![]() Like any town, Jupiter is cleaved by its haves and have-nots. (Those who have stayed in Orlando skew European because they can fly nonstop to the Continent on commercial airlines given that going private across the ocean is a big ticket.) The jet center at tiny Palm Beach airport (PBI) quickly became a de facto PGA Tour clubhouse, and when the cost of a private jet is split among five or six golfers, it becomes almost defensible. (In 1998, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets and quickly reshaped the private-aviation industry, and the company would sign three dozen players as “ambassadors.”) With tour pros no longer tethered to the Orlando airport, they began migrating toward the ocean, like salmon. Private jets that had once been the province of only the biggest stars were suddenly within reach of the tour’s middle class. Previously unimaginable riches flowed into the sport. But in 1999, the tour’s new TV contract kicked in, having been negotiated in the wake of Woods’ game-changing Masters victory. Landlocked and touristy, Orlando had only one real appeal: an international airport. Orlando’s hegemony was cemented in the popular imagination by the annual Tavistock Cup, a monument to excess that pitted the glittering names from two of O-town’s warring golf clubs, Isleworth and Lake Nona. Jesper Parnevik settled in the area, luring a cadre of fellow Swedes, but Orlando remained the golf world’s center of gravity, especially after Woods established residency upon turning pro in 1996. (Mickelson, the game’s preeminent raconteur, has already joined the Grove.) Those are the big three among the Jupiter area’s private clubs, but there are a bunch of other notable spots: the swank Floridian, which is more to the north but still popular with tour players classy Old Palm, which has traditionally been the landing spot for European Tour expats secluded McArthur, which is joining the building frenzy with a new second course, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and Jupiter Hills, a 1970 George Fazio design that, like many Jupiter residents of a certain age, has had a lot of work done. A 750-millileter bottle retails for $1,800. The sleek clubhouse has a dizzying number of TVs, and the real ballers drink Cincoro Extra Añejo from Jordan’s personal tequila company. The Grove has a spectacular practice facility, but it’s more about the hang. ![]() DJ and Rickie are regulars, and it was Tiger Woods’ preferred place before his car crash in 2021. If The Bear’s Club is where players go to work on their game, Medalist is the place to test themselves against each other. “You can tell when a big tournament is coming because the range is packed,” says Jessica Korda, one of a dozen or so LPGA Tour players who make their home around Jupiter and often practice side by side with the guys. Nicklaus recently reworked the par-3 course. The practice facility at The Bear’s Club is legendary, with each pro enjoying buckets of his or her preferred model of golf ball, which are meticulously sorted by the staff. (The season in South Florida used to be October through April, but many new arrivals are staying year-round, beating the summer heat by playing golf early in the morning.) Jupiter, which has not one but three tiki bars clustered around its iconic lighthouse, is beachier than Palm Beach, which Luke Donald describes as “more old money, more swanky, more stuffy.” But with almost no available inventory, the high-end home prices around Jupiter have similarly spiked Greg Norman sold Tranquility, his eight-acre spread on Jupiter Island, for $55 million. The Wall Street Journal reported that Palm Beach, half an hour to the south, has had 35 homes sell for at least $30 million since March 2020, with two eclipsing $100 million. It’s a good bet, given that every club in town has a long waiting list, and in the COVID era, well-heeled northerners continue to arrive in droves. ![]() But its mystique helped inspire Steve Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, to purchase 1,200 nearby acres, on which he is reputedly planning to build three private courses. Grove is in horse country about 15 miles from The Bear’s Club, farther north than was once considered fashionable. The result is Grove XXIII, which opened in 2019 and is already the gathering spot for stars from various sports who indulge in jocular money games and other rituals of male bonding. When Jordan wanted to create his private 18-hole fiefdom, the Jupiter area was the only place he considered.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |