Michael Jordan's exclusive golf club, The Grove XXIII, has a clever design layout that creates a unique dilemma for visitors, especially pro players.
PGA golfer Rickie Fowler spoke during a Golf.com podcast about why pros call the course "Slaughterhouse XXIII" and why MJ has such an advantage.
Fowler told Golf.com that Jordan designed the fairways so that long hitters hit their drives into narrower fairways. Conversely, shorter hitters, like MJ, drive into much wider sections, and this takes the advantage away from Jordan's professional visitors when they are playing for money.
"The shorter you hit it, the wider it is," Fowler told Golf.com. "He can basically hit driver on all the par 4, par 5s. And if I want to hit driver, I have to kind of put it into a bit of a tighter spot. I can obviously play back if I want, but that becomes a little bit of a disadvantage, especially if it's a hole where he's getting a stroke on."
Jordan ensured that the course gives him an advantage when competing against other golfers, especially the pros. Fowler added that he has to give Jordan 10 shots during a round.
"If I'm giving him a shot, I can't then play from the same spot he is when he's laying zero," Fowler said. "He can shoot anywhere from 71 to 74. If he's shooting 77 and he's got a double in there, I got to shoot 65 to get to 18!"
The advantage for Jordan is not all bad. According to pro golfer Dustin Johnson's trainer, Jordan's trash talk during their one-on-one rounds gives DJ a greater edge when competing at major championships.
The fairways are just one of the many intentional challenges designed into the course. Jordan contracted renowned golf course designer Bobby Weed to build the course, including using South Florida trade winds to create more random shot complexity.
This isn't the first time Jordan created an advantage for himself when money was on the line. During his playing days, the scoreboard at the United Center would show animated bull races. Jordan would find out which Bull was going to win that night's race and then bet Scottie Pippen $100 on the race's outcome.
Jordan opened the club in Hobe Sound, Florida, in the fall of 2019, and Fowler is just one of the fewer than 100 members to play there. Fellow pro golfer Phil Mickelson accompanies Fowler as two of the club's biggest-name members.
Jordan appears to have kept the membership small to ensure it's one of the most exclusive clubs around.
You can see Fowler's comments here.
Jackson Thompson contributed to an earlier version of this story.
