Tag: Bob Hope

  • Jupiter Hills Club – How The Top One Percent Live – Part 2

    Welcome to part two of my story about the Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Florida. Many people that play golf never get to play at an ultra-exclusive private facility. I am fortunate to have played there on a few occasions and my experience is one that I’ll never forget, so I felt compelled to share the experience with everyone. If you missed part one of the story, you’ll get a lot of background about the courses themselves, and I suggest you go back and read it if you haven’t already.

    jupiter-hills1My experience at the Jupiter Hills Club started in July of 2007 when my partner and I qualified for the Florida State Four-Ball Championship being held there, and continued in June of 2008 when I was fortunate enough to qualify for the Florida State Amateur Championship, also being held at the Jupiter Hills Club. The FSGA has a habit of using the site of the Four-ball Championship as a test run for the Amateur Championship the following year. Having played the Four-Ball Championship there in ’07, I was highly motivated to return in ’08 for the Am. As I described in part one, I arrived a week early to play the Village course because the previous year’s Four-Ball didn’t play there, and I hopped on the Hills course in the afternoon mostly to see if there had been any changes.

    Jupiter Hills is a very traditional club, in that the history of the game and the long standing traditions were kept in play when making policy. Some rules are in place here that I think should be adopted by every club.Members and guests are not permitted to change shoes in the parking lot, and with the incredible locker room available to members, I don’t understand why anyone would want to either. Of course, hats are not permitted in the clubhouse, and a jacket is required to enter the dining room. No tee times are made at Jupiter Hills. Indeed, with an average of 10 to 12 carts per day spread out on the 36 holes during the summer months, it’s not hard to see why they aren’t needed. According to one of the members of the cart staff I spoke to, during the busy winter months when most of the members are in town, the number of rounds played averages somewhere in the 50 to 100 per day. Again, spread over 36 holes this is hardly a busy course. Many muni tracks in Florida will see 200+ rounds daily over 18 holes in the winter. Finally, my favorite regulation that the Jupiter Hills Club has put in place – cell phones are not permitted on the premises at all, and should be left in the car or at home. (cue Handel’s Hallelujah!) Now, if only we could convince all the other golf clubs around the country to make this the rule, not the exception…

    As had been the case in 2007 for the Four-Ball, the club staff treated me, a total stranger off the street, like a long time member and made me feel like this was my club for the brief time I was a guest. After arriving at the club I was greeted by the staff from the Florida State Golf Association. I signed in and collected my hat and hat pin and went inside as the cart staff loaded my bag on the cart. The pro shop staff remembered my name from the week before, and to me that is impressive in today’s disconnected world of customer disservice. As I entered the men’s locker room, the hallway opened to a large lounge complete with leather sofas, poker tables, LCD Televisions and even a private bar. The walls are covered in cherry wood paneling and a dark carpet lines the floor, giving the room the look and feel of a cigar lounge or classy pool hall. The cherry wood theme continues into the locker room, where the floor to ceiling lockers are emblazoned with brass name plates with the owners’ names. The shower and bathroom facilities feature wall to wall marble floors and granite counters. No expense was sparred making the locker room areas comfortable. Indeed, I would have trouble ever going home after a round if I was a member there! For the week of the 2008 FSGA Amateur Championship, I was assigned Bobby Orr’s locker. That’s Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins. The shoe service was also world class. I have not seen my shoes look and smell so good since I unwrapped them for the first time.

    Jupiter Hills Clubhouse
    Jupiter Hills’ Clubhouse

    Being treated like a member at a club like the Jupiter Hills Club, even for only a few days, was a special treat. The 40,000 sq/ft clubhouse that sits on the highest point in South Florida is a work of art in itself, and the amenities are truly world class. Even if the two golf courses are both very high on my list, I would enjoy just hanging at the clubhouse with the boys in the men’s lounge! I am pretty certain I’ll never be a member there. My information puts the initiation fee at or around $275,000 and the yearly dues well into five figures, not including the certainly very lofty restaurant charges. The club has a no tipping policy, and the cart staff are actually salaried. The gentleman I got to know had been on the cart staff there for 17 years. I don’t have any idea what they get paid, but I can imagine the gifts from the members and fringe benefits of working there must make it a rewarding, if not interesting career choice.

    The Jupiter Hills Club is not the most private or exclusive club in the country; It doesn’t have the best golf course and amenities, but it has a very unique and perfectly balanced blend of character and class that makes it among the elite private clubs in the nation. Like most places, the staff makes or breaks the facility. The Jupiter Hills Club shines again, with everyone I encountered being very friendly, helpful and professional. They pride themselves on the fact that members and staff are trusting and respectful of one another and there is no snobbishness or elitism towards anyone. If you ever have a chance to be a guest there, to me it is worth a trip across the country to spend a few days with the folks in Tequesta to see how the other half really live.

  • Jupiter Hills Club – How the Top One Percent Live – Part 1

    Jupiter Hills Club – How the Top One Percent Live – Part 1

    Nestled in the seaside hammock and stands of hardwoods on the edge of Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Tequesta, Florida lies the ultra-private Jupiter Hills Club. In the late 1960s, William Elliot, George Fazio, William Clay Ford, Sr. and Bob Hope joined forces to conceive the amazing golf facility that stands there today. Like many of the finest private clubs in America, Jupiter Hills maintains a very selective and exclusive membership criteria. Golf is the main focus here, and with 36 of the finest quality holes in the country set on an amazing piece of rolling terrain, a stellar practice facility, courteous and professional staff and the finest clubhouse I have ever seen, the members are truly spoiled.

    The Hills Course was designed in 1970 by George Fazio, and bears a resemblance to Pine valley, where Fazio had been the Pro for many years. The course features 75 feet of elevation changes and most holes are bordered by sugar sand and natural vegetation like palmetto bushes and old pines, severely punishing wayward shots. The ball settles quickly into the soft sand and makes hitting out of it akin to taking a half stroke penalty. The fairways run fast and true, and follow the natural contours of the land, and the greens are some of the fastest and truest putting surfaces anywhere in the country. Rolling a ball across the greens at Jupiter Hills is similar to rolling a ball on a pool table. These greens are a true pleasure – and challenge – to putt. The member tees on the Hills course measure 6973 yards and play to a par of 72. With a course rating of 75.3 and a slope of 146 it is certainly no slouch, but if you feel up to it, you can play the unadvertised black tees. The club has a special scorecard for the black tees, given to players after the pro shop approval to play them. The black tees on the Hills course stretch the course to 7344 yards and it plays to a par 70. The course rating from these tees rises to 77.3 and the slope of 152 is almost at the USGA limit of 155. If the sinister appearance of the special matte black scorecard and the “dead man walking” look you’ll get from the pro shop staff aren’t enough to intimidate you, the opening 5 hole stretch most likely will.

    The first hole is a dogleg left par 4 of 493 yards. Into the prevailing wind. If you thought you could just ease your way into the round, you were wrong! After a modest (ahem) 300 yard drive up the left side, you are left with a 190 yard approach to a narrow plateau green. No problem, because if you manage to get through number one unscathed, Fazio gives you a bit of a break on number two with a straightaway par 4 of 469 yards, that is also into the prevailing wind. The green is guarded by a bunker on the right that is about 6 feet deep – about average for the Hills Course. The first par 3 on the course is a modest 187 yards over water. The green is wide and somewhat shallow, but except for the water it is relatively unguarded. The fourth hole is a 578 yard par 5. The fairway is guarded on the right by two deep fairway bunkers and the prevailing wind is left to right, so avoiding these bunkers can be tricky. The hole turns right after the bunkers to a smallish green. The final hole in the opening stretch is a dogleg left, 457 yard par 4 guarded by a huge fairway bunker all the way down the left side, and a green side bunker so deep you can’t see the putting surface from the bottom. The front nine ends with the signature hole – a 227 yard, uphill par 3 over a huge expanse of sand dunes and vegetation. Good luck!

    The Village course was built in 1979 by George and Tom Fazio. Tom is George’s nephew, and a highly acclaimed designer in his own right. It is a par 72 and plays to 6800 yards or so. Compared to the Hills course it would seem to be a walk in the park, but in reality it presents a different kind of challenge. The layout is similar in topography to the hills course, but there are more grassy areas and less sugar sand lining the course as its big brother. The course features smaller greens and is slightly less penal, but a stray shot will still be punished. Where as you are virtually forced to hit driver on many holes over on the Hills course due to the sheer length, the Village course rewards placement rather than brute strength. As with the Hills course, the greens are flawless and the entire course is manicured to a level I’ve never seen before. In fact, when I arrived a week before the 2008 Florida State Amateur for a practice round, the Village course had just re-opened after being closed for a 6 month maintenance refresh. I was the first person to play the course. Every tee box was brand spanking new and there wasn’t a single divot, ball mark or blade of grass out of place on the entire golf course! I remember feeling guilty after striking my nine iron from the first fairway. I felt like I had just ruined the perfect golf course. That feeling subsided quickly after I rolled in a birdie putt on the perfect green surface, and my thoughts turned to “I can’t wait to play the next hole!”

    Check out part 2 of the story – the 2008 Florida State Amateur Championship!