With its sweeping ocean-to-lake setting, the Par 3 Golf Course has been twice touted by Golf Digest as the best par 3 course in the nation.

And it was chosen by Golf Range magazine in 2006 as one of the top 12 small golf layouts in America.

A recreational attraction since 1961, the town-owned community course also is the largest pocket of green space owned by the town.

But the Par 3, at nearly 50 years old, needs not just a makeover but a full-blown rehabilitation, say town officials and many who play it.

In response, residents Steve Hall and Floyd Wideman formed a group of about 14 golfers who want to see the 39-acre, 18-hole course restored to its former glory.

The course's greens are worn, and it has lost hundreds of trees to lethal yellowing disease and three hurricanes, Recreation Department Director Jay Boodheshwar has said.

The outdated clubhouse and pro shop need to be replaced with larger, more modern facilities, Hall said.

And, unlike the private courses in town, the Par 3 is without its own water source for irrigation. The course irrigates with potable water it buys from the City of West Palm Beach.

Under the water use restrictions imposed by the South Florida Water Management District, the course is irrigating with 140,000 gallons a day — half of what it normally uses, course Manager Rick Dytrych said. But water is still costing $90,000 a year, about 10 percent of the course's annual $940,000 budget.

A full restoration and redesign, including development of a new water supply, would cost an estimated $6 million, Boodheshwar said.

The Town Council has endorsed the project and said it would share the cost by tapping into the Recreation Enterprise Fund, funded by the Town Marina.

But the council made it clear last year that much of the burden must be met with community donations.

The town and the Par 3 Group have found a valuable ally in Raymond Floyd. A pro golfer who has won several tournaments at the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, Floyd was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.

A town resident for 12 years, Floyd offered the town his design services pro bono — a gift worth $700,000 — and pledged to help with fundraising.

Floyd has been involved in golf course design for nearly 10 years, and his work includes the award-winning Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens.

"We're very excited that he has agreed to help us," Hall said.

"We wouldn't be able to afford a guy like Ray Floyd," Dytrych said. "He'll make it tough for the pro and playable for the average player. Not everybody could do that."

The council last month appropriated $221,000 to pay Floyd's partner, golf architect Harry Bowers of Signature Design of Jupiter, for services he has agreed to render at a reduced cost.

The Par 3 Group led by Hall and Wideman has raised $112,000 toward its promise to reimburse the town for the $221,000, Hall said. Once that happens, the town will sign a contract with Floyd. He and Bowers will then move ahead with the redesign.

Hall and Wideman are working to develop a public relations campaign, and Hall said the ultimate goal is to raise perhaps $3 million. Hall said they would like to see the entire project funded without a single dollar of public funds.

"This is a community asset worth investing in," Hall said.

The Par 3 was built in 1960 based on a design by noted golf architect Dick Wilson. But Floyd said most of Wilson's original concept has been lost because of changes over time.

Floyd said his design will be respectful of Wilson's and use much of his original routing, but it won't be a full restoration.

"As we move forward, things become outdated," he said. "The key here is to make something that is beautiful, enjoyable and that will fit that piece of land, as Dick Wilson did."

About 30 or 40 of Wilson's bunkers were removed from the course during its early years. Bunkers also have been reduced in size, and the turf has been changed.

The new course will use modern grasses that drain better, and the drainage system will be far more sophisticated than the existing one, Floyd said.

Invasive plants will be replaced with native ones, and a salt-tolerant grass will be planted that is lush year-round yet requires only one-third of the water normal grasses use, he said.

To address the water supply issue, the goal is to build an irrigation system that would enable the course to tap into the brackish water of the Floridan Aquifer for irrigation.

That would require construction of a plant to remove salt from the water, and a permit from the water management district.

Such a system would reduce annual irrigation costs to $20,000 or less, Hall said.

The Par 3 Group will pursue a grant that the water district offers to encourage golf courses to develop their own irrigation sources, he said.

"This is a very smart thing to do, but we have to spend money to get there," Hall said.

The salt-tolerant grasses and modern irrigation system will reduce water consumption by two-thirds, Floyd said.

The course renovation will take nine months to complete. The plan is to close the Par 3 in January and reopen in October 2009, Hall said.

There aren't many short courses in the world, and fewer still with a world-class setting like the Par 3, Floyd said.

"We all can get behind it in this community," Floyd said. "You might be a member of the best clubs in this town, but when we finish here, you're going to be proud to play at the Par 3."