Perfect Bedfellows?

The USGA and Donald Trump...sounds like a winning combination!

NEW JERSEY’S TRUMP NATIONAL GOLF CLUB TO HOST 2009 U.S. JUNIOR AND U.S. GIRLS’ JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Far Hills, N.J. – Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., has been selected by the United States Golf Association to be the site of the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships. The dates of the championships are July 20-25. This will be the third time that these two championships have been hosted concurrently at the same club.

The original course was open for play in 2004. Designed by Tom Fazio, Trump National was routed through more than 500 acres of rolling farmland and horse pastures, with plenty of water hazards and demanding green complexes to negotiate. There are options with varied avenues for approach shots on almost every hole. Scenic wetlands and restored farm buildings dot the landscape.

Since its opening, Trump National has received numerous awards, including “Development of the Year (2005)” and a place among the Top 100 golf courses in the country.

The second course, being designed and constructed by Tommy Fazio, nephew of Tom Fazio, and his company, Tom Fazio II, will open for play in the spring of 2008.

“The USGA has given our club a tremendous honor by selecting Trump National Bedminster to host these two prestigious championships and we are committed to conducting the best Junior Championships ever staged,” said Donald Trump, chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization.

Within its grand scale, Trump National fittingly is dedicated to developing a top junior golf program for ages 5 to 17, with weekly clinics and four-day sessions offered each June and July.

“Junior golf is the cornerstone of our club here at Bedminster,” said Ashley Cooper, president of Trump National. “We are extremely proud to be associated with the USGA. Hosting two of its national championships is not only a crowning achievement for our club but for the Trump organization as a whole.”

The USGA announcement has drawn the attention of Bob Holtaway, mayor of Bedminster Township, a small town located in the picturesque central portion of the state.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Bedminster to be on golf’s national stage,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming the best junior golfers and the USGA staff to our town.”

Gordon Updates TCC Situation: Fay Issues Traditional Non-Denial Denial

Joe Gordon writes:

It seems unlikely that the United States Golf Association intends to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Francis Ouimet’s momentous win at The Country Club as an amateur in the 1913 U.S. Open by selecting the Brookline club to host the 2013 U.S. Open.

Asked about a published report that the 2013 event had already been awarded to Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., rather than TCC, which had long been anticipated, USGA executive director David Fay would neither confirm nor deny it.

“I don’t make comments about anything until we have signed contracts,” Fay said. “I think I just ought to leave it at that.”

Reading between the lines would seem to support the speculation that the USGA and Merion have agreed in principle to a deal.

“I think what the USGA is trying to do is keep whatever they’re doing as quiet as possible,” said David Chag, general manager at The Country Club. “We have no news. They hold their cards pretty close to their chest and you’re not really learning anything at this point, which, to me, tells me they’re doing something (else).

If TCC is not going to get the U.S. Open to commemorate the Ouimet victory after hosting Opens in 1963 and 1988 on the 50th and 75th Ouimet anniversaries, Chag said the club would like to host a U.S. Amateur or Walker Cup in 2013.

Fay said the USGA is committed to Merion in 2009 for the Walker Cup and has U.S. Amateur venues slated through 2012. “I don’t imagine we’d be making any decision on a 2013 Walker Cup until perhaps 2008 or 2009,” Fay said. “But on the Amateur, sometimes we go up to seven years out.”

There had been some speculation that The Country Club might be considered to host the Deutsche Bank Championship occasionally if that tournament ventures from its home at TPC Boston in Norton.

“We haven’t heard a word about it here as far as we’re concerned,” Chag said of the Deutsche Bank rumors, noting that the only time TCC veered from USGA sanctioning was to host the PGA’s 1999 Ryder Cup. “I would think that over the long haul, (TCC would) find more of a relationship with the USGA than anyone else.”

TCC As A Tournament Host

Jim McCabe puts to rest rumors reported in Golfweek that The Country Club was looking to join a Deutsche Bank rotation with the TPC Boston (just typing that was difficult). He also reports that the 2013 U.S. Open at TCC is highly unlikely.

'We definitely want to do some sort of celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ouimet's victory, but it's highly unlikely it will be a US Open," said John Cornish, a longtime TCC member who is on the club's Tournament Policy Committee and was instrumental in pulling off the 1999 Ryder Cup, a spectacular event. ''An amateur event would be more appropriate. We've always been a big supporter of amateur golf."

Trumpminster

SI's Gary Van Sickle writes about "Trumpminster," a.k.a. Trump National Bedminster. The Donald had the media out during PGA week.

Trump insisted on about a dozen killer-A pin positions to show off the course to the media, apparently unaware that a majority of golf writers have double-digit handicaps and low pain thresholds.

Van Sickle basically says The Donald's best bet is a PGA, and even that is doubtful after Baltusrol'$ performance.