Michael Jordan to build private golf course in Florida because of slow play

By Cameron La Fontaine | Feb 19, 2015

NBA legend Michael Jordan may be planning to build a private golf course in Florida and hand-pick the members due to his problems with slow play.

Former NBA superstar Michael Jordan has been busy since retiring from basketball, taking up a new hobby: golf. He’s become quite the talented golfer and an addict of the best sport for 40+ year olds, attending some of its best events including the Ryder Cup as well as launch a golf portion of the Jordan brand, but MJ has one problem with the game, slow play.

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Michael Jordan is so fed up with slow play on the course, that he is thinking about building his own private golf course in Florida, where the members will be hand-picked, in order to avoid these issues.

The Charlotte Hornets owner is a member at the Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida where other top golf community members include Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, Luke Donald among others. He’s so fed up with playing slow that sources told Golf.com that he’s ready to move on a big investment.

“Michael likes to play fast and he can’t stand it when people won’t let him through,” said a golf-industry insider who knows Jordan and who has spoken with several Bear’s Club’s members, according to Golf.com. “That happens enough out there that he’s gotten fed up.”

“He’s going to keep it small, probably fewer than a hundred,” the source said. “Fellow athletes, buddies, and other people who come highly recommended.”

Slow play is an epidemic in the golf community. Regulation says that an 18-hole round should be played in four hours, four hours and 15 minutes at some courses, but even that can be too long for your average golfer. Many players like to take their sweet time and in order to play a good round, they need a longer amount of time on each hole to get the yardages right and execute each shot to perfection.

“He just steps up, hits, chews your ear off with smack talk and off he goes,” said a source who has played with Jordan. “If he knows the guys he’s with, he will not even wait. He’ll drive up to the green as you’re back in the fairway hitting. And if it’s up to him, his foursome will finish in two-hours and 40 minutes.”

Jordan’s dream of a two hour and 40-minute round is just about impossible especially at the busy clubs in Florida where it’s summer year-round. So, what any guy with a lot of cash laying around would do, Michael wants to take control and build is own place. I know I would if I had that kind of money.

Jordan is reportedly looking into golf course designers to help him with this venture, and he plans to keep membership small, maybe 90 to a hundred people so that the course is never too clogged up, and with ownership tags on his cart, he’ll be able to play right through.

Building your own private golf course takes many millions of dollars, but it shouldn’t be a problem for the fast-playing wizard. If you hate slow play as much as Michael does, you may want to shmooze the guy a little and see if you can get in on this small-membership club.

One thing is for certain, guys like Ben Crane, who is known on the tour as the “world’s slowest golfer,” will not be invited into membership.

Good luck, Michael, I hope you find what your looking for. Please send me an email once you’re taking membership applications and we can worry about the money later.\

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