The competition looked to be fierce with 84 of South Florida’s top-ranked junior golfers competing in a two-day Challenge Tour event in Palm Beach Gardens, FL this past weekend.
The Challenge Tour event was open to junior golfers between the ages of 11-18 and was a 36-hole event hosted at Sandhill Crane Golf Club. The South Florida PGA Junior Challenge Tour is one of five premier membership-based junior golf programs providing competitive and fun tournament experiences for junior golfers.
The beautiful and challenging Sandhill Crane Golf Club is the only course that meanders through the Loxahatchee Slough. The layout plays to 6500 yards from the back tees with a slope/rating of 71.4/133 along towering southern pines, palms and wetlands while maintaining defined elevation changes that create breathtaking views. The all-natural course is owned by the City of Palm Beach Gardens and is top-notch quality golf at an affordable value in an area where most of the courses are either totally private or very expensive, particularly in the winter season.
The par 72 course was reimagined by Dusenberry Design, a golf course architectural firm in Wisconsin, owned by Matt Dusenberry who was the lead designer for Greg Norman. Sandhill Crane had a new irrigation system installed to make the course playable in the summer rainy season, new cultivars of Celebration Bermuda in the fairways and TifEagle greens.
With the success of the golf course being booked constantly and locals praising its quality with six sets of tees to allow any age group to enjoy their time at Sandhill Crane, the city fathers built a new clubhouse in 2018 with an upstairs banquet area than can seat over 200 and has a 360-degree view of the course.
I had the pleasure of playing the course last year and enjoying dinner at the Dancing Crane restaurant adjacent to the pro shop downstairs. For a municipal property, the golf course and fine dining were as good as any Resort facility in South Florida.
For more information or to book a tee time or event visit PBGFL.com/…/Sandhill-Crane-Golf-Club-37 or call (561) 630-1160.
The 36-hole, stroke play event began on Saturday, August 15th with tee times starting at 10:45 AM for a double tee start. Players were re-paired on Sunday, August 16th by low score.
Players to watch during this event are Layla Pedrique (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) who has had many strong finishes and recently claimed victory at a Challenge Tour event at Indian Spring Country Club and TJ Thompson (Coral Springs, FL) who recently placed first at a Challenge Tour event at Sandridge Golf Club.
For more information on the South Florida PGA Junior Tours, please visit the South Florida PGA Junior Tour website at www.sfpgajuniorgolf.com.
