Trump National vs. Westchester. Is it really worth $277 more?

The Donald owns a golf course about 10 minutes and several tax brackets from where I live in San Pedro, CA. Trump National Los Angeles actually started out as Ocean Trails, a Pete Dye course, and was scheduled to open in 1999. Unfortunately one of the greens slid into the ocean raising the question of just how stable this golf course on a cliff really is.

Ocean Trails was owned by a couple of brothers who weren't so much interested in the golf course as they were in peddling the multimillion dollar homes they planned to build around it. When the course took a header into the deep blue so did the brother's plans to develop the area.

Trump snatched it up and had plans to not only build homes but a golf destination hotel as well. Rancho Palos Verdes, the berg that the course has the unfortunate luck of residing in, is not impressed with the Donald or anyone else who brings in the unwashed public or attempts to block an ocean view. As a result, the relationship between the two has been less than friendly. The city sued the Donald because his American flag was too big; because he planted the wrong kind of trees: because he didn't provide enough foot paths for the public and on and on.

Donald prevailed and in 2002 opened the course declaring it ready for a pro tournament. That September they did in fact have a LPGA event. That is also the last professional event that has been played there. September can be a pretty tricky time along the ocean front. When the tournament was delayed twice for fog and the players complained of freezing to death in that clammy white moisture, I'm pretty sure the LPGA crossed the course off their list of favorite venues.

My wife and I first visited the club a few years back to get a Sunday lunch. They have tables set up outside overlooking the ninth hole. The first thing I noticed was God this place is beautiful. I mean it would be beautiful with or without the golf course but it had been some time since I actually got out of my car and made my way down to the cliffs.

The second thing I noticed was there weren't many people eating lunch. Maybe a dozen.

The most lasting thing I noticed was there wasn't anyone playing golf. We were there for an hour and saw a twosome and a single during that entire time.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and nobody was playing. So what was wrong with this course? Maybe it was the $300 greens fee! Note to Donald: the only way people who live near your course are only going to pay $300 is if the course is located in Hawaii.

I actually have played Trump once. They had a special during reseeding and you could play a round for $140. Everything about the place is so pretentious except for the people. They have to hire their starters, ground crew, waiters etc locally and the folks in San Pedro and the South Bay just are way to laid back to be pretentious.

The course is beautiful. Ocean views from every hole. No trees but really nasty tall rough. And like Sergio said about the Masters, it's tricky.

On the first hole I hit a monster drive down the left (non-ocean) side and landed 118 yds from the green. The view from the fairway to the first green is pretty intimidating. The green is elevated, protected in the front with a massive bunker and in the back is a cliff wall with a waterfall. What you can't see is a little stream that runs directly in front of the green.

The GPS (which was mounted on the cart and parked on the path because of reseeding) said 118 yds so I figured about 124. That's an 8 iron for me. I hit a second beautiful shot exactly at the pin. I'm thinking I'm gonna have a great round. I couldn't see it land because I was below the green and when I got up there I couldn't see the ball.

The reason I couldn't see the ball was because only the top half of it was showing in the rough next to the stream. I had plugged it. I took a mighty swing which spayed mud all over my shirt and moved the ball about 7 inches to the right. Net result is I came away with the first of many double bogies.

It is a beautiful course, and given that we were the only people on it for half the game, it went quickly. I'd like to play it again but $300?

My regular course is Westchester located next to LAX. It's an oddball 15 hole course owned by the airport and operated by American Golf. There are no ocean views, however there is a nice view of runway 25L on the 12th hole. There is no rambling stream, just a pond in front of number 2 which is the home of a flock of attack geese. There are no draught resit ant plants and grass, consequently every place you land during the summer is a tight lie. Just like Saint Andrews?

So why play this little course? And why do sooo many people play it on the weekend? I really don't have a clue. I play there because I know the people and they know me. I play there because my friends play there. I play there because it cost $23 a round. Perhaps more importantly, I play there because we have a standing tee time.

So that brings me back to Trump. What did I get for the $277 more than it cost for Westchester. Was it the ocean views, was it the GPS that I couldn't use cause the cart was always on the path, was it the prestige of playing a Trump course? I'm thinking I could have played Westchester 10 times for the difference in fees.

Note to Donald: my pain threshold is $50. If you can get me and my guys guaranteed tee times for Saturday morning I will encourage them to switch. That would be about $1500 per Saturday (including beer purchases) and you'd have to give us the same deferential treatment we get from Westchester. Yes we're a bit rowdy and not the best dressers, but think of it as getting back at those snobs in Rancho Palos Verde.

This offer is good for five days.

I'm waiting Donald.

Is Golf Dying?

I recently received my Callaway catalog in the mail and one of the lead stories was by George Fellows the CEO on how golf was a dying sport. According to Fellows, golf is dying because it's not growing. He goes on to site lower rounds played, lower viewing audiences and fewer new people taking up the game.

Fellows blames, in part, the discrimination by many clubs against women and juniors with regards to tee time availability. The apparent industry logic that when a male hits 50 or 60 he will automatically wake up one morning and decide that he'll become a golfer is another of Fellow's concerns.

To counter this trend, Fellows wants to see more effort in recruiting youth into the sport. Father son, Mom daughter, or even family team tournaments should be encouraged to get the game going again. In other words, new blood, and more importantly to Callaway, new customers are needed to keep the game viable.

I'm not real sure I know who George has been talking to or what clubs he has been visiting. If he's talking about private courses he probably is correct. However, a glance at any public course in Southern California would seem to counter his observations. Ladies' clubs have popped up that are often times larger than the men's clubs at public courses. Kids? There are so many blue shirted players with chopped down clubs you begin to wonder if there any left to play soccer.

Young adults? Probably the most annoying of all when viewed thru my old eyes. Or maybe I'm just jealous. There is one group of pub crawlers that hold a Triathlon at our course every year. The three sports involved are bowling, golf and pool and they are all played in the same day. By the time they finish their bowling tournament (which starts at 6:00 AM) and get to the course they are well lubricated. Usually they can get around with no major injuries and then pile into their charter bus and head to their final venue, a bar, to play their pool tournament. Bastards never invited me.

A bigger threat to golf is the price of land even in these troubled times. Golf courses that are not part of a development, are not nearly as profitable as say a Mac Mansion development. Fewer courses drives competition for tee times up which drives greens fees up. Add to this mix an increasing practice of municipalities to add additional taxes and fees in an effort to raise money where it can, and you start to price out the very people you need to keep the game alive. In essence you have a recipe for turning the game of golf back to the elitist activity it was 50 years ago.

So is golf dying or is it just being priced out of reach? I still don't understand families that shell out $300 to see a Dodgers' game so maybe I'm not on track here. All I can report is golf seems very much alive (and crowded) in So Cal.