Where PGA Village Golfers Practice Now That the Learning Center Is Gone
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
For two decades, PGA Village had a practice ground with no other job. The PGA Center for Golf Learning & Performance opened in 1999. It was a standalone practice and instruction facility, separate from the PGA Golf Club clubhouse. TCPalm reported its sale on June 30, 2020 and called it the end of the facility. The center's website still carries a one-line notice: "All instruction programs and practice opportunities have relocated to PGA Golf Club."
Practice and lessons still exist around here. Each spot is now tied to a starting time, a membership, a booking window or a drive across town. A PGA Village golfer who wants to work on a swing now has to think about when as much as where.
PGA of America's 2020 Report to the Membership said the Port St. Lucie center had closed and the organization planned to divest it. It also said PGA Golf Club would revamp its own practice facility to take over much of the closed center's role.
The land took a different path. In July 2022, the St. Lucie County Commission unanimously approved land-use and planned-unit-development changes for 31.78 acres of the former practice facility. That cleared the way for a gated single-family community, according to Hometown News. The applicant was Meritage Homes, and the plan called for 99 single-family lots under the name Azalea PUD. The county logged it as Resolution 22-123, dated July 5, 2022.
A month later, on Aug. 16, 2022, the commission approved Meritage's major site plan for model homes and infrastructure. Before final plat approval, one condition remained: an arrangement for maintaining the Commerce Centre Drive frontage, Hometown News reported. The acres that once held target greens were approved for housing more than four years ago.
Practice now happens mainly at PGA Golf Club. The club expanded and renovated its Practice Facility in 2021. It has complimentary TopTracer Range Technology, a 10,000-square-foot putting green, seven elevated target greens, a chipping green, bunkers and a 7,500-square-foot teaching area. TopTracer tracks carry distance, ball speed, launch angle, height, side deviation and landing angle. Members can use it to follow their progress over time.
As a place to practice, it outclasses most ranges on the Treasure Coast. Access is the catch. The club's golf page says the facility "is only available one hour prior to your Starting Time." Golfers register in the golf shop when they arrive. For a daily-fee golfer, that makes the range a warm-up tied to a round you've already booked.
Members are a separate case. The membership page lists a "Complimentary Practice Facility with TopTracer Technology" as a member benefit. The club's pages don't explain how that benefit relates to the one-hour rule. A PGA Village golfer who isn't sure which rule covers them can get the answer from the golf shop at (800) 800-GOLF.
The club has two smaller options that fit around the tee sheet without depending on it.
The PGA 6-hole Family Short Course has holes of 35 to 60 yards, built for beginners and avid golfers alike. The club pitches it as a fun way to warm up or wind down. The short-course page says it is "complementary to our Guests." It doesn't post separate rates or hours, so it directs golfers to call for information and starting times. For a parent with a young golfer, or anyone grooving wedge distances, it's the club's closest thing to a practice ground built for its own sake.
The Fore You Clinics meet from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the north end of the practice range. They cost $45 per person when at least four people sign up. With fewer than four, pricing shifts to private-lesson rates. The clinics page also lists themed sessions such as Get Golf Ready, Ladies Only, short game, putting, TopTracer, Trackman and injury prevention. This fall's posted Fore You dates were Oct. 30, Nov. 13 and Nov. 20. Reservations for Nov. 13 closed at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2026, so the clinic books up ahead of the date. Nov. 20 was still listed as available.
Juniors have their own track. PGA Golf Club runs its junior program year-round with First Tee Treasure Coast for ages 3 to 17, and PGA Junior League plays in spring and fall.
Back Nine is an indoor golf simulator venue at 500 NW Peacock Blvd., Suite 113, in St. Lucie West. It held a St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting on Aug. 17, 2026.
Back Nine runs on a different clock from the club. Its bays use Full Swing simulators, which report swing data, ball speed and launch angle in real time. Public tee times start at $50 an hour, and no membership is required. The booking grid holds midnight to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight for members, which leaves public bookings from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Members get 24/7 access. The membership page lists Par, Birdie and Eagle plans starting at $200, $225 and $350. The Par plan is month to month with unlimited tee times and 25% off leagues and tournaments. Private coaching starts at $100 or $125, depending on the coach.
On a hot summer afternoon or a stormy evening, that matters. Back Nine advertises play "rain or shine" and "without worrying about daylight." In other words, it fills the hours the club range doesn't cover.
If the goal is a bucket of balls with no tee time and no simulator, the nearest classic city range is The Saints Golf Course at 2601 SE Morningside Blvd. That's in Port St. Lucie, not St. Lucie West. The City of Port St. Lucie owns and operates the course and bought it in 2001.
The Saints range got a new awning and artificial hitting surface, along with a prepaid range-card program, according to a January 2025 city announcement. Its posted rates list $12 for 60 balls and $9 for 30. A one-year membership is $75 for county residents and $90 for non-residents. It lowers greens and range fees and opens booking up to seven days ahead. The rates page doesn't print a year and says prices are subject to change, so call the pro shop before you go.
The Saints also offers a free "Ask the Pro" session on the driving range every Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Because each spot keeps its own hours, a practice routine near PGA Village now comes together by time of day. Here's how the posted hours line up:
Lessons follow the same pattern. PGA Golf Club offers private lessons to members, nonmembers, juniors and veterans, using TopTracer, Trackman and Sportsbox AI. Its site doesn't list lesson prices. The Saints posts $100 for a one-hour private lesson and $240 per person for an eight-hour, four-week class. Back Nine's coaching starts at $100.
Between the Wanamaker, Ryder and Dye courses, PGA Village still has 54 holes of championship golf at its center. The PGA Golf Club golf shop at (800) 800-GOLF confirms practice access and short-course starting times.
Golf access is part of what a PGA Village home is worth, and buyers looking near the Wanamaker, Ryder and Dye courses ask about it. If you'd like to know what your home could bring this season, Team Napolitano can walk you through it with local, relationship-first guidance. Request a Free Home Valuation to start the conversation.
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