The G.O.A.T. & Golf
“The Last Dance” documentary conjures memories of Michael Jordan’s abiding passion: golf
By: Len Ziehm
This article appeared in the June 2020 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
As a basketball player, Michael Jordan never will be forgotten. He led the Bulls to six championships, and memories of those glory years were beautifully rekindled in a 10-part TV documentary series, called “The Last Dance,’’ which aired in April and May.
It was during his basketball years that Jordan found another passion — golf. It started when Davis Love III introduced him to the sport when both were star athletes at the University of North Carolina.
Now 57, Jordan remains prominent in basketball as the owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, but golf is still very much his passion.
While with the Bulls from 1984 to 1998 (minus a two-year break to try his hand at minor league baseball), Jordan described himself as “an addict” as far as golf was concerned. That was evident through his involvement in many special events in those days.
Recognizing his value as a spectator attraction, the Western Golf Association (WGA) invited him to participate in its Tuesday afternoon celebrity shootouts — preliminary events that led into the annual Western Open. He also played in the Western Open pro-am and was on the WGA board of directors.
The WGA even gave Jordan a sponsor’s exemption to its 1991 Western Amateur at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan and paired him with a then up-and-coming Phil Mickelson. Mickelson shot 65–67 in the first qualifying stage and went on to win the tournament. Jordan shot 85–81, but later described those two days as “the best experience I ever had in golf.” He wanted to see what he could do in top-level competition — and found out in a hurry.
During his playing days, Jordan was a regular on the Celebrity Golf Association tour, and even hosted a CGA event at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge.
Perhaps Jordan’s most memorable golf appearance in Chicago came on July 15, 1993 when he was paired with Arnold Palmer in the pro-am prior to the Ameritech Senior Open at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora. Occurring just three weeks after the Bulls had won their third consecutive championship, the pairing of legends drew an estimated crowd of 20,000 and fans stood three-deep from tee to green on the 570-yard first hole.
Jordan took lots of lessons and was a decent golfer, but hardly a great one. Peter deYoung, long-time tournament director of the Western Open, described Jordan as “a solid country-club 5-handicap, and he can play to that anywhere.”
A member at The Club at Wynstone, a Jack Nicklaus design in North Barrington, and Merit Club, a Libertyville course that hosted the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open, Jordan always played from the tips. His best rounds included a 70 at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff and a 72 at Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, both challenging, high-quality layouts.
His golf buddies included legendary Chicago amateur Joel Hirsch, who dragged some media friends (me being one of them on two occasions) along with him in some casual rounds with Jordan at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe. In one of them, Jordan talked business with agent David Falk for most the 18 holes while still trying to keep his game together.
Golf turned into more than a passion for Jordan. It also led to some business ventures. The Michael Jordan Golf Company was formed in 1993. That led to the creation of the Michael Jordan Golf Center in Aurora and later the Michael Jordan Golf retail store that opened in Water Tower Place.
It was at the opening of the Water Tower location that Jordan offered an indication of why he was so passionate about golf.
“I can’t teach kids, I can only expose them to the game,” Jordan said then. “Through ventures like my golf center and the store, I can provide an outlet for kids to get to know the sport. Maybe one day I’ll have a golf course, too.”
Well, that one day materialized last fall when Jordan opened his own The Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound, Florida. A private club, it’s located on Florida’s east coast a few miles north of Jupiter, the residence of many PGA Tour stars including Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. Jack Nicklaus also lives nearby.
Jordan had been a member at three of the other top private clubs in south Florida — Medalist, The Floridian and The Bear’s Club. The Grove XXIII, built on a former citrus grove, is a bit different than that trio. Bobby Weed designed the course, which opened in the fall of 2019.
Weed gave the course a double helix routing, which means it can be played in four nine-hole combinations as well as in shorter three-to-six-hole loops. Its estimated cost was $15–20 million and there won’t be many members — probably no more than 100. ●
Len Ziehm, golf columnist for the Daily Herald, has reported on the Chicago golf scene for a variety of publications and websites since 1968. He was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.
