28 March 2023 , 15:47
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Mike Trout doesn't just hit a long ball with a baseball bat; he can also launch it with a driver and the MLB superstar is taking his passion for golf to a whole new level by building his own course, and Tiger Woods is on board.
Big-hitting Los Angeles Angels star Trout is gearing up for the new MLB season after narrowly missing out with the United States in the final of the World Baseball Classic to Japan last week, with spring training wrapping up ahead of Friday's opener against the Oakland Athletics.
But away from the diamond, the 10-time all-star has plenty going on, too, unveiling Trout National – The Reserve in his hometown of Vineland New Jersey, an 18-hole championship course with a practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, restaurant, accommodation and even a wedding chapel.
The course, which is being built on a former silica sand mine and is surrounded by farms and a forest, is being designed by 15-time major champion Woods, whose previous designs include Bluejack National in Texas and Payne's Valley in Missouri.
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“It’s pretty incredible having a chance to own your own golf course,” Trout, who plays off a handicap of eight, said. “Getting Tiger to design it is crazy. If 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.
“We (Trout and his wife, Jessica) sat down and said, ‘Look, if an opportunity comes up it would be a great thing to do. I want to own a course. We were close to owning a course when COVID-19 hit. A lot of stuff wasn’t going our way, so we backed out of the deal. We just said, ‘If an opportunity comes down the road, we’ll explore it.’
“It was probably a year or two later that somebody sent me drone footage of somebody attempting to build a couple of holes in Vineland while courses were shut down. I sent it to my brother, Tyler, and said, ‘Can you look into this for me?’
“It means everything to me. You always want to give back to the community and bringing a golf course to southern New Jersey is part of that. It’s putting southern New Jersey on the map to people who don’t know much about it.”
Tiger Woods is due to play at The Masters next week, where he last won in 2019. (Getty Images)Woods, who is due to tee it up at Augusta National for the Masters from April 6-9, is excited to be on board with the project.
He said: “I’ve always watched Mike on the diamond so when an opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National – The Reserve, I couldn’t pass it up. It’s a great site for golf and our team’s looking forward to creating a special course for Mike and Jessica."
Naturally, having won nine Silver Slugger awards for starring with the bat in hand, Trout can send the golf ball a long way too, averaging 330-360 off the tee. The 31-year-old says he is thrilled by the chance to work with one of his childhood heroes in Woods.
“My favorite golfer growing up obviously was Tiger,” Trout added. “I thought it would be pretty cool to reach out. We reached out, got a positive vibe when we mentioned it and got his team down to the site. Once Tiger’s team came down to the site, they loved it. It’s surreal. I mean, it’s friggin’ Tiger! We talk now. I’m starting to get to know him. I talk to him over the telephone. It’s pretty crazy.”