JUPITER, Fla. – Weaving through native palmetto, old pines and natural vegetation, The Bear’s Club stands as one of the premier tests in the state of Florida. This summer, it will once again play host to the top amateurs in the state.
The Amateur Championship will be contested on June 23-26 at The Bear’s Club and Lost Tree Club, where the 105th Amateur champion will be crowned.
Already one of the most decorated athletes in sports history, Jack Nicklaus threw himself into the golf course design business. Projects in the 1970s and early 1980s, such as Muirfield Village, Shoal Creek, Castle Pines and more locally, former State Amateur hosts, Bear Lakes and The Loxahatchee Club helped make Nicklaus one of the most sought after names in golf course design.
According to a piece on The Bear’s Club by Dave Shedloski, longtime resident at The Lost Tree Club in Jupiter, Nicklaus had long harbored a desire to bring a first-rate golf club to South Florida. Having already contributed Muirfield Village to his hometown Columbus, Ohio, the intention was to create a tremendous golf club rather than another mainstay on the PGA Tour schedule.
To much acclaim, the golf course opened in 2000 and has been a mainstay on the FSGA schedule ever since. The course played hosted to the 95th Amateur Championship in 2012, the 100th Amateur in 2017 and will host the Amateur for the third time this coming June.
The Bear’s Club has long been a safe haven for many of the game’s biggest stars. The club is currently home to stars such as Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Jessica Korda, among many others.
The practice facility is awe-inspiring. It boasts a double sided driving range with chipping and putting areas on both sides, an indoor hitting bay on the back side, a par-three course with holes ranging from 90 to roughly 170 yards, and a shed on the range houses bags of each Tour member’s preferred ball.
As if contestants in the 105th Amateur won’t be nervous enough, the golf course’s opening tee shot ratchets up the nerves an extra notch using a tactic from a number of older clubs in the north. The back tee doubles as a piece of the practice putting green.
Once players get on the course, they will encounter fairways with generous landing areas, but treachery awaits any tee shot struck offline. Highly contoured greens surrounded by large swaths of short grass, a player who misses a green will have a wonderful opportunity to open their mind and will need to use their imagination in order to earn an up and down.
Rounds will finish on the gettable par-5 18th. Balls in the fairway will look at an infinity green and the iconic Mediterranean-style clubhouse with any balls missing long or left finding the water.
In addition to the Amateur Championships, The Bear’s Club has played host to three U.S. Open Final Qualifiers, the Southeastern Challenge Matches and the Junior Florida Cup.
The 104th Amateur was contested at Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, FL and was won by current University of Florida Gator, Fred Biondi. Christian DiMarco (100th) and Chase Seiffert (95th) won the previous two Amateurs hosted by The Bear’s Club.
Entries for this year’s championship close May 11, click here for more information.
