Joe CapozziConverting par 4 into a par 3 expected to mean fewer errant drives pounding neighbors outside Lake Worth Golf Club.
Lake Worth Beach’s public waterfront golf course is about to get shorter.
Responding to complaints about errant golf balls damaging cars and homes in an adjacent neighborhood, city commissioners June 17 approved a temporary plan to change the third hole of the 18-hole course to a par 3.
The change will shave 220 yards off the hole, a 400-yard par 4 on the west side of the Lake Worth Beach Golf Club course, eliminating the need for golfers to launch long drives that often go wildly off course.
Officials plan to reduce the hole to 180 yards, offering hope for Parrot Cove residents who feel threatened by errant balls flying as far as two blocks west of the course.
City officials are working on details of when the change will take effect, for how long and how much it will cost. The idea is to get feedback from North Lakeside Drive and North Palmway residents on whether the temporary fix helps.
The third tee box is east of Lakeside just north of Fifth Avenue North. The temporary tee will be between Fourth and Third avenues.
The par 3 hole will make Lake Worth Beach Golf Club, currently 6,011 yards, the only public course in southeast Florida that’s under 6,000 yards, said course manager Marty Caifano, who warned the change from a par 71 to a par 70 could affect the course’s reputation and revenue.
“We just started becoming profitable on our course a few years ago. We are just now getting to a point where we’re attracting more and more people,’’ Interim City Manager Jamie Brown told commissioners.
But Mayor Betty Resch and two commissioners who supported the plan said they think the course will remain popular because of its scenic location along 1.2 miles of the Intracoastal Waterway and relatively low rates.
“It’s the best bargain and most beautiful course in Palm Beach County,’’ Resch said. “It’s not a championship course. It’s not a course that people come to be incredibly challenged. It’s a wonderful course that people love to play. And hopefully in the future we will have giant improvements to it.’’
The course turns 100 years old in 2026 and is due for a major redesign, most likely through a private-public partnership, city officials said. In January, a private investment group including golf legend Jack Nicklaus submitted a proposal to develop the city’s beachfront, renovate the golf course and build a public swimming pool in the city’s Northwest Park.
The third hole’s current configuration has been in use since a 1948 redesign. Residents agreed they assumed some level of risk when they bought homes near the course, but they said the problem of golf balls landing in their neighborhood has dramatically increased in recent years with improvements to golf equipment.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of novice players hitting into the southeast wind, and houses all the way down on both sides of the street, some even two blocks over, are being hit. It’s the Big Bertha driver and Pro One balls. You can hit the ball much further than you used to be able to,’’ said Steven Norton, who lives in the 300 block of North Lakeside Drive.
And residents say they never hear golfers yell “Fore!”
Anthony Marotta, who lives next door to Norton on the west side of Lakeside, said he was struck by a ball walking out his front door one day. He sent commissioners videos of balls hitting his property.
“You see them hitting a car. Imagine it’s a person there,’’ he said. “The golfers don’t care.’’
From the third tee, golfers can’t see what happens to their ball once it flies over the trees.
Vice Mayor Sarah Malega and Commissioner Mimi May wanted the city to change the direction of the third tee box so golfers using drivers aimed farther away from homes. That option would not have changed the yardage.
The course has other issues. Golf cart paths have been collapsing into retention ponds. Earlier in the June 17 meeting, commissioners approved spending nearly $300,000 to stabilize the ponds and repair the paths.
“We have been putting so much money into this golf course. Between the new carts two years ago, the golf cart paths being recemented, and we will be going out to do something with the Beach Club (restaurant),’’ Malega said. “I just personally don’t want to put a lot of money into the golf course if we don’t know what the best step is.’’
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. He publishes the Lake Worth Beach Independent on Substack, covering the town where he lives.
