1963 PGA Promotional Map for Palm Beach Gardens Golf Estates, Florida

Golf Capital of the World.

This is an unrecorded 1963 promotional issued by the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) to attract buyers of lots in their National Golf Club Estates development in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. A landmark event in the city's founding and in the history of the PGA, this residential development became the anchor of the city's identity, the 'golf capital of the world'.

A Closer Look

The map displays the planned golf courses and housing developments in Palm Beach Gardens, a newly formed city in Palm Beach County, Florida. These lands sit within a square formed by Monet Road (now PGA Blvd.), the Sunshine State Parkway (now Florida Turnpike), Military Trail Road, and Northlake Blvd. (just south of the area seen here). The planned east and west golf courses are plotted with hole numbers, length, sand traps, and par information, while other golf facilities, including the sumptuous clubhouse, are also labeled. Around the courses are housing developments, which the verso explains are meant to be built at six-month intervals, with Block 1 already under construction. Blocks and lots are numbered with their dimensions recorded. Trees, roads (mostly still unnamed), and other features are also indicated. It should be noted that while some portions of the Estates were built exactly as laid out here, others deviated from this original plan.

PGA Estates and the PGA National Golf Club

The National Golf Club Estates, or more simply PGA Estates, is a housing development that effectively put Palm Beach Gardens on the map. In the late 1950s, billionaire insurance magnate John D. MacArthur founded Palm Beach Gardens with a 'garden city' vision, but sought to pair the city with a prestigious, established partner to ensure its success, leading to his arrangement with the PGA (previously based in Dunedin, Florida). MacArthur donated land and $2 million to build the original PGA National Golf Club (now known as Ballen Isles Country Club), with two 18-hole courses laid out by legendary course designer Dick Wilson. To complement the golf club, MacArthur established PGA Estates (National Golf Club Estates); these were designed as high-end, upscale homes intended to house the golf elite and professionals working with the association. As discussed on the verso here, both the city and the PGA Estates were set up to develop quickly, with lots sold on the condition that construction begin within 6 months.

However, by 1972, the relationship between MacArthur and the PGA soured due to disputes over the maintenance and operation of the club. The two split, with the course seen here becoming the JDM (John D. MacArthur) Country Club, and later BallenIsles, nd the PGA building a massive new course and housing development west of the Florida Turnpike (Sunshine State Parkway). Still, despite its acrimonious end, the partnership between MacArthur and the PGA set Palm Beach Gardens on a path that has defined it ever since as the 'Golf Capital of the World.'

Publication History and Census

This map was issued by the PGA in August 1963. It is rare, being unrecorded in institutional collections and with minimal market history.

Condition

Very good. Original folds.