Courtesy of BallenIsles Country Club
The BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, received approval to construct a new 10-hole short and putting courses, both to be designed by Rees Jones.
The new short course complex will be located in the southwest portion of the BallenIsles community and is expected to open for member play in the fall of 2026.
“We are so proud of the work that (Jones) and Bryce (Swanson) did with us in 2019 that we could not wait for the opportunity to work with them again,” BallenIsles director of golf Jeff Fitzherbert said. “The short course land abuts the South course, that is so popular with our members, so the fit was natural. We are eager to get to work and see what the Rees Jones design team will come up this time.”
In December 2024, BallenIsles Country Club members voted upon and approved the $6 million project, which includes a 10-hole short course with holes ranging in distance from 80 to 160 yards, as well as a 9-hole putting course and skill green.
The short course will enable members to enjoy a golf format from multiple tee locations, distances and angles, each providing different levels of difficulty and targets. The club expects families and players of all skill levels to find a format that is faster, easier and fun. The Jones design will focus on flexible playing options.
“The new short course and putting course will be great additions to BallenIsles for our members and their families to enjoy,” Fitzherbert said. “With the informal nature of the two courses, we expect they will appeal to a wider audience of potential users, while further beautifying and enhancing the BallenIsles community. We will become the only large-scale residential community to offer an amazing amenity such as this, further instilling BallenIsles as the club of choice in the South Florida high-end residential golf communities.
The short course and putting course add to BallenIsles amenities that include three championship courses: the East Course, renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 2022; the South Course, redesigned by Jones in 2020; and the North Course, designed by Kipp Schulties when redone in 2013.
The club’s ‘71 Golf Learning Center provides members with a 3,000-square-foot central location for custom fittings, club repairs and golf instruction. The practice grounds has a 65-bay two-sided 12 ½-acre long game area, complete with Toptracer technology and Flagd Golf digital yardage boards, a selection of aiming targets for all types of long shots, a practice putting green, rough, uneven lie and fairway bunker practice areas, along with a wedge range with targets from 30 to 105 yards.
In addition, BallenIsles’ four-acre short game area features the 25,000-square-foot Snead Green putting course, five pitching and chipping greens, warm-up green and the world’s flattest putting green.
The capital improvements continue a long tradition of reinvestments made by the club.
In 1963, Florida developer John D. MacArthur and the PGA of America teamed up with golf course architects Dick Wilson and Joe Lee to design a championship-caliber golf facility. Over the next 10 years, BallenIsles, then called PGA National Golf Club, hosted numerous major tournaments like the PGA Championship and PGA Seniors Championship and was home for the PGA.
In 1988, the three golf courses and surrounding property were sold by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and renamed BallenIsles Country Club. A multi-year and multimillion dollar plan to develop a private country club community commenced.
