Proposed plan to put golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park isn't the first time

Proposed plan to put golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park isn’t the first time

Posted by Admin August 23, 2024 Golf

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The 2011 plan was to create the “Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail of Florida.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed plans to add golf courses and other amenities at nine state parks, including Jonathan Dickinson State Park, isn’t the first time golf courses were proposed on state parks.

In 2011, legislators tried to add golf courses to state parks through bills that would have required the state Division of Recreation and Parks to hire a company that would work with golf legend Jack Nicklaus to build courses in state parks around the state. The idea was to create the “Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail of Florida.”

The only park specifically mentioned in the House’s version of the bill was Jonathan Dickinson, which is nearest Nicklaus’s North Palm Beach home. Former state Rep. Patrick Rooney Jr., R-West Palm Beach, filed the house’s Bill 1239.

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Under the legislation, hotels could be included in the golf facility, according to the language in the bill. The courses would also include a clubhouse with limited food and service, parking, and a golf course maintenance building.

An article in the Tampa Bay Times from March 2011 paraphrases a Nicklaus lobbyist saying that the legislation was born from discussions between Nicklaus and then Gov. Rick Scott about promoting tourism in the state.

There was so much public backlash about the proposals that both were quickly withdrawn, however.

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“Floridians spoke very clearly over the past several days on this proposal, and they are the reason I’m in office,” Rooney said in a news release his office e-mailed reporters shortly after he withdrew the bill, according to the Times story.

Nicklaus could not be reached or did not respond to messages about the current proposal.

The current plan, part of the 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative to increase public access to parks, also includes pickleball courts and lodges. The state DEP posted the plans on social media after documents were leaked describing the proposal. Opponents are outraged at the plans and that statewide meetings with residents are being scheduled so soon, Tuesday, Aug. 27, and all at the same time.

Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.