In the 10 years that followed, BallenIsles’ dick Wilson and Joe lee-designed courses played host to more than a dozen major golf tournaments, including numerous Senior Pga championships, the World cup event won by lee trevino
and Jack nicklaus in 1971 and, later that year,
florida’s first-ever major, the Pga championship.
BallenIsles also was the site of the original
Qualifying School where players such as Bruce
fleisher and tom Watson earned their Pga tour
of the estimated 4,400 private golf clubs in america, few can top the glorious
golf past of BallenIsles country
club. Indeed, BallenIsles’
three courses were originally
commissioned by chicago-based banker/land tycoon John
d. macarthur in 1963 to serve
as the new, handpicked home
of the Pga of america after
the organization outgrew its
longtime national headquarters
in dunedin, fla.
Within a year, BallenIsles’
newly opened east course
was awarded the Senior Pga
championship. not a bad start
for any club.
Vero Beach
BallenIsles
Jupiter
West Palm
Beach
Fort
Lauderdale
above: ballenisles golf academy
below: east course at ballenisles
cards and celebrities like Bing crosby, Bob Hope
and Jackie gleason went to play.
Beyond all this rich history and glamour, however, BallenIsles is poised to leave an even greater
legacy to the golf business. nearly 50 years after
it was conceived by Pga of america power brokers, modern-day BallenIsles has reinvented itself
with everything it needs to set the standard for
another 50 years.
at a time when many private golf clubs—both
old and new—are struggling to survive, BallenIsles country club is thriving. call it the "club
that got it right" from an amenities, programming
and professional management perspective. So
much so that troon golf, which now manages this
1,300-acre development and more than 180 other
courses around the world, named BallenIsles the
company’s “facility of the year.”
visit this historic club in the heart of Palm Beach county and the recognition is clearly warranted. today, BallenIsles is
an extremely active member-owned club, where
more than 1,400 members engage in a wide variety of social activities, dining opportunities, golf,
tennis and fitness-related programs.
the dynamic nature of the club spans every activity a member could wish for in their social and
sporting lives and makes it easy for new members
to fit right in. this year the season began in style
with "el morocco," transforming the clubhouse
into a nightclub for the evening with members
greeted upon arrival by live camels. the summer
kick-off party, "Under the Big top" was equally
awe-inspiring, as stilt-walkers, acrobats, jugglers,
clowns and fire dancers performed throughout the
clubhouse much to the members delight.
