Though injuries have kept him out of PGA Tour events, Tiger Woods is still a leading man in the pro game, as evidenced by his recent appointment as player director of the PGA Tour Policy Board. He’s also a protagonist in the greater world of golf, thanks to his golf course design business, TGR Design.
This week, Tiger Woods was spotted while doing service to the latter pursuit, and not down in Jupiter, Fla., where we usually expect to find him, but instead up North in the great state of New Jersey.
While New Jersey tends to get a lot of grief from residents of other states, it’s a golf mecca, and happens to feature the undisputed top golf course in the world: Pine Valley.
Tiger Woods’ latest project? Designing a course for MLB star Mike Trout
Woods was in New Jersey to work on his own contribution to the Jersey golf course landscape: Trout National — The Reserve, designed by his TGR firm.
If that course name looks familiar, that’s because it belongs to an athlete near the top of his own sport, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout. Trout grew up in Vineland, N.J. An avid golfer, Trout is on a mission to create his own private country club in his hometown, and he tapped Woods to build the course.
The course project was first reported in March by Sports Illustrated. At the time, Trout said, “It’s pretty incredible having a chance to own your own golf course. Getting Tiger to design it is crazy. I you had told me before that this would happen one day, I would have said you are crazy. It’s more than I ever thought possible.”
But few further details about the course were revealed in the initial announcement. That all changed this week.
First, Trout posted a course teaser video on social media, featuring Tiger clad in his classic Nike golf gear arriving at the site of Trout National and greeting the course’s namesake, before Trout and Tiger ride around in a cart surveying the layout that’s well under construction.
Then on Saturday, Trout posted a series of photos on Instagram of Tiger greeting Trout’s family at Trout National during the trip to see the course up close.
“It’s happening! A dream come true for my family and I to work with @tigerwoods to bring Trout National – The Reserve to our hometown,” Trout wrote in the post.
Trout National — The Reserve is expected to open for play in 2025.