TRUMP NATIONAL GOLF CLUB LOS ANGELES

Tiered on a treeless, barranca-veined, mile-long stretch of the Palos Verdes Peninsula about a 30-minute drive from — and at least a dozen summertime degrees cooler than — downtown Los Angeles, Trump National might be the West’s most storied golf course rescue effort. It’s easily the most expensive. Donald Trump employed all of his financial muscle, his flair for the dramatic gesture and sincere love for the game of golf to bring what was once a bankrupt, forlorn 15-hole course called Ocean Trails back to life. He took Pete Dye’s original layout and, with some things he learned from Tom Fazio’s design group, reconstituted it into wily, winding, weathered modern translation of — yes, we’re using that word again — links golf.

Yes, there are several waterfalls, used to stunning effect on the opening hole and on a couple of 3-pars, including No. 17. Hey, this is Trump we’re talking about, and he does water features right — in this case, they’re fashioned out of local Palos Verdes stone.
But where the course really wows is in the way it features the Pacific on every hole, even the upper ones, and on nearly every shot. At several key spots, including the short par-4 No. 10 and on the epic 500-yard par-4 finisher, the field of play edges right up to sheer cliffs. Fairways roll like the waves, greens are expansive and inventive, and the entire track plays on a slight cant toward the ocean, beginning and ending at the spectacular clubhouse with its two stellar restaurants, the more casual of which gets packed at lunchtime every day, sometimes with recognizable Hollywood types or athletes. And more often than not, you’re liable to see some sort of TV production taking place outside, either as part of Trump’s new Golf Channel series, a commercial or an episode of, say, HBO’s Entourage. Cool? You bet. Gilded in that almost over-the-top Trump way? Of course. Expensive? Can be. But you just don’t find this caliber of seaside golf anywhere else in La-La land, which puts it on a must-play level with Pebble Beach.

www.trumpgolf.com| 310.265.5000
Rates $215-$275 | Yardage 4,538-7,242
Resort rating 69.8/133

PELICAN HILL

Down the coast a piece in Newport Beach, Pelican Hill’s 36 holes of recently-upgraded Tom Fazio golf are Trump’s main competition. Both the North and South courses have their adherents, and indeed found themselves in a dead heat in FG’s recently completed Hack-it-ology competition. Situated higher on a bluff, the North affords the more expansive Trump-like ocean views and is more dramatic in overall scope and feel, while the South seems a bit more intimate, both in its proximity to the water (back-to-back 3-pars almost kiss the beach) and the way its inland holes are more completely ensconced in stands of eucalyptus and dense brush. Either way you’re in for a manicured, sublime treat; both courses wind up on mirror-image 4-pars hanging on the precipice of a deep, dramatic canyon. Scrape up a par on either hole and that drink in the gorgeous, stylish clubhouse — whose grill, by the way, serves a mean breakfast burrito — will taste twice as sweet. Unlike Trump, which is a stand-alone course with no hotel complement (though that could change someday), Pelican is now a full-fledged destination resort with out-of-this-world (and most budgets) villa and bungalow lodging, an amazing pool complex, several gourmet restaurants and just about every other amenity an O.C. nouveau millionaire would want. For the rest of us, there’s all that prime Fazio golf, available at a pretty hefty premium in its own right. But we only go down this road once, right?

www.pelicanhill.com
Phone 800.585.1654 | Room rates $495-$2,700
Golf rates $140-$250
Yardage (North) 4,950-6,856 (South) 4,710-6,589
Resort tee rating (North) 69.7/124 (South) 68.1/119

TORREY PINES

Millions of souls will remember Torrey for one thing: A now-changed Tiger’s fist-pumping putt on 18 to tie Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open. The ironic thing is, No. 18 is probably the weakest hole on a damn fine South track, which, like Harding Park, was given a once-over a few years back to prepare it for the nation’s biggest golf tournament. This time, “Open Doctor” Rees Jones was brought into stretch the cliffside classic to more than 7,600 yards, toughen up the greens a bit, carve out some new bunkers and generally juice up the joint to the point where par seems like birdie and birdie is a distant dream for all but the game’s top players. Holes improved most by Rees’ surgery include No. 4, whose fairway hugs the cliff more closely; 3-pars such as No. 8 and No. 16, which play on opposite sides of an arroyo;
No. 12, perhaps the nastiest par 4 in the entire southland; and No. 14, which can be configured at over 400 yards or just a couple ticks over 300 — making it a strategic favorite during the Open.

The North, meanwhile, continues to be popular for its slightly wider fairways, flatter greens and somewhat more benign personality. That doesn’t mean it lacks in sweeping Pacific views or moments of heart-fluttering challenge, however. In fact, should Jones return to work his magic on the North — a distinct possibility — it might come close to matching the South’s championship mojo. In that case, eat your heart out, Bethpage Black. And another thing: This is La Jolla, San Diego County, blessed with the nation’s best weather year-round, but especially a breezy godsend when the desert temps just a few miles inland soar into triple digits. And if you’re lucky and flush enough to secure a night or two in the adjacent Lodge at Torrey Pines, you’ll realize that even a muni can gain five-star cred.

www.lodgeattorreypines.com
Phone 858.453.4420 | Room rates $375-$500 (call for suite rates)
Golf website www.sandiego.gov
Rates (North) $95-$119, (South) $174-$218
Yardage (North) 6,122-6,915 (South) 5,467-7,628
Resort tee rating (North) 70.8/125 (South) 74.3/136