While Tiger Woods\u2019 TGR Labs works to complete the renovation of the historic Cobbs Creek course in Philadelphia, the golf legend\u2019s design firm is also busy helping to build another course across the Delaware River in Millville, N.J., the hometown of MLB superstar Mike Trout, that\u2019s set to open next spring.<\/p>\n
Unlike Cobbs Creek, however, this course will be almost impossible to play for the average golfer \u2014 and that\u2019s by design. The private club, called Trout National: The Reserve, is going to be one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world, and will feature some one-of-a-kind amenities. <\/p>\n
We recently spoke to Tyler Trout, brother of Mike, who oversees the project, about what members can expect, Woods\u2019 involvement, and more \u2026 <\/p>\n
Mike Trout\u2019s Field of Dreams<\/p>\n
The course, designed in collaboration with Woods, as well as local businessman John Ruga, is set on a 280-acre property in Millville. Some of the amenities on site include a fitness center, spa, barbershop, game vault, and bowling alley.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding something so special in Millville that we\u2019re confident is going to be recognized globally gives me chills,\u201d Tyler Trout said. \u201cIt\u2019s really Mike\u2019s own \u2018if you build it, they will come\u2019 story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trout is opening the club with the goal of it being one of the premiere golf destinations, not just in the United States but worldwide. To accommodate members around the globe, Trout National will feature several forms of accommodations, including six four-bedroom cottages on the club\u2019s fully lit short course, 10 clubhouse suites, and two 12-bedroom lodges.<\/p>\n
An exclusive membership<\/p>\n
Upon opening, Trout National will have only 227 members. If that seems like an awfully specific number, it was chosen in part because Trout has worn No. 27 for the entirety of his 15-year career with the Los Angeles Angels. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a number that pre-Angels wasn\u2019t that significant to Mike, but has turned into his,\u201d Trout said. <\/p>\n
As a result, the club is incorporating various forms of the number 27 into its design, including planting precisely 27 trees on the main drive. But while the number 227 was specifically chosen because of Mike\u2019s jersey number with the Angles, the club knew that it wanted a small number of members.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a member perspective, everything should be effortless,\u201d Trout said. \u201cSo we don\u2019t have tee times, you can play with more than four people, you can bounce around the golf course in multiple different fashions. So you really have the flexibility to enjoy the property as if it\u2019s your own.\u201d<\/p>\n
That 227 number seems even smaller when considering the notable geographic diversity of Trout National\u2019s members. Among the domestic members, Trout estimates that 75% of the club\u2019s members will not be local to South Jersey \u2014 any people living within 90 miles of the course are counted in that local category. Trout National will also have a significant number of international members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re vetting people from, you know, Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Australia, Canada, Dubai,\u201d Trout said.<\/p>\n
Recently, the course released a video rendering of what those 227 members can expect when they arrive at Trout National.<\/p>\n
Playing all day \u2014 and all night <\/p>\n
In addition to the main course at Trout National, there will be a fully lit-up short course, in which the six four-bedroom cottages are located. The course consists of six holes, ranging from 45 to 110 yards. But unlike the main course, the short course is designed to be played on at all times of the day \u2014 and, yes, all times of the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay you get done, dinner, drinks, you\u2019re back at your cottage, and you want to go out and play the short course. Yeah, you\u2019re hitting shots until the wee hours of the night,\u201d Trout said.<\/p>\n
The flexibility to play at night could also be beneficial to international members who are flying in and out at odd times or experiencing jet lag.<\/p>\n
In addition to the short course, multiple practice greens, as well as a putting course, are also fully lit.<\/p>\n
Partnership with Woods<\/p>\n
Before starting construction on the course, Trout National partnered with TGR Designs, Woods\u2019 design company. While this is the ninth full golf course TGR has been a part of, the level of trust the Trout team placed in the company was unique, allowing Tiger and his team to truly take the lead on the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a speck of dirt gets moved without Tiger\u2019s approval, and he\u2019s been up here a handful of times reviewing bunker shaping, runoffs into bunkers, approaches around greens,\u201d Trout said. \u201cWe really took our time in allowing him the ability to get it right, however long or whatever that meant to take. Ultimately, we let Tiger and his team come up here and do what they thought was best to develop a championship golf course. That is Mike\u2019s number one goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been nearly two years since Woods and Trout unveiled a first look at the par-72 course\u2019s layout and shared some design elements. <\/p>\n
It was around that time that the two met for the first time. <\/p>\n
\u201cMike and Tiger had never met prior to the work here,\u201d Trout said. \u201cIt\u2019s actually funny, the first time they ever FaceTimed, Tiger was on the range at Medalist, and Mike was in the locker room at Angel Stadium. Even for somebody like Mike, there\u2019s a little bit of nerves [meeting Tiger] the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hosting championship golf?<\/p>\n
Trout National isn\u2019t closing itself off to hosting professional tournaments in the future. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had conversations with almost everybody about that, we\u2019ve had people on site, and it\u2019s been evaluated,\u201d Trout said. \u201cFirst and foremost we\u2019re looking to opening and delivering for our members. But do I see [hosting tournaments] in our future? Probably, only because the golf course is spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Tiger Woods\u2019 TGR Labs works to complete the renovation of the historic Cobbs Creek course in Philadelphia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,16507,99],"class_list":["post-17743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-mike-trout-national-golf-course-tiger-woods-tgr-design-renderings-members","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}