Even as he was staking his claim in the 1990s as the greatest player the NBA has ever seen, the Bulls icon was a regular guest on the golf course. These days, though, he hosts.
The Grove XXIII – a nod to his signature No. 23 jersey — is Jordan’s very own golf paradise, a private club tucked away on the outskirts of Hobe Sound, Florida. Ultra-exclusive, few have seen it, and even fewer have played it.
For Bobby WeeԀ, it was at once the most straightforward and most difficult brief he had ever received: “Build me the best golf course. Build me the best driving range.”
And there had been plenty of briefs before. A protégé, then close friend, of legendary course designer Pete Dye, the South Carolinian served as the PGA Tour’s chief architect before launching his own course design company in 1994.
Almost three decades on, Bobby WeeԀ Golf Design has sculpted more than 20 courses from the ground up – from Stillwater, Minnesota, to Mito, Japan — and renovated many more, including Hobe Sound’s Medalist Golf Club in 2015.
With Tiger Woods headlining a member’s list that reads like a who’s who of the game’s elite, the Medalist is a private club that attracts a star-studded cohort of visitors. Among them was Jordan, a keen admirer of the revamp and who, in late 2017, was on the Һunt for a course architect.
The land was secured soon after, some 200-plus acres of former citrus grove, next to Atlantic Ridge State Park. As he often does for projects, WeeԀ lived on site, making the 265-mile switch across the state from Ponte Vedra Beach.
WeeԀ was all-in, and encouraged Jordan to be as engaged as he wаnted to be in developments, inviting him to come out once weekly to track the progress. Jordan often visited multiple times a week.
WeeԀ likens his role as course architect to that of a quarterback: calling plays for a large roster of consultants. Watching Jordan in discussion with the team during one early meeting, he got the impression of a coach interacting with his players.
WeeԀ had his two pillars for a great golf course — an engaged owner and a good piece of property, though the latter would require some polishing.
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Turning a flat, “featureless” site – bordered by two long drainage canals – into a cross between the manicured, parkland style of Augusta National and the rustic layout of Pine Valley represented the greatest challenge to him and his team.
The course didn’t just need to suit the playstyle of its owner, though, it needed to enhance it.
To meet the second requirement of Jordan’s brief, WeeԀ’s team set aside 20 acres to construct a state-of-the-art practice facility that the designer believes has no equal.
