A short time ago, I had the privilege of touring the next 18 holes under construction at Trump National in Bedminster NJ. This 18, designed by Tommy Fazio (Tom's nephew), appears to be a striking compliment to what many believe is the Donald's best 18 holes of golf within his empire. One look reveals what may well unseat the neighboring "Old" course off its present throne.
Built mostly to the immediate West of the "Old" course on a series of wavy clay and soil benches (with a few very interesting, appealingly small and unique holes to the East), young Fazio has placed seemingly smaller and more strategic green sites at the ends of natural valleys and saddles that promise greater wind exposure and fewer tree-lined corridors. Collectively, the bulk of the new layout, doesn't scream parkland, nor should it be confused with links-style. Due to the extraordinary local & state water-use laws, multiple ponds will leave their mark as both hazards and aesthetic markers. I'm only praying, as most of us would, that the Donald foregoes his usual predisposition for artificial waterfalls and does his best to make the H2O look as natural as possible.
Innate elevation movements are preserved and serve well for green and tee sites. A few holes nearly complete reflect the different sensibility of the younger Fazio with non-template bunkering and smaller, more strategic greens areas. This is a course that, at first glance, appears to be the match-play style sister to its larger and tougher, more grandiose, stroke-play brother. It was impossible to get a full reslution of every feature on the New course, but the grassed hole look glorious and different than what anyone might have suspected. Multiple tees are designed in and thus I await future visits to adequately judge the full range of shot values that will evolve. I suspect the members gripes about the course being too tough won't be as numerous on this new layout. The USGA Boys & Girls Amateur Championship, to be held here in 2009, will help to confirm or deny that moniker.
A few words about Trump's existing "Old" Course. Under the hand of the very capable Grounds staff, led by the verifiably talented Greg Nicholl and his hard-working staff, many of my former complaints about the layout have been remedied. No longer are the forced carries pinched between entirely too narrow openings and good tree removal and turf maintenance have rendered the track playing its best since inception. The eighth green was enlarged into a real boomerang shape and now yields a larger and tough back left pin-able area. The very large and strategically-positioned bunkers are quite possibly the most playable modern bunkers in the state. They remain huge and apparent hazards, but yield evenly-matched results with well-struck sand-shots. The fairways are fast and firm and a mis-angled shot slides easily into the neighboring dense rough. It's a full and fair test.
Some previously major flaws have become somewhat more minor. The unreceptive and flawed design of the 16th green (near totally unreceptive to anything above a 6-7 iron) and diabolically mis-designed 7th green (should have lower tees, or a back right reverse redan expansion) have begun to play a little softer, but are still in need of more of Greg's finesse. Maybe a data pull on the Donald's record on those holes might speed that along??? :~). I'm not slamming Tom Fazio here, but these two holes fit better at a Ridge at Back Brook (with severe playability issues desired and designed-in) than they do on this course.
Most importantly, the course has matured into an elite and competitive Northeast venue with outstanding playability and its newest adjacent addition might well be an instant and through success in an already highly competitive surrounding.
