June 24, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
Is there just one place to settle for a blossoming star on the PGA Tour?
Think about it. A golfer grows up in a cold country; spends too many late fall and winter days shivering on hard, brown courses, waiting for the spring thaw only to realize that the only way to further their career is to find the perfect spot where greens are, green all year-round.
More often than now, their search leads them to one area of the country: Palm Beach County, Florida
Whether it’s Jupiter or Jupiter Island, Palm Beach Gardens or North Palm Beach, Delray Beach or Boca Raton, this area is to golf what New York City is to fashion.
This is the mecca for golf royalty.
Palm Beach County has the greatest lifestyle. And, not only does Florida boast the most golf courses in the country with more than 1,250, but Palm Beach has the most of any county in the country with more than 160. So, great golf courses and the ability to have a boat in your backyard. These pros recognized quickly how spectacular the area is.
More than 30 active members of the regular PGA Tour – and many more men and women professionals – call the area home. From Tiger Woods (and soon Phil Mickelson) in Jupiter Island to Gary Woodland in Delray Beach. Half of the top 10 in the current World Golf Rankings and more than 20 in the top 100 live in the area.
Among those is No. 8 and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka and No. 16 Daniel Berger. Koepka and Berger are the two most recognizable names who did not need to google the area because both were raised in Palm Beach County and now live in Jupiter.
Then, there are the retired legends led by the Godfather of Golf, Jack Nicklaus, along with those on the back nine of their professional careers and regulars on the Tour Champions.
Want to put together an old-timers match? Here’s a list of Hall of Famers/major winners who could jump in their car to join: Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Raymond Floyd and Mark Calcavecchia. Nicklaus and Gary Player. All live in the Jupiter area.
That’s 81 major championship trophies or jackets on the PGA Tour belonging to golfers either living in the area or planning to arrive soon among the two groups, and Jack Nicklaus started it 55 years ago.
