Justin Thomas is throwing his hat into the course design ring, as the 14-time PGA Tour winner joins forces with Jack Nicklaus to build Panther National in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The new 18-hole layout will be a Jack Nicklaus Signature course, and it will be the first foray into golf architecture for Thomas, 28. It’s not dissimilar to how Nicklaus got his start: Then 28 years old, Nicklaus first worked as a course designer with Pete Dye in 1968 at Harbour Town, which opened in 1969 on South Carolina’s coast at Sea Pines Resort. Nicklaus has since designed more than 425 courses in 45 countries.
The new golf facility at the planned residential community of Panther National is slated to include a training facility with a nine-hole, par-3 course, a short-game area and hitting bays supported by technology to improve performance.
A rendering of a home to be built at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (Courtesy of Panther National)
Timelines for construction and completion were not included with a release that announced the new private course and community. An official launch announcement was planned for later Thursday (this story will be updated with any details provided). The developers said Panther National will be built on the last remaining parcel of buildable land in Palm Beach Gardens and will be the first new golf course community in the county in nearly two decades.
The Panther National community will include 218 custom homes designed by architect Max Strang and will range in size from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet. Swiss developer Dominik Senn plans to focus on minimizing environmental impact and clean energy, and will partner with Tesla Energy to power the estates and amenities.