The best golf courses in Lake Worth, FL sort themselves by how far you drive. One municipal course sits inside the city limits on the Intracoastal, a belt of county and semi-private layouts sits west of I-95 along Lantana Road and Congress Avenue, and two of the better rounds in Palm Beach County are 20 minutes off on Palm Beach island and in West Palm Beach. Nine places to play are covered below, every one open to a visitor in some form.
The Two Lake Worths and Where the Golf Sits
Lake Worth Beach, the actual municipality, covers 5.89 square miles and held 42,219 people at the 2020 census (Wikipedia), and voters renamed it from Lake Worth in March 2019 by 1,386 votes to 1,324. The mailing address is a different animal, running far west into unincorporated Palm Beach County through the 33461, 33463 and 33467 ZIP codes. That’s why a course with a Lake Worth address can sit more than 10 miles inland.
Only one course is actually in the beach town, and you can bike to it from downtown. Everything else is a drive west or north rather than along the coast: 15 to 20 minutes west of I-95, about 20 to Palm Beach island. The rest of the beach town is covered in our guide to things to do in Lake Worth Beach.
Golf Inside the City Limits
Lake Worth Beach Golf Club: The 1926 Municipal on the Intracoastal
Lake Worth Beach Golf Club is the only course inside the city and has been there since 1926. It plays as a par 71 of roughly 6,100 yards, running 1.2 miles along the Intracoastal on an old Florida layout that rewards position over power. It’s a daily-fee municipal course, so no member sponsorship is involved. Walkers are welcome, which is genuinely rare in South Florida, and the expected pace of play is 4 hours and 10 minutes or less. The Beach Club on site is open to the public seven days, and it shares the golf course lot, which solves the parking problem that plagues other waterfront rooms in town.
John Prince Golf Learning Center: Lit Range Work off Congress Avenue
The John Prince Golf Learning Center at 4754 South Congress Avenue is a practice facility rather than a course: a lighted range of more than 50 grass and mat hitting stations that the Golf Range Association of America has ranked among the country’s top stand-alone ranges every year since 2012, plus three regulation practice holes, inside John Prince Memorial Park. It’s open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week (John Prince Golf Learning Center), which makes it the easy option for a bucket of balls after work. It’s county-run, and it’s where you take somebody who has never held a club.
Courses West of I-95, 15 to 20 Minutes Out
Most golf carrying a Lake Worth address sits west of I-95, among county courses and golf-course subdivisions along Lantana Road, Congress Avenue and the Turnpike. These are the courses locals mean when they say Lake Worth golf without meaning the beach. People buy into these communities partly for the golf, and the gap between a closing date and a furniture delivery is real, so a 10×10 storage unit is a common stopgap for anyone moving to Lake Worth.
Park Ridge Golf Course: Elevation Where Florida Has None
Park Ridge Golf Course at 9191 Lantana Road carries a West Palm Beach mailing address but sits in the same western corridor. It’s built on the former Lantana landfill, which is why locals call it The Dump, and why it carries 85 feet of elevation change that exists nowhere else around here. It’s a county-run 18 holes, par 72, open since 2007 and a Certified Audubon International Sanctuary. Club selection is harder than the yardage suggests, because uphill and downhill lies are something most players in this county never practice.
Poinciana Golf Club: A Par 64 Built for a Fast Round
Poinciana Golf Club is privately run and open to the public, and it plays 4,561 yards to a par of 64: 11 par 3s, four par 4s and three par 5s on a 1976 Leon Howard design. There are four tee sets, and Mel’s Way handles the food. It’s the right course for a beginner or an iron-play day, and the wrong one if you came to hit driver 14 times.
Atlantic National Golf Club: Water, Bunkers and Outing Groups
Atlantic National Golf Club at 6400 Grand Lacuna Boulevard is a Joe Lee design with water in play on several holes and bunkering along fairways and greens that punishes a lazy approach. Four sets of tees keep it fair across handicaps. Public tee times book online, but the club markets itself heavily for golf outings, so weekend mornings can be tied up by groups.
Winston Trails Golf Club: Semi-Private With Visitor Tee Times
Winston Trails Golf Club at 6101 Winston Trails Boulevard, in the 33463 ZIP, is a semi-private Joe Lee championship layout with practice facilities and The Trails at Winston restaurant on site. Semi-private means a visitor can book a tee time through the club’s own site, but members come first, so a weekend morning needs booking well ahead.
Palm Beach National Golf and Country Club: Joe Lee, Bookable Online
Palm Beach National Golf and Country Club at 7500 Saint Andrews Road, in the 33467 ZIP, is a long-standing west Lake Worth club with a Joe Lee championship layout. Visitors can book tee times through GolfNow or by calling the course, and it’s worth confirming current rates before you drive out, since they shift season to season.
Courses 20 Minutes Out on Palm Beach Island and in West Palm Beach
Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course: 18 Par 3s on the Ocean
Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course at 2345 South Ocean Boulevard is 18 par 3s squeezed between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal, running from 81 to 211 yards with three tee sets on every hole. Raymond Floyd redesigned it in 2009 over the 1961 Dick Wilson and Joe Lee original, and Golf Digest has called it the best par 3 in the U.S. A short round and a wedge is the whole commitment, which makes it the round a non-golfing partner will actually agree to.
Okeeheelee Golf Course: 27 County Holes in a Park
Okeeheelee Golf Course at 7715 Forest Hill Boulevard in West Palm Beach is 27 county holes inside a large park, played as three nine-hole combinations. It’s county-run and open to everyone, about 20 minutes northwest. Three nines is the reason to keep it on your list in high season, because you can usually get out even when one combination is booked solid.
Tee Times, Heat and the Seasons That Change the Golf
November through April is the dry season and the snowbird season at once, so morning tee times at the county courses go first and rates run at their highest. May and October are the value windows: warm, thinner, almost everything still open. Our guide to the best time to visit Lake Worth walks the calendar in detail.
Summer golf in Lake Worth Beach is a morning sport and nothing else. From May through October an afternoon thunderstorm is close to a daily event, usually over inside an hour but long enough to clear a course. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks statistically around September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October (NOAA National Hurricane Center), so keep bookings flexible in that window.
South Florida humidity is also hard on equipment that sits. Leather grips, gloves and bags left in a hot garage through August come back sticky and spotted, which is the argument for climate-controlled storage in Lake Worth. Seasonal residents who fly home in April have the same problem at larger scale, and a 10×5 storage unit takes the clubs, the beach chairs and the bikes.
None of these courses is walkable from a hotel except the city course, so plan on a car. Our guide to hotels in Lake Worth Beach breaks the options down by budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Jack Nicklaus golf course in Lake Worth?
No. None of the courses in this guide is a Jack Nicklaus design. The names attached to golf here are Joe Lee, who drew Atlantic National, Winston Trails and Palm Beach National, Leon Howard at Poinciana in 1976, and Raymond Floyd, who redesigned the Palm Beach Par 3 over a Dick Wilson and Joe Lee original.
What are the green fees at Lake Worth golf course?
Green fees at Lake Worth Beach Golf Club and the county courses change by season, time of day and residency status, often enough that any figure printed in an article goes stale within months. Winter rates run highest and summer afternoons lowest, so check the course’s own booking page. The county-run courses are Okeeheelee and Park Ridge; Poinciana is privately operated.
What skill level is Lake Worth golf course best for?
Lake Worth Beach Golf Club suits mid and high handicaps well. At about 6,100 yards and par 71 it isn’t long, the layout rewards position rather than distance, and walkers are welcome. Stronger players wanting a test drive west to Park Ridge for the elevation or Atlantic National for the water. Complete beginners should start at the John Prince Golf Learning Center.
How do you book a tee time at Lake Worth Beach Golf Club?
Lake Worth Beach Golf Club is a daily-fee municipal course, so no membership and no member sponsorship is required. Book through the club’s website or call the pro shop. Wilson Staff rental sets are available if you flew in without clubs, and anyone driving a cart needs a valid driver’s license, which catches out visiting juniors.
Are there public golf courses near Boynton Beach?
Yes. Boynton Beach is about 15 minutes south of Lake Worth Beach, and several public courses in this guide are an easy drive from it: Park Ridge on Lantana Road, Poinciana and Atlantic National. Okeeheelee’s 27 county holes are farther north. Book early in winter, when Boynton and Delray players chase the same morning slots.
Storing Clubs and Everything Else in Lake Worth
A two-bedroom condo has nowhere to keep a golf bag, a set of beach chairs and a box of holiday decorations at once. If a winter in Lake Worth Beach means more gear than your rental has room for, Value Store It in Lake Worth can help, and it rents month-to-month with no long-term contract.
The small end starts with a 5×5 locker for bags, boxes and clubs, steps up to a 5×10 unit that swallows a bedroom’s worth, and a 5×15 unit once the bikes come too. Bigger households take a 10×15 unit or a 10×20 space between closings, and the storage size guide works it out by rooms rather than square feet.
