The Donald won last year.

That’s right, he got the most votes. What are you gonna do about it?

In our inaugural Hack-it-ology reader poll — what we like to think of as the golf traveler’s “Road to the Final Fore” — Trump National Los Angeles took top honors once all the online ballots were cast. And the editors took some grief. An inside job? Ballot box stuffing? How about the fact that Donald Trump’s stair-stepped wonder on the edge of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is a really good golf course, manmade waterfalls and all, and it has some very, very loyal fans.

All we know is that the numbers don’t lie, at least in the world of FG’s current, ever-growing readership. So late last spring, when the brackets of 128 of the best West Coast and Hawaii golf courses got down to the Final Four — Trump National, Bandon Dunes, The Links at Spanish Bay and The Chase at PGA Golf Club Coyote Springs — the New York billionaire’s stellar redesign grabbed the gold.

Essentially a complete reworking of what began as a Pete Dye design that lost three holes to a landslide, The Donald’s first public course boasts peerless hang-on-the-edge Pacific views (even the practice range occupies land initially earmarked for picture window-endowed homes), solid conditioning year-round, a clubhouse/restaurant complex that’s tough to beat anywhere else in Southern California if not the entire state, and a service model that would fit well at any of Trump’s seven current “National” and “International” private clubs, which encompass 10 golf courses altogether (including a tasty nine-hole practice run at one of his latest acquisitions in Colts Neck, N.J.). Indeed, the Trump L.A. staff stands at high alert just in case the boss shows up, which he does quite often these days, being the star and producer of
The Apprentice and all. And it seems there’s a special place in his heart —
and his pocketbook — for this particular stretch of sunny coastline.

“The course continues to do well,” Trump told FG in November as work began on his latest acquisition, Trump National Washington, D.C., which comprises two 18-hole courses along the Potomac River in Virginia. “In L.A., the advantage I have over everyone else is I have two and a half miles on the Pacific Ocean. It’s unusual. The other advantage is when I built it, I layered it so that every hole is on the ocean. Even the holes that are away from the ocean feel like they’re on the ocean.”

It’s the kind of effect even the legendary Dye couldn’t pull off in the late 1990s due to a tight budget and less-than-visionary owners. In its brief run, the formerly known Ocean Trails played as a claustrophobic semi-links with too-narrow landing areas and uninspiring green complexes. Its routing was awkward and pinched in places, a situation Trump massaged to great benefit with the help of some friends from the Fazio family.

He moved and elevated tees to widen the views and frame the sloping, bounding battle ahead. Fairway-encroaching brush was cleared to create fresh driving angles and allow for just a bit more margin of error off the tee, though Trump National is by no means a spray-it-and-pray proposition; it remains, tight, tough and terrific leading up to every putting surface. Greens complexes range from straightforward in a Dye-like way (such as the sand-surrounded surface on the short, pretty par-3 No. 4, briefly recalling his famous one-shotters in Florida and the California desert) to bordering-on-crazy (No. 12, a reachable 5-par for some unless the afternoon breeze kicks up) to bailout-friendly (No. 14) to waterfall-backed surfaces at No. 1 (perhaps one of the most delightfully frightening wedge approaches in the West, especially on what was originally one of the worst high-dollar golf openers), No. 4 and especially No. 17, a 238-yard par 3 over water that, thankfully, has an open approach fronting the green.

Yes, we said the dreaded “w” word. Purists seem to dislike Trump’s waterfalls whether they show up at his “home course” in Westchester County, N.Y. or Bedminster in New Jersey (where a second 18 holes opened recently and Trump continues to lobby for more USGA events after last summer’s highly successful U.S. Junior Open) to Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump International has hosted the ADT Skills Challenge. Sure they’re gimmicky. That’s the point — they’re pretty much part of the boss’ golf signature. But they’re always well done, aesthetically pleasing and, let’s face it, fun to play around and sometimes drive under (as in a cart, not a golf ball).

“Most people feel that they’re great,” Trump says. “[In L.A.] they’re made of natural Palos Verdes stone, very expensive, but it’s found there. A friend of mine built a house in Connecticut and was talking about Palos Verdes stone. It’s beautiful stuff. I felt the course needed the waterfalls from the standpoint of drama.”

And if he can afford them, why not?

“Usually people who complain about waterfalls can’t afford to build waterfalls,” he adds. “I had a guy who wanted to inspect my incredible waterfall on the 17th hole of my course in Florida. They wanted to build one on a course they were building. So they looked at it and loved it, but when they found out how much it cost, they didn’t build it. They couldn’t afford it.”

No doubt about it: Conjuring these manmade accoutrements out of the rumpled, semi-arid Palos Verdes earth took more than a few shekels. As did resurrecting the once-collapsed No. 18 — now a wicked 500-plus-yard par 4 hugging a cliff and decked out in something like 20 bunkers, making it a favorite setting for location scouts over the hill in Hollywood. The project reportedly set Trump and his investment partners back $65 million, with the entire redesign clocking in at well above $250 million. In the post-real estate collapse world to come (it is coming, right?), the Estates at Trump National will help soften that capital blow, but for now it’s all about filling the tee sheet with up to $275 green fees while filling in the blanks with special events (such as the Concours d’Elegance car show and the Wine & Beer Festival), increasingly popular restaurants and film shoot site fees.

For his part, the owner is one happy magnate right now, even in a down golf market, and a lot of his glee is served with a hearty helping of A-list glitter thanks to one superstar visit after another. There’s even a new high-end lodging option, Terranea, down the road a piece.

“It really worked out well. We’re doing tremendous business,” says Trump, who happens to be the highest-paid member of TV’s reality show club thanks to his five-year-and-counting run with The Apprentice. “A lot of the big Hollywood stars are there a lot. Phil Mickelson [who cameo’d on Entourage a couple years back in a scene shot on No. 18] is there a lot. We do a lot of business with commercials, everything. It’s been great. We’ve done a lot of rounds this year. Everybody in golf should have success like we’ve had at our Los Angeles course.”

That winning run includes strong member counts at Trump’s private courses on the East Coast, and he came close to purchasing a Monterey Peninsula club in 2008. By adding the D.C.-area courses and hiring Tom Fazio II to rework Jerry Pate’s Colts Neck design, the man is suddenly a major player in the golf development game, especially on the high-end private side (L.A. remains his only public-access entry). Given the state of the golf industry and economy in general, it’s gotta be considered a gamble to most, but to him, it’s all about value and headline-grabbing potential.

“I’m basically a deal-oriented person. I have purchased some golf courses [recently]. Prior to this I built them, and they became very successful — Westchester, Palm Beach, Bedminster and Los Angeles, which was essentially a build because I ripped out the old course. Over the last two years I’ve been buying courses at tremendous discounts, but I will only buy if it can be one of the top courses. Either it can start off as a Top 100 or be made into a Top 100. When you make them into one, it’s five-cent to ten-cent dollars as opposed to building a brand-new courses, with all the environmental zoning, which can take many years. I know people waiting more than 10 years to get approval. So I’ve been buying courses that have the potential to be Top 100 in all cases.

“Two examples are the courses in Washington, D.C. — one designed by Tom Fazio, one by Arthur Hills. We’ve just given out contracts for total renovation. The courses were extraordinary already, but when they’re completed, there will be nothing like them. The beauty is, they’re on three miles on the Potomac River, which is unheard of. And when completed, it will have one of the nicest clubhouses. The other is in Colts Neck, New Jersey, a beautiful course with a magnificent clubhouse. We fixed both and have signed more than 100 members over the past six months. They only had 117 members before. It’s a great location, high quality. I’m in the process of signing a deal for two additional courses that are potentially top courses in the United States.”

And he ain’t stopping at the homeland’s borders. The Caribbean is first up; besides an in-the-works addition to the red-hot Dominican Republic destination at Cap Cana, son Eric is Trumpifying a Tom Kite design in Puerto Rico (see Page 41).

“It’s beautiful, tremendous ocean frontage,” says the senior Trump. “I always love rivers and oceans.”

Then there’s the Scotland project, another seaside juggernaut spread across world-class dunes north of St. Andrews that leads Trump into a riff of superlatives that borders the extreme, even for him.

“It’s very unique. I looked all over the world. I wanted to build a great development in Europe. We searched more than 100 sites. I was only interested if it was on the ocean. I was going to buy a course that was already built, but I wasn’t thrilled about it. I loved the location but didn’t like the course at all. A great photographer told me about a great piece of land in Aberdeen, Scotland. I sent my people to look. They called and said, ‘This is unbelievable.’ It’s 2,000 acres, four miles on the sea. The largest dunes in the world. If you look at Bandon Dunes and these dunes, the smallest dune in Aberdeen is five times the size of the largest at Bandon. They’re spectacular. And I’ve always heard the best nine holes in golf is at Royal Aberdeen. They’re at the end of the dunes, smaller dunes, sort of like a mountain.

“So I bought the entire dunes section of Aberdeen, and even though I was told it couldn’t happen, I then got it zoned for golf, because it was protected. Environmentally it’ll be great. We just started planting last week, and it’ll open in about 24 months. I truly believe, and so does every architect that’s seen it — I’m using Martin Hawtrey, the Royal and Ancient’s architect — says this is going to be great. If you see the dunes we’re dealing with, nobody has seen a piece of land like this. If done properly, this should be the greatest course anywhere in the world.”

Them’s fighting words, of course, and that’s exactly how Trump wants it.

Not only is he counting on Hawtrey to knock Trump Scotland out of the park — maybe all the way to the R&A’s doorstep just off the Old Course’s 18th green — but he’s throwing down the gauntlet to every designer in the world to outdo him. As with any of his real estate projects, it’s location, location, location, and for him that translates into a waterfront setting. That said, he’s not content to stop there — he wants the sea spray and the clipped-with-a-tweezers look and feel prevalent at his Los Angeles showcase. All of which brings up an interesting question: What, indeed, is Trump’s favorite type of golf course?

“It’s very hard to compete with oceans and rivers,” he says, going back to a familiar theme. “Certainly there are some great courses, Augusta and others, that don’t have that. But it’s an advantage. Of my courses, I find it very hard to tell you which is the best. A lot of people have their favorites. They’re all top level. Generally speaking, I like a finely manicured course of the Augusta variety rather than a rough hewn course. For my eye, that seems to be more beautiful. You look at some of the rough courses, they’re magnificent, but I’ve always liked the manicured look of an Augusta.”

Maybe that juxtaposition — ocean and Augusta — will one day become known as the Trump Doctrine in the rarefied world of golf development. At the very least, he’s now been cast as a mover and shaker in a business that, to him, is a labor of love rather than a bottom-line proposition.

“I’m not looking to be a leader in golf,” he says. “I’m a leader in real estate. I enjoy golf, I play it well, I’m club champion at a lot of the different clubs, and I have fun with it. And I understand golf. A lot of time I have friends who build courses but don’t know how to play. They have no conception of how to build a course. As good as the architects are, you have to have a lot of input, or it won’t be the same.

“What I do want is all terrific courses. The course in Bedminster, where I just added a second Tom Fazio — those courses are Top 10 anywhere in the world, acknowledged. We just had the USGA juniors, both girls and boys, and we’re getting ready to announce some other ones. But my main drive isn’t tournaments; it’s to create the best courses for the members. The course in Palm Beach is No. 1 in the state of Florida. My Westchester got rated by the local newspaper as the No. 1 course in Westchester/Connecticut.

“I’m not interested in having 150 courses. I’m interesting in having the top of the line course wherever I am. When completed, the Washington courses will be as good as you can find. There won’t be anything better in the tri-state area of Washington, Virginia and Maryland.”

But, all hype aside, for a guy who contends that golf is a fascinating sideline that just happens to make him a few bucks, Trump is doing a pretty good job staying above the fray in what even he acknowledges is a wobbly, risky industry at this point in its long history. And he’s not about to bail on the game or his jewel-like collection of courses.

“I think golf is in a lot of trouble,” he sighs. “The women’s tour was decimated by the past commissioner, and what’s sad is the product is so good. The men’s tour seems to be doing well [Trump commented two weeks before Tiger’s revelations of infidelity rocked the world].The industry itself is in trouble, like many other industries. It’s interesting. For the people who can survive, and have the capital, location and good quality courses, eventually they’ll do well because a lot of people are closing up. A lot of bad competition will be gone. Any time competition closes, that’s a good thing for the people who remain. The strong with good product will survive.”