The writeup you see below was written when this course was known as CutterSound. I will revise it when I eventually get to play it as Palm Cove. From examining the new score card it appears the front nine and back nine were flip-flopped. Also 3 or 4 holes on the new front nine (old back nine) appear to have been revised.

This is a Par-71 course designed by Gary Player. It is not as long as most of the other courses listed here (6332 yards max) but is very challenging because of its narrowness. Similar in a lot of respects to St. Lucie West CC in difficulty. “Target Golf" Water on 15 of the holes on this course. We heard a rumor here that Gary Player and the Cutter Sound resort were suing each other because he allegedly designed the course to be so difficult that nobody will buy property here. Evidently, Mr. Player must like mounds or "moguls" because he put many of them on this course especially surrounding the greens. Although it’s not an easy course it’s definitely worth playing more than once. Scenic view of St. Lucie River on some of the back nine holes. The front nine has 2 holes with some forced carries over dense tropical woodlands with “drop”areas if you don’t make it. That’s why it’s highly recommended that you don’t play from the long tees on this course unless you’re about a 6 handicap or better. If you like to play dogleg left Par-5's, all 3 of Cutter Sound's Par-5's fit that category. One of them is the 546 yard #5 hole where you hit over a tropical woods (mentioned above) and then must place a delicate second shot onto a narrow dogleg left fairway guarded on the left by water. It's as tough a Par-5 as you're gonna find. The Par-3 #6 is in my opinion one of the prettiest holes in the area. We played here for $26.75 each for 18 holes with a cart in July '99 and about $25 each in July 2000. Being tucked away on a peninsula across the St. Lucie River from Ballantrae, this golf course really doesn't get much action and that's really a shame because it's really a nice challenging layout with a very friendly staff. For being one of only 3 or 4 courses open to the public in Palm City it deserves a better rap. In my opinion, the most underrated and underplayed course on the entire Treasure Coast list.

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While playing a round at St. James today I was talking to a lady in the clubhouse who use to work at Cutter Sound. She told me that Cutter Sound came under new ownership in April 2001 and is closed. She thinks it is being repaired and will reopen as a private club.

 

Apparently Cutter Sound is being renovated into a new private course called Palm Cove. Below is some text that I copied and pasted from a website article I saw on the subject on the Treasure Coast Palm website which is affiliated with the local Scripps newspaper chain:...................... Toll Brothers Inc., which bought Cutter Sound last year and renamed the gated, waterfront community Palm Cove, is having the course originally designed by Gary Player, built in 1990 and closed last summer completely rebuilt using a Chi Chi Rodriguez design. And unlike Cutter Sound, which was a semi-private club, Palm Cove will be for members only. "People who played Cutter Sound won't recognize the new course," said Steve Johnson, Palm Cove's director of golf. "Some holes are being completely reversed, and we're building a new, 8,000-square-foot, full-service clubhouse. "We're trying to overcome the old image of Cutter Sound and create an exclusive, golf-course community. So we're not just changing the physical conditions out here. We're changing the entire image." Other than building a new course, Toll Brothers Inc. is finishing the job Cutter Sound's developer started. Golf Communities of America, which began developing Cutter Sound in the 1980s, planned to build a gated residential community of 300 homes ranging in price from $250,000 to $1 million around a name-designed golf course and adjacent to a yacht club with 85 slips. But the developer sold fewer than three-quarters of the available lots in more than 10 years of trying and, in the late 1990s, the Cutter Sound project encountered financial troubles. Jeanne Duncan, Palm Cove's membership director, said Cutter Sound's developer "ran out of money" and was forced to sell the property. In stepped Toll Brothers Inc., which decided to rebuild the golf course, upgrade the amenities and reduce the number of homes to 233. "We're going to make this a special place to live and play golf," Duncan said.

 

Now Palm Cove. Just $25 afer 1:00 in January. Beautiful course on St. Lucie River. Dificult with narrow fairways, water and sand everywhere. some long forced carries.Slope 116 from whites. Russ Rating for the Treasure Coast: A

 

I played it on 10/29/05. $29. Course condition is good. Staff is friendly. High handicappers should look elswhere. This is a short tight course and isn't worth playing except from the tips, which require some very long carries over trouble. Its okay but nothing special visually or play-wise.

 

Played this week. Great condition and beautiful greens. Pretty short, almost executive from the whites. Must play the back tees. From the backs, though, many 200yd. forced carries. Not for the weak of heart. Many tight holes lined with condos and homes. Great, receptive, friendly staff. I'd play again in a heartbeat.

 

I played here yesterday for the first time in 7 years. Last time I was here it was Cutter Sound. There are so many new homes constructed that I hardly recognized the place. Specific changes to the course that I can think of: .....the back nine and front nine have been flip-flopped, holes #6 and #7 used to be #15 & #16 except now they are played backwards, the green & tees have been swapped on both holes. What is now the #15 hole, a par 3, used to be #6. It used to be a very picturesque par-3 hole that followed the extremely narrow dog-leg left par 5 #5 hole. But I believe the tee-boxes have been moved drastically on that beautiful par-3, such that I hardly recognized the hole. The #4 and #5 jungle holes still exist but now they are #13 and #14. And the quirky #17 par 3 where you can barely catch a glimpse of the flagstick from the tee is still there but now it's #8. The many new homes are jammed so close together you could probably hear the next door neighbors having sex if the windows were open and they were young enough. I used to be especially fond of the #15 hole (now #7 only backwards). This was a challenging par-4 that gave you the only glimpse of St Lucie River where you could look across the St Lucie River towards Ballantrae and Club Med.  It was a refreshing site near the end of a hot round at Cutter Sound. For me this hole formerly required a that I draw a 5 wood into the green around some tropical oaks with Spanish Moss that stuck out on the left. Gone are the oaks, the Spanish Moss, the beautiful water view and the entire hole for that matter. All to squeeze in a few more homes.  I teed off at 12:15 on a warm summer Tuesday and only one guy followed me the rest of the day. I kinda got the impression that few golfers play here anymore that are not Palm Cove residents.  When I walked into the restaurant at the turn to order some food the 2 people working there seemed almost surprised.  I was the only person there initially.  Then two old guys who resembled Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon wondered in.  For those who don't get it, the place seems to be inhabited by grumpy old men.  But the staff was nice.   I feel sorry for the people in the $750,000 homes that have a bastardized course to play on. I wouldn't buy there nor do I plan to play there again. Well I guess the Toll Brothers made their money and were able to build on all of the vacant lots and finish the project begun in the 1980's if that's how you measure success but as far as I'm concerned they ruined the course.