"Jup Life" Tour Pro Travel Question

I know this is more of an off-season question, but I'm a curious dude. So many pros live in and around Jupiter, Florida, despite not exactly being close to a big city (Miami is about 80 miles away). The closest "major" airport to there is West Palm Beach which certainly doesn't have a lot of direct flights (unlike Orlando or even Miami) and I don't think United flies to more than Chicago out of there (as a sponsor, I understand they provided certain perks for TOUR members). For those who can't afford to consistently fly private (so I'm not talking about Tiger, DJ, JT, Rickie, Rory, etc.), is the quality of life in Jupiter so high (quality playing partners, beach, courses, etc.) that the hassle of constantly having to make connecting flights becomes worth it? Or am I overselling the travel difficulties?

The cost of a private jet split among several people isn’t much more than flying first class, but without the hassle of checking bags, losing bags, having clubs broken, surly flight attendants, the unspeakable horror of TSA and the hours it takes to be in the air 90 minutes or so.

> @Soloman1 said:

> The cost of a private jet split among several people isn’t much more than flying first class, but without the hassle of checking bags, losing bags, having clubs broken, surly flight attendants, the unspeakable horror of TSA and the hours it takes to be in the air 90 minutes or so.

I'd love to know how many pros fly private on a consistent basis.

> @KillerPenguin said:

> > @Soloman1 said:

> > The cost of a private jet split among several people isn’t much more than flying first class, but without the hassle of checking bags, losing bags, having clubs broken, surly flight attendants, the unspeakable horror of TSA and the hours it takes to be in the air 90 minutes or so.

>

> I'd love to know how many pros fly private on a consistent basis.

74

You can quote me

-Chris

> @Christosterone said:

> > @KillerPenguin said:

> > > @Soloman1 said:

> > > The cost of a private jet split among several people isn’t much more than flying first class, but without the hassle of checking bags, losing bags, having clubs broken, surly flight attendants, the unspeakable horror of TSA and the hours it takes to be in the air 90 minutes or so.

> >

> > I'd love to know how many pros fly private on a consistent basis.

>

> 74

> You can quote me

>

> -Chris

74 is spot on, was 73 until about 2 weeks ago when that one guy signed up for Net Jets. You don't miss much @Christosterone !

Two reasons why Tour pros want to live in Florida…the weather which allows them to practice and play whenever they want and lack of state income tax.

West Palm Airport isn’t too bad. The Palm Beach area is bigger and more crowded than most people realize.

Once you get to Vero Beach and south to about Ft. Lauderdale…it’s private country club country and there are a lot of nice private clubs down that entire stretch. The problem with Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale is the traffic sucks.

Miami is one of the worst places for golf in all of Florida. Just not many good clubs, either private or public. So the Tour pros end up in Jupiter which is a short drive from the WPB airport, there’s plenty of excellent private clubs that will cater to their every whim and they have other Tour pros and their wives/gf’s to mingle with. They generally avoid the traffic because of the cost to live in Jupiter compared to Palm Beach and there’s not a lot of actual corporate business in Jupiter.

Orlando doesn’t have the stock of private clubs that Jupiter has. The two big ones…Isleworth and Lake Nona…are outrageously expensive to live in and join. Some Tour pros will complain about Orlando traffic, but I don’t see it nearly as bad as Palm Beach traffic. Especially if you live in Isleworth or Lake Nona.

I know Rickie said he had problems with the ‘cold weather’ in Orlando in the winter time. It’s only slightly warmer, at best, in Jupiter in the winter. And it all really depends on the weather patterns for that particular day.

In the end, I think the only real advantage Jupiter has for these Tour pros over Orlando is the quantity and quality of the private clubs. In Orlando you basically have Bay Hill (which isn’t exclusively private), Isleworth, Lake Nona, OCC (too short for Tour players), Orange Tree, Tuscawilla, Interlachen, Alaqua Lakes and Golden Bear Club. Outside of Isleworth and Nona the other courses are not really geared towards the velvet glove treatment for Tour players.

For instance, The Dye Preserve is probably considered a mid-tier level private club for the Tour pros, but if it were located in Orlando it would be considered right up there with Isleworth and Nona.

RH

Being right on the ocean is also a nice plus.

Also they’re not always flying back and forth out of WPB/FLL and between the 2 airports I think they can pretty much find direct commercial flights to a majority of tour stops.

> @RichieHunt said:

> Two reasons why Tour pros want to live in Florida…the weather which allows them to practice and play whenever they want and lack of state income tax.

>

> West Palm Airport isn’t too bad. The Palm Beach area is bigger and more crowded than most people realize.

>

> Once you get to Vero Beach and south to about Ft. Lauderdale…it’s private country club country and there are a lot of nice private clubs down that entire stretch. The problem with Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale is the traffic sucks.

>

> Miami is one of the worst places for golf in all of Florida. Just not many good clubs, either private or public. So the Tour pros end up in Jupiter which is a short drive from the WPB airport, there’s plenty of excellent private clubs that will cater to their every whim and they have other Tour pros and their wives/gf’s to mingle with. They generally avoid the traffic because of the cost to live in Jupiter compared to Palm Beach and there’s not a lot of actual corporate business in Jupiter.

>

> Orlando doesn’t have the stock of private clubs that Jupiter has. The two big ones…Isleworth and Lake Nona…are outrageously expensive to live in and join. Some Tour pros will complain about Orlando traffic, but I don’t see it nearly as bad as Palm Beach traffic. Especially if you live in Isleworth or Lake Nona.

>

> I know Rickie said he had problems with the ‘cold weather’ in Orlando in the winter time. It’s only slightly warmer, at best, in Jupiter in the winter. And it all really depends on the weather patterns for that particular day.

>

> In the end, I think the only real advantage Jupiter has for these Tour pros over Orlando is the quantity and quality of the private clubs. In Orlando you basically have Bay Hill (which isn’t exclusively private), Isleworth, Lake Nona, OCC (too short for Tour players), Orange Tree, Tuscawilla, Interlachen, Alaqua Lakes and Golden Bear Club. Outside of Isleworth and Nona the other courses are not really geared towards the velvet glove treatment for Tour players.

>

> For instance, The Dye Preserve is probably considered a mid-tier level private club for the Tour pros, but if it were located in Orlando it would be considered right up there with Isleworth and Nona.

>

>

>

>

> RH

>

Great response, thanks. I completely agree about Florida itself for taxes and wintertime weather (I'm sure it's where I'd live if I were on tour), and with the high quality of life in Jupiter, I guess the downside of not having a million direct flights at your disposal isn't enough of a downside to push pros to go elsewhere. That said, it's amazing that Web and other minor tour players would flock there as well due to the high cost. Then again, maybe they're mostly bachelors living 4+ to an apartment and only there a few months in the winter.

Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, just north of Jupiter, is where “you know who,” and the rest of them play and practice. Since it’s north, traffic isn’t too bad.

> @KillerPenguin said:

> > @Soloman1 said:

> > The cost of a private jet split among several people isn’t much more than flying first class, but without the hassle of checking bags, losing bags, having clubs broken, surly flight attendants, the unspeakable horror of TSA and the hours it takes to be in the air 90 minutes or so.

>

> I'd love to know how many pros fly private on a consistent basis.

There was an undercover tour pro in Golf Digest about it. The Tour Pro said he wasn't a big time name like Spieth, but a lower level pro that has had success with a family. I suspect it was Kevin Streelman. He said the one thing he splurges on is private flights because it allows him to spend more time with his family. And that spending the extra money to spend more time with his family made it all the more worth it.

I’m surprised @BNGL hasn’t provided some feedback. I dare say he’d have some valuable insight.

> @KillerPenguin said:

> I know this is more of an off-season question, but I'm a curious dude. So many pros live in and around Jupiter, Florida, despite not exactly being close to a big city (Miami is about 80 miles away). The closest "major" airport to there is West Palm Beach which certainly doesn't have a lot of direct flights (unlike Orlando or even Miami) and I don't think United flies to more than Chicago out of there (as a sponsor, I understand they provided certain perks for TOUR members). For those who can't afford to consistently fly private (so I'm not talking about Tiger, DJ, JT, Rickie, Rory, etc.), is the quality of life in Jupiter so high (quality playing partners, beach, courses, etc.) that the hassle of constantly having to make connecting flights becomes worth it? Or am I overselling the travel difficulties?

You’re overselling travel. Rich is right Isleworth and Nona are fine clubs but not close to Medalist, Jupiter Hills, MacArthur, Dye Preserve, Lost Tree, Loblolly, Turtle Creek Club, Frenchmen’s Creek, Admirals Cove, Bear’s Club, Loxahatchee Club etc. Granted the top guys mainly hangout at only a handful of these places but the quality of clubs is championship at nearly all of them.

The par 3 and practice facilities at Bears are fantastic. Floridian is home to the Harmon school so that’s a winter time hangout. It’s very easy to find a game or get quality work in...and be left alone, which is probably the biggest thing. Go out to The Woods (buy the membership to the rooftop bar fantastic area!), or Square Grouper you’re likely to see quite a few guys just out having a beer or two. A lot of the younger guys like having the squad to hang out with. Yard House in the Gardens Mall is another spot, any bar with live music in the off season will be popular.

Joey D has his base of operations out there in Jupiter...fantastic facility. A lot of the guys have boats and love to fish and boat so bring right there is excellent for fishing and diving plus the Bahamas are a short jaunt from the inlet.

As far as travel quite a few guys travel commercial, way more than you think at least, and the guys that do have sponsorship with NetJets often have WheelsUp as well to make it easy as a second option. As far as splitting the hours that’s often what happens. The airport in Stuart does quite a lot of private aviation, that’s where Tigers plane is FYI.

Hobe Sound is a a little drive from Jupiter but the traffic is not bad at all in Jupiter, once you know where you’re going it’s fine and if you’re going to these clubs there ain’t a lot of traffic anyways.

I used to work in the Jupiter area at a club that some guys hung out at, and went out with some of these guys shoot me a message or ask away.

If I heard correctly tiger isn’t announced as from Jupiter anymore. Did he move to get away from the rest !l? Lol

I moved to Jupiter in December. My wife travels frequently for business so we chose the area largely because of airport access. We wanted to be north of the MIAMI/Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm congestion, but still have it be convenient. It's 15 min to PBI and only 55 min to FLL. Yes, PBI is a small airport, but I love it. If more flight options are required, FLL is a big airport with many carriers and direct flights.

Another advantage (at least relative to Orlando or anywhere on FL's west coast) is climate. The gulfstream moderates temps along the southeast coast of FL up to about Vero Beach, where it turns dramatically east. We almost always have a pleasant sea breeze in the summer, and we stay warmer in the winter. Earlier this week I was up at Streamsong near Lakeland. It was 97 there, but 86 in Jupiter with a lovely breeze. Since Dec, there hasn't been a single evening where we could not dine outdoors due to temp. That's the gulfstream!

Lastly, many of the PGA guys are into boating, fishing and watersports. Jupiter, with the Loxahatchee river and its forks is perfect for those who want their yacht in their backyard with deep water and easy ocean access.

No state income tax, great weather, travel convenience, high-end golf, beautiful beaches... "The Jup Life" really ain't too bad!

(but it is very expensive)

PBI takes me 7 minutes from drop off to get through security 98% off the time. From jup it’s about a 25 minute drive, it’s also super easy to get rides to and from for your friends. 6-7 flights a day to Atlanta on delta , that take 90 minutes. Bags come out really fast as well. So much so I’d rather have a connecting flight but out of pbi then direct out of FLL or MIA. We all fly enough that we get plenty of perks whichever airline were flying

> @Aaronwilson_95 said:

> PBI takes me 7 minutes from drop off to get through security 98% off the time. From jup it’s about a 25 minute drive, it’s also super easy to get rides to and from for your friends. 6-7 flights a day to Atlanta on delta , that take 90 minutes. Bags come out really fast as well. So much so I’d rather have a connecting flight but out of pbi then direct out of FLL or MIA. We all fly enough that we get plenty of perks whichever airline were flying

Minor league tour have a lot travel events? Lol jk

Trying to Monday into pga Latin events hahaha so no they don’t lol > @BNGL said:

> > @Aaronwilson_95 said:

> > PBI takes me 7 minutes from drop off to get through security 98% off the time. From jup it’s about a 25 minute drive, it’s also super easy to get rides to and from for your friends. 6-7 flights a day to Atlanta on delta , that take 90 minutes. Bags come out really fast as well. So much so I’d rather have a connecting flight but out of pbi then direct out of FLL or MIA. We all fly enough that we get plenty of perks whichever airline were flying

>

> Minor league tour have a lot travel events? Lol jk

Web.com and mini-tour guys are likely in Palm Beach. They can't afford to get into the high end clubs in Jupiter, but there are plenty of affordable clubs that have winter memberships like Bear Lakes which is 36 holes and has a very good practice facility. I think for 5 months you can get a membership there for $4k which includes the course, range and the cart. They they usually get a roommate or two.

The other part to all of this is that there's a lot of mini-tour events in that area.

I don't see many Web guys and Futures gals in the Orlando area outside of Asian players because many of those Asian players were part of one of the 'golf high schools' (i.e. Foley/Leadbetter/Gilchrist) and they are familiar with the area. They mostly hang out at OCN or Orange Tree. Rio Pinar used to be a hotspot for them, but it's gone to more of a public course and the conditions have regressed the past 10 years.

RH