PGA of America has been based in Palm Beach County since the mid '60sGETTY IMAGES
The PGA of America is "poised to move" its national HQ from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to the new Panther Creek development in Frisco, Texas, according to sources cited by Art Stricklin of GOLF.com. Two new "18-hole semi-public courses are part of the plan." PGA officials said that course designer Gil Hanse would be "responsible for delivering a championship course," slated to open by '20, with the intent of it "playing host to the PGA's marquee events, including the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup." The PGA Championship's move to the spring, which begins next year, would "enable the PGA to take the PGA Championship to Texas." The PGA's potential move from South Florida, where it has been based since '65, has been part of a "top-secret project nearly five years in the making." PGA officials have "spent extensive time touring the Panther Creek development," and they were presented last month architectural plans for the new HQ. PGA of America COO Darrell Crall said that an RFP distributed last year for a new HQ "attracted more than 100 responses." The PGA eventually "gravitated toward Frisco." Many PGA officials consider the current national HQ "outdated and out of space." Sources said that the PGA also "felt pressure to act after seeing the enhancements the USGA is making to its New Jersey headquarters, along with the plans the PGA Tour has for a gleaming new space in Ponte Vedra, Fla." (GOLF.com, 3/7).
NOT QUITE A DONE DEAL? Kelly Smallridge, the President & CEO of Palm Beach County's Business Development Board, said that PGA of America officials "contacted her and said the move is not a sure thing." In West Palm Beach, Susan Salisbury noted the officials asked Smallridge to "keep working to find a new location in Palm Beach County." Smallridge said that she got a call about nine months ago "from a consultant the PGA of America hired asking her to find a new location with more space for them." Smallridge: "We showed them various options in various cities. We pursued five to seven different sites." She added, "We can stand on two legs in good faith that we put forward the best possible package to win this deal for Palm Beach County" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 3/8). Smallridge said that the officials "told her a decision would not be made in the next month." The current HQ building was built in '81 (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 3/9).
A BLOW TO THE COMMUNITY: In West Palm Beach, Dave George writes the PGA moving its HQ "would be a big loss for Palm Beach County," and it sounds like the talks are "far enough down the tracks that it may be too late to turn it all around." However, dozens of the PGA Tour’s top pros will "continue to live in the Jupiter area" even if the PGA of America execs decide to move. The fact the PGA of America came to the area about the same time Jack Nicklaus made North Palm Beach his base is a "happy coincidence, and it led to so many other lovely outcomes." But the bottom line is that all of that "golden history has brought us to an entirely different place, one that may not work as well as it once did for an association of 29,000 mostly club professionals" (PALM BEACH POST, 3/9).
