The Dye Preserve Golf Club sits just west of Florida's Turnpike, six miles inland from the Intracoastal Waterway in a relatively remote stretch of Jupiter's Ranch Colony, near West Palm Beach. The club's 18-hole championship golf course opened in 2002, occupies 175-acres of palmettos, sable oaks, ponds, and streams. A purist's club in many respects, the land is home to turtles, egrets, alligators, and fantastic golf, but no tennis complexes or resort-style swimming pools.

The par 72 layout, with two returning nines that stretch to 7,311-yards, is virtually flat. All the wooden bridges also adhere to a low profile, though World Golf Hall of Fame and course architect Pete Dye's tell-tale mounds bubble up everywhere. The chief element golfers deal with are ever-so-subtly elevated greens that make a controlled approach shot imperative since they are kept firm and the wind seems to skim across the tops of these surfaces.

The holes are arrayed diagonally alongside native ponds and wetlands. Dye's most dramatic design elements here are long, low-lying bunkers that seem to sprawl forever along the inside of a dogleg and make choosing an aim point extremely demanding. Fortunately, the practice facilities at The Dye Preserve include a short game area, practice tee, dedicated instruction tee, and two putting greens along with a state-of-the-art teaching and club fitting facility. Knowledgeable caddies are also available.

This very private club, whose membership is by invitation only, is a flawlessly maintained modern evocation of native Floridian golfing tradition. Featuring a comfortable but modest 22,000-square foot lodge-style clubhouse concealing vaulted ceilings and small, intimate spaces throughout, The Dye Preserve offers its members and their guests an exemplary bar and dining services as well as banquet facilities. 

Image(s) published courtesy of: GolfPass.com and All Square Golf.com