So many new golf courses are opening these days, it can be tough to keep track. Trout National has had the attention of the industry for more than two years since it was announced perennial MLB All-Star and three-time MVP Mike Trout and Tiger Woods were partnering together to build a new course.
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The wait is over. Trout National — The Reserve is finally here. The private destination club in Millville, N.J., about an hour outside Philadelphia in Trout’s hometown, opened for preview play in October and will be officially jamming by the spring. We got a first look (take a look at the video below).
Six or seven years ago, Trout was giving thought to what his post-baseball life could look like. He wanted a big project that could help his hometown, where his father grew up and his family still lives. He loved traveling for golf, so local businessman John Ruga found an available 288-acre parcel of land in Millville, they had the vision to create a private destination club unlike many we’ve seen.
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Every little detail at Trout National has been carefully planned. First, the course has been ready for a year, but the club let the turf grow in for a full season—so the conditioning is as ideal as you’ll find at a brand-new golf course.
Once inside the gates within the 14-foot walls surrounding Trout National, you’re transported into one of the most unique experiences in golf. Tunnels guide your car under the course, allowing golfers to have uninterrupted views—so you never lose the luxurious resort-feel. It’s what Trout National calls “curated luxury.”
A view behind the peninsula green at the eighth hole, which sits directly in front of Aaron’s, one of the club’s amenity stations, named after Mike Trout’s late brother-in-law.
Courtesy of the club
Trout National is the largest development project in South Jersey history since Atlantic City. Millville is just on the outer edge of the Pine Barrens but still contains much of the same terrain—mature pine trees and sandy soil—truly ideal for golf. The South Jersey town is actually known for the quality of its sand, as one of America’s biggest commercial glass manufacturers, Wheaton Industries, called Millville home for decades. This property sits on an old silica sand mine with reclaimed quarries—and the result is really interesting topography with natural playing corridors. When Woods and his design consultant Beau Welling first visited the site, they were in awe of the land, which brings to mind the sandhills of North Carolina.
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The budget for the project exceeds $100 million and features some amenities unlike others we’ve seen. The coolest thing has to be The Dugout, an amenity station built into the ground behind the 14th and 16th teeing areas. It’s designed to feel like a true baseball dugout, with stadium seating built so you can watch tee shots from ground level with a scoreboard displays scores from players around the course.
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A 7,600-square-foot performance center has its own comfort station—fit with indoor/outdoor Trackman bays, PuttView, Force Plate technology and a stretching lab. A six-hole fully lit reversible short course called the Bullpen was also designed by Tiger’s TGR design team. The range includes a short-game area that features the same grain found on the course with the average bunker and green sizes found on the course.
The clubhouse will resemble a stately manor with a 2,500 bottle wine cellar, a barbershop, a spa offering manicures, pedicures and massages, and an old bank vault in the basement where a bowling alley, simulator and bar will be the ultimate hangout. The highlight will be a state-of-the-art fitness center overlooking the 18th hole, which is a great risk-reward par 5 that brings to mind Bay Hill. Word is that Trout, a 2 handicap, eagled the home hole his first two times playing it.
The course will tip out at 7,519 yards and features some of the longest ribbon tees you’ll find anywhere, making the layout playable for every level of golfer. A $7-plus million agronomy maintenance facility features some of the most technologically advanced methods seen in the industry. Trout’s brother, Tyler, who helped run the project with Mike, said the maintenance has been so well-thought out—with two redundant pump chain, an 84-million gallon engineered reservoir and SubAir systems on the course, and all the short-game and putting areas—that even in the case of a 200-year rain event, the playing areas would be bone dry in about 19 minutes.
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This is a golf playground for the elite. There will be 227 members, (a nod to Trout’s uniform number, 27, as there are 27 founding members), who are comprised of athletes from every professional sports league, team owners, plus tour players who will undoubtedly enjoy the next-level practice facilities.
The motto of Trout National? As long as your fun doesn’t affect anyone else’s fun, you can do what you want. There will be plenty of fun to be had here.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
