November 1, 2021
Tony Chateauvert, head professional and manager of the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course, has been named the Town of Palm Beach’s 2021 employee of the year.
Chateauvert is credited with elevating the Par 3 into a world-class golfing experience since being named to the job 10 years ago.
Mayor Danielle Moore called Chateauvert “the best of the best” among town employees when announcing the honor Monday at a Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce breakfast at The Breakers.
Moore said that, from the day he arrived, Chateauvert raised the bar for customer service at the 39-acre golf course, which was redesigned by World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd in 2009.
“This arena was what I consider an uncut diamond-in-the-rough here in town,” Moore said of the course. Chateauvert’s “mission was to provide a best-in-class experience for all – one that is ‘fast, friendly and fun’ – his motto.”
During Chateauvert’s first year, the course took in $883,000 in revenue and played host to 26,000 rounds of golf. In the past year, it saw 50,000 rounds played and brought in about $3.6 million.
Chateauvert also helped the town realize the dream of building a new clubhouse with a second-floor restaurant at the course in 2013-14, Moore said. The clubhouse was built with funds donated by the Par 3 Foundation.
The course has been recognized by a national magazine as one of the best in the world, and Chateauvert this year was named by the South Florida PGA as merchandiser of the year, Moore said.
Chateauvert told the audience of about 300 people that he is fortunate to work in a town as special as Palm Beach. “I’m just really happy to be a small part of the success there,” he said.
He thanked Deputy Town Manager Jay Boodheshwar for hiring him and guiding him beyond his early mistakes – he said Boodheshwar called them “learning moments” – and toward positive results.
“I had so many ‘learning moments,’ I became really smart,” Chateauvert said.
In a recent interview with Adventures in Golf, Chateauvert said he runs the Par 3 like a private operation, where the service expectations are higher.
“In golf, service matters,” he said. “People matter. You give [customers] that welcome feeling. You’re glad they’re there. They go play golf on this cool golf course. They are on the ocean. They see gulls and dolphins jumping in the ocean. And they have a great experience.”
Chateauvert thanked his children, Sophie and Henry, and his late wife Tanya, whom he recently lost to illness, for their support.
The recipient of the town employee of the year award receives a check from both the Palm Beach Civic Association and the Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach in recognition of his or her contribution to the town.
Moore said Palm Beach residents “are so fortunate to have [town employees] who provide services and a level of care other cities can only dream of having.”
