Tee Time: 10:20
Players: John, Hyesoo, Jy
This was my first time playing Trump and it was great! I had such an awesome time playing this round. Trump has always been on my bucket list from the time I lived in the area so it was nice to finally actually play a round here.
I lived in this area for many years (1998-2012) and remember when the golf course first opened. I visited the clubhouse and course just to walk around, eat brunch, etc. It was nice but I didn’t actually play golf back then so I was really just checking out the facilities.
I tried to play here a few times but my friends didn’t want to play here. They just didn’t like the course. I came here a few years ago just to practice at the practice range and that was fun.
The course itself is beautiful with ocean views on most holes. It is not an easy course though and I can see why most of my friends dislike the course.
It’s not cheap though. When my friend originally sent me tee times, the prices on the website were $600-$700/round. I asked my friend just out of curiosity if we’re paying $700/round? He said no way…those prices are for tourists! He has some type of VIP membership where he gets a discount and we pay $195/round so it wasn’t too bad I guess.
There is a pretty nice guy at the carts named Manny who speaks many languages. Fun guy! The marshal was also pretty cool and even gave us some golf balls that he found.
In many ways, Trump is like playing golf in Korea. Most fairways are ok but not overly wide or forgiving and if you miss the rough on the left or right, your ball is gone. There’s no fairway to the side where you can just walk over and hit your ball, etc. Usually there is a cliff on one side, woods and bush on the other side, etc. so it’s not forgiving if you miss. There are also a few pretty tight holes so it’s challenging.
But it was fun and it was great to see the big American flag, etc.
There are some protests going on these days in front of the resort so there was some additional security at the gate where I had to tell them our tee time, etc. They gave me a bracelet to wear to show that I passed security, etc.
Will I go back? Sure!