Panther National ready to shine in Skins Game on Black Friday

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• Panther National, a relatively new Florida golf course, was co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas.
• The course is highly ranked, featuring significant man-made elevation changes in a typically flat region.
• It will host the televised Skins Game on Black Friday, featuring four professional golfers.

Panther National, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas, has shot up the course rankings since it opened in 2023 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The layout, which required massive earthmoving to sculpt surprising elevation changes in an unsurprisingly flat section of the Sunshine State, ranks as the No. 3 private course in Florida and the No. 29 modern course in all the U.S.

All the ups, all the downs and all the sand at Panther National will be on full display on Black Friday when the course hosts the Skins Game, a silly season reboot after a 16-year hiatus. Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry (filling in for Thomas after his recent back surgery) will be front and center, but don’t be surprised if Panther National steals its share of the televised limelight Nov. 28. 

Nicklaus has designed more than 400 courses around the world, compiling a heady list that includes Muirfield Village (tied for No. 7 among modern U.S. courses) in Ohio and Sebonack (No. 11, co-designed with Tom Doak) in New York. Muirfield Village opened in 1974 and Sebonack in 2006, leaving Panther National as the highest-ranked course Nicklaus has designed in nearly two decades. Nicklaus’ Punta Espada at Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic also opened in 2006, and it ranks as the No. 3 course in the Caribbean and Mexico. But in the Golfweek’s Best rating system, Panther National slips past even that esteemed seaside layout with an average 7.70 rating compared to Punta Espada’s 7.69.  

Much of Panther National’s attraction comes courtesy of heavy lifting. Nearly 3 million cubic yards of earth was moved to create 48 feet of elevation changes in what had been a flat field – nobody will confuse Panther National for a mountain course, but this is Florida we’re talking about. All the excavation left several lakes dotting the course, with water effectively in play on 12 holes, including the closing six. 

“From the start, the vision was clear – to create a golf experience unlike any other found in South Florida,” Nicklaus said the week the course opened. “Every opportunity to design a golf course brings challenges, but in the case of Panther National, uniqueness triumphs. You won’t find any golf course remotely close to it in South Florida.”

Panther National is somewhat unique in other ways, too. Nicklaus was for decades somewhat famous for building difficult, Tour-level courses. Panther National certainly can be tough, as it can be stretched beyond 7,800 yards off the back tees. But for recreational golfers who choose the proper tees for their games, Panther National is still playable. 

Many greens are at least somewhat open and low at their fronts, allowing players to bounce balls onto the firm putting surfaces. Tour pros, such as the foursome in the Skins Game, are unlikely to take such a ground-game tack, instead choosing to loft their approaches high into the air to drop and stick close to flagsticks. But the option is there.

Fairways are frequently wide where amateur players will most likely land their tee shots, pinching only at greater lengths to challenge modern touring professionals and their prodigious length. And though the course features expansive sandy waste areas, these are generally playable – it might still be hard to hit a green from such sand, but it’s relatively easy to find a ball. Just don’t stray too far offline and into the native-style scrubby rough, which frequently covers small islands within the waste areas and the back sides of bunkers, and which can gobble a golf ball. 

Combine the options of extreme length or playability, the sandscapes, the elevation changes and the immaculate conditioning, and Panther National is set to shine in the Skins Game. 

“There’s nothing like this in Florida,” said Thomas, the two-time PGA Championship winner who made his design debut at Panther National, told the Palm Beach Post at Panther National’s opening. “These characteristics aren’t really a thing here, and Jack said, ‘We can do it, it’s going to be tough. But if that’s what you want, that’s what we can do.’ “

The Golfweek’s Best course raters have, in general, raved about the course. A sampling of their comments: 

• “A very playable layout that can be made extremely challenging by pushing back your tee choice.”
• “Pretty impressive with great shaping, wonderful diversity and a really cool vibe.”
• “This golf course was off (Nicklaus’) normal script with a lot of sand dunes, broken ground, playful internal movement of the putting surfaces and exhilarating propulsion mounds in the fairways.”
• “This is an amazing new course. Each hole seems different and very well done. … They did an incredible job moving earth to make many of the holes have some vertical shots and giving the holes some nice altitude. This is obviously rare in Florida.”
• “The layout of the course is stunning. From the elevated fairways to the strategically placed bunkers, the design offers a challenging yet fair environment that can be enjoyed by golfers of all skill levels. The seamless flow of the tee boxes, coupled with the excellence of the greens, speaks volumes about the care and thought that has gone into each detail.”

It’s all part of a new and high-end community set tight to a 2,400-acre nature preserve. There are plans for just more than 200 homes, the price of which will stretch well into the eight figures. The whole development has been driven by founder and president Dominik Senn, a former Swiss ski racer who started a sports management agency in 1995 that is headquartered in nearby Jupiter, Florida.

The expansive clubhouse is still under construction, and the golf options include a training facility and one of the best practice ranges found anywhere, complete with a target fairway and plenty of target greens. Thomas was consulted extensively in the construction of the practice facility, which is a dream come true for the ball-beating set of all abilities – it’s common to see several touring professionals practice on that immaculate range each day. 

When asked at the 2023 opening what makes the whole of Panther National different than other South Florida courses, Nicklaus was succinct in his answer to the Palm Beach Post: “Did you look around?”

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