golfers, a newly opened municipal course has taken over as Palm Beach’s buzziest golf hangout.

The Park, located in West Palm Beach and opened last April, costs a tiny fraction of the private clubs’ price of play. With only greens fees, West Palm Beach residents pay as little as $80, and out-of-state residents pay $220 per round. It has enticed golf-obsessed .1-percenters such as real-estate mogul Barry Sternlicht, private-equity titan Henry Kravis, and Charles Schwab, who founded the eponymous brokerage firm, as well as P.G.A. Tour golfers such as Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. In April, Barack Obama played a round at the Park.