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Palm Beach Winter ClubI �y .e5 ,se yw 3•s L�7c af' r. r � si fit. � �•a �. .+tea S � y. : y +> t •.� s r� _ cx , r .f•+c n, `r �'K "�'.li+E 1r � Srr �'�'�,•I' s•.:..,-- - - - •� ' - .�a�..;• : -•�= - - _ > ::�.-�:..y �: - _ ice..:- - - .:�t = - ". - tr u _ dam•.. a _ - _fC'l - sT .i- •.. ��/�� _ .1S { a r.; _ - tea. s.. .te-.•F. �Y �(.. - :1•a_"S•_ ..7 `•4 � T'*-�.-ti.�. -'�. �.� LyiL-R1.✓•i-. -..-. v-••�=Alt': �Ir�Y'y"��� �'a.� MC�-`Y7•'•'�- �Y� Zrx • y©, „may ��l �j� ���-'�y� ` G Nr iP a y sS"'��� � � , i "�•• � `,fix• �� �c- - • �� _ - •�_i`�'� 'f i*i� _ � - mss• - t�•ii,, �� � �•c.i 9 y- ...i � � _ .-• ' 'Sri ! y �p - •¢icy ��r, o� .tet.., 4� } ;. Wit: 3!�.7�,.r; t�� Y' i�s���`g. y, ,n, � f••f.�i' i �� �['.+�y ,.'�� �`'�{ •� � ;5�:�` '' r�r r..- . �$��, qtr., L. r '��. 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MACDONALD & SETH RAYNOR (1925) 1Particularly today, in what we universally refer to as the "Information Age," it is difficult to imag- ine any social, business or sporting event of substance not being chronicled with abundant accuracy, the specifics of its existence a matter of record for all to behold. This would especially be true for any recre- ational entity well-heeled enough to occupy ioo+ acres of valuable real estate, be constructed by the highest - profile builders of its day, and include numerous people of affluence among its clientele. A Donald Trump build- ing ignored? A Steve Wynn casino resort overlooked? Inconceivable. Imagine then for a moment a golf club established during the heart of the game's Golden Age, located on Florida's affluent Gold Coast and built by the famed Palm Beach developer Paris Singer. Imagine its course being planned by the very father of American golf, Charles Blair Macdonald, and his renowned architec- tural protege Seth Raynor. Imagine a clubhouse built by legendary architect -to -the -wealthy Addison Mizner. And finally imagine that such a facility could come into being and then, despite so glorious a pedi- gree, lapse into extinction almost completely beneath the radar screen of history. Impossible, you say? Welcome, then, to the Palm Beach Winter Club. Located between the Intracoastal Waterway and what one period publication described as "the tropical loveliness of Della Creek," the Winter Club was in fact the brainchild of Paris Singer, heir to the sewing machine fortune and general partner -in -crime of leg- endary architect Addison Mizner. Singer became involved in Palm Beach real estate development acci- dentally, initially commissioning Mizner to build a World War I soldiers hospital, then converting the structure into the sumptuous Everglades Club when the war ended before the hospital could open. From his position as Everglades Club czar, Singer reigned supreme, not only by running the elite club but by actually deciding, at his own pleasure, who would be granted membership privileges at the outset of each new winter season. Ultimately wishing, like Mizner, to develop his own version of paradise, Singer eventually purchased a small ,spit of land immediately north of Palm Beach and christened it Singer Island. That this planned development lay very close to the site of the Winter 56 Palm Beach Winter Club This image, from 1953, is likely the earliest remaining survey shot of the Winter Club. It is interesting to note the many subtle changes that have taken place since the time of the earlier aerial. (National Archives) Club is immediately obvious. Thus) while records of the club's origins are rather sketchy, it is not unreasonable to assume that its creation was intended as a blue-chip amenity to the luxurious subdivision. Though not a golfer by reputation, Paris Singer clearly grasped the game's importance in attracting his desired level of clientele. As early as 1919, he had commissioned Seth Raynor to build nine rather sporty holes for the Everglades Club, a layout which Raynor would expand to 18 some six years later. It was almost surely during this expansion job that Raynor undertook the design of the Winter Club, though the new layout would bear several notable differences from its Everglades predecessor. To begin with, it was substantially longer and tougher, a track built to test players ofquality rather than simply entertain less skilled -snowbirds. Perhaps more importantly, it was billed as that most scarce of architectural creatures, a Charles Blair Macdonald design constructed by Seth Raynor. Though local press clippings did occasionally men- tion Macdonald, his well-documented abstention from post -1917 projects makes this claim dubious, suggesting instead that C.B. simply lent his ever -valuable name while entrusting Raynor with the actual work. That Charles Banks, Raynor's protege, likely handled much of the con- struction following his mentor's 1926 death adds yet another historical flourish. In any case, the fruits of the team's labor was impres- sive. For the Winter Club turned out a full-sized test, com- plete with ocean breezes, more water than was customary for a Macdonald/Raynor design, and very much the full dose of classic replica holes. It was also terribly undocu- mented, with the complete lack of recorded yardages necessitating a careful scaling of the published 6,335 -yard total to a post -World War II aerial photo. The Winter Club began abruptly enough with a man- sized par 5, a 555 -yard dogleg -right whose staggered bunker- ing bore great resemblance to some of Charles Banks's solo work. Turning westward, the 385 -yard second was equally testing, its relative lack of length (playing with the prevail- ing breeze) mitigated by several prominent bunkers and the waters of today's Intracoastal Waterway to the right. After a narrow drive -and -pitch came the fourth, by all indication an adaptation of Macdonald's favored Short hole. Though not as geometrically measured as most Raynor versions, it did offer enough sand to virtually sur- round the putting surface and, one assumes, the requisite horseshoe -shaped ridge within the putting surface. Another apparent replica was the 16o -yard seventh, a one-shotter likely patterned after St. Andrews' famous Eden. To the trained eye there will immediately be some question here, for while the long rear bunker simulates the dangers of the original's Eden Estuary quite nicely, the standard front hazards appear to have been lacking. g Oblique aerial photos suggest that the green was some- what elevated, however, raising the possibility that some form of grass bunkering existed in their place. The 53o -yard loth was the Winter Club's longest hole and paved the way for several outstanding challenges to fol- low The 11th, a 350-yarder, was the obligatory adaptation of Macdonald's classic Cape hole. Swung along the quiet waters of Della Creek, this version was especially demand- ing as its fairway proceeded to narrow, pinching tightly between water and sandy waste, the further one drove. The 12th was the Biarritz, built to full scale at roughly 215 yards but perhaps slightly less ominous over the flat Florida terrain. Like most Macdonald/Raynor versions of this perennial favorite, all evidence indicates that the area before the swale was always maintained as fairway, thus negating the ultimate Biarritz prospect of having to putt through the five -foot -deep hollow. At only 340 yards the 13th might have appeared a respite, but the angling of the green favored an approach played from the left side of the fairway, the very spot guarded by one large carry bunker off the tee. The carry itself was hardly backbreaking (perhaps 175 yards) but was generally played dead into the Atlantic breeze. The 450 -yard 14th was much longer and, despite the helping wind, an obviously tough two-shotter. The out- and-back utand-back 15th and 16th were the only sections of the course to actually cross Della Creek, setting up that most popular of replicas, the Redan 17th. Once again we have a hole of the prescribed 18o -yard length, with putting surface angling front -right to back -left and falling away distinctly at the rear. What stands different about this rendition, however, is the extreme narrowness of the green and the greater length of the bunkers, perhaps indicative of Charles Banks's expanded construction role following Raynor's untimely death. The 465 -yard finisher was, by all appearances, a rela- tively manageable par 5. Yet it must be noted that due to its similarity in length with the downwind 14th, some uncer- tainty remains as to which was the three-shotter. The com- bination of wind direction, a very imposing left -side fairway bunker and the green's tight location between sand and_ maintenance road (far more conducive to a pitched third than a wooden second) strongly suggest that it was the 18th. It is really only the smallness of the 14th 'green that muddies the matter. Despite being built by the rich for the rich, the Winter Club seems initially to have been rather a low-key facility, its amenities essentially being limited to a golf course and Mizner's small, stately clubhouse. Unfortunately, like a great number of south Florida facilities, the land bust of the mid-192os followed by the onset of the Depression put the hammer to Paris Singer's operation rather quickly. By 1940 it was doing business as a unique sort of "open" facil- ity, available for play to anyone already affiliated with one of the surrounding area's social, beach, tennis, or golf clubs. Eventually the property would be taken over by the city of North Palm Beach and a post -World War II renovation, likely by Trent Jones Sr., resulted in an entirely new back nine and material changes to most every Raynor/Banks characteristic on the front. Subsequent work by Mark McCumber in 1990 further genericized the layout. For fans of the Macdonald/Raynor style of design, the Winter Club's descent into blandness represents an obvi- ous loss. But for the golfers of south Florida that loss is even greater. For while hardly a Hall -of -Fame layout, the Winter Club joins an impressive list of regional facilities which, if still in their original form, would do a great deal to alter the state's reputation as a golf architecture wasteland. How The Winter Club Would Measure Up Today As a much-needed Golden Age classic in an area largely devoid of them. But more to the point, the argument can be made that given their obvious idiosyncrasies, Macdonald/Raynor courses are most accurately judged when compared to oth- ers of their own kind. In this context, the Winter Club would hardly have measured up to C.B's National, Lido, or Mid Ocean layouts, nor, for that matter, with Raynor's works at Camargo, Fishers Island, Shoreacres, or Yale. Yet it was undeniably a fascinating creation, especially in its ability to superimpose the various replica holes upon the relatively flat Florida soil. A jewel in its neighborhood. -77 ---^-----�^ r—.v--'_` .'^.--' _ sy-.•; •.a+�y� .. r.-�.'F�L� ,r. •"•,••.:—`'•t_'.� 'I.�,�,r- l.:i Z.,— T4iT� .\i �" — _ --a��.l `C t'?r:,r.. ,,jt, :'e, • i•. _.?1--. �ti e • F�. f� .� .j � � � rr.: . �"'.�- � •r-� r. .1� 1 yp• l I 1 tV 1 1 .4 .�5 4 _L��..a:.�.r�,;c;£ y .�_.,..__.._.,.______._�:.:1 ;i: .1.:-_+Iri,..., i..>•.7....5`i�:..}:.�...Y_rir:�.t_ys.�...,; �...._..,,ife.r�s::l,�e�, $[:.......:1 .. _,._�..r. :r........ �'�..-i.:;i1)i:•-:.I�� ,.. .....�..�.-...�