West Palm Beach Golf Course

Arnold Palmer helps christen WPB Municipal Golf Course's re-opening

By Greg Stoda
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Nov. 19, 2009

WEST PALM BEACH The man couldn't get out of the grill room, which, by the way, now happens to bear his name.

It was that kind of morning for Arnold Palmer, who was surrounded by well-wishers and autograph-seekers as the headliner of a celebration to mark the re-opening of refurbished West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course.

That's where Palmer won the West Palm Beach Open on the PGA Tour in 1959. Monday, he received a key to the city and listened to a proclamation decreeing Arnold Palmer Day.

What's a half-century among friends?

"I remember beating Pete Cooper in a playoff," Palmer said. "He was a great putter on Bermuda greens, and had given me a lesson."

At the time, Palmer was only beginning to make his mark on the game. He had won the Masters in 1958, his first of four triumphs at Augusta National and the first of his seven major championships.

He was golf's emerging star.

"If I've done anything to help make golf what it is, I appreciate it," Palmer said Monday.

He was precisely the kind of athlete and entertainer aggressive and charismatic the game needed as it grew into the television age. Palmer, 80, now stands as a sort of godfather of golf, and his appearances at events such as the West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course gala seldom fail to infuse the proceedings with a sense of nostalgia. Arnie's Army still follows him.

"We love you, Arnie!" came a shout from the gallery around the first tee before Palmer struck the ceremonial first drive.

Palmer said he still enjoys practicing but plays only once or twice a week. He did admit to being a regular in a game at his Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, site of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour. A bit of money changes hands in his private games.

"It's going the wrong way most of the time, now," he said.

Back in the grill room after the ceremony, Palmer, a course-designer himself, said he appreciated the restoration work Mark McCumber did on the course.

"It really does have the look of an old-style Florida course," he said.

Which was precisely McCumber's intention as he removed tens of thousands of trees. The now-dominant element is white sand covering the areas off the fairways.

"We wanted to put back into the ground what Dick Wilson had in his original design," McCumber said.

West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said she is "very proud" that the cost of the work was covered by fees paid by users of the course, which has been accommodating approximately 70,000 rounds per year.

The current 18-hole, daily-fee rates range from $20 to $49 on weekdays and $22 to $54 on weekends, depending on residency and time of play. The automated tee-time number is (561) 822-1593.

West Palm Beach Golf Course
Formerly West Palm Beach Country Club

West Palm Beach Golf Course, formerly known as the West Palm Beach Country Club, was originally established in 1921. It was moved to its present location in 1947, and is an 18-hole, par-72 championship Dick Wilson designed course with 6,759 yards. Rolling terrain, elevated greens, and a magnificent variety of full-grown shade trees distinguish this public course from others in the county. The West Palm Beach Golf Course has a full driving range, a large putting area overlooking the course, lesson programs, a bar, and restaurant services with a lovely patio area.

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