Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach: Championship

West Palm Beach, FL • Private

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Courtesy of Trump Organization

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Courtesy of Trump Organization

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Courtesy of Trump Organization

Overview

Long before he was President of the United States, or even a TV reality show host, Donald Trump built a golf course, on prime real estate in West Palm Beach, which he got from Palm Beach County. In exchange for a 100-year lease, Trump agreed not to sue the county for noise disturbance to Mar-A-Lago resort. He hired Tom Fazio’s older, less-celebrated brother Jim Fazio to design a course that would rival Trump’s casino rival Steve Wynn’s baby, No. 27 Shadow Creek in Vegas. Jim moved 2 million cubic yards of dirt to create 58 feet of elevation change and planted 5,000 mature trees. Lakes linked by recirculating streams were built, as was a monolithic waterfall on the 17th. The result is Shadow Creek Southeast. “Steve Wynn is a friend of mine,” Trump said in a 1999 interview. “I did get certain ideas from Shadow Creek because I think he did a very good job. I made them bigger and better.”

About

Holes 18

Facility Type Private

Designer Jim Fazio

Awards

100 Greatest: Ranked 84th, 2005-'06.

Second 100 Greatest: Ranked since 2013. Highest ranking: No. 151, 2013-'14. 2021-'22 ranking: No. 195.

Best in State: Ranked inside the top 5, 2005. Ranked eighth, 2011-'12. Ranked ninth, 2011-'12, 2017-'18. Ranked tenth, 2013-'14. Ranked inside the top 10, 2001, 2007-'10. Ranked 11th, 2015-'16, 2019-'20. Ranked 13th, 2021-'22. Ranked inside the top 15, 2003.

Current ranking: 14th.

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.3

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options

7.1234

Character

7.1259

Challenge

7.3358

Layout Variety

7.1315

Fun

7.0358

Aesthetics

7.3975

Conditioning

7.5187

Reviews

1 / 6

Review

“The golf course was in excellent condition. The greens were firm, but receptive and the fairways had plenty of roll. The fairways were narrow with some holes giving a bowl-like feel. I believe I saw one weed on the entire course, which combined with the waterfalls and tributaries running through the course made it a serene experience. There are large, sloping bunkers lining the fairways on plenty of holes, but they do not really come into play. The greens are small and long, but have more tilt than slope. For the quality of the course as a whole, the lack of shot options and simplicity of the greens was fairly striking. Overall, it was a fun course to play."

2022

2 / 6

Review

“Hard to believe there is so much elevation change for a Florida course, and it's used well to create a difficult course. Water is abundant and used wisely through the design to force shot choices, as well as adds to majestic aesthetics, memorable holes. Ambience is very rich throughout course and clubhouse. They also have additional nine, which is more traditional, but has an island green hole (No. 8) that is outstanding."

2021

3 / 6

Review

“Trump International Golf Club is a great example of a beautiful Tom Fazio golf course. The club and its ownership spares no expense to keep the course from being in near perfect condition. Well placed, bunkers, some exciting golf holes and strong green complexes do not disappoint and certainly add to the overall feel and experience."

2021

4 / 6

Review

“The par 5s were the best group of holes, all appeared reachable but full of risks in the form of water, sand, and vegetation hazards as well as challenging green complexes and large undulating greens with many good pin placements. The par 4s had much variety and the par threes were average in shot values, however with challenging greens that increased the resistance to scoring factor."

2021

5 / 6

Review

“Beautiful course as expected, walkable with good shot values. Some of the best greens I've putted on but the fairways were too lush and soft for my taste"

2018

6 / 6