National Patch Time

By Peter Yoon

July 21, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Hyperbole is the essence of Donald Trump’s vernacular, so it was difficult to know how seriously to take him last week when he said that he had no doubt that his new Trump National Golf Club would be ready in time for an LPGA tournament at the end of September.

A quick look around the oceanside course in Rancho Palos Verdes might indicate otherwise.

Trucks and bulldozers are scattered around the property and dozens of workers scurry about trying to put the final touches on a project that has been under construction for more than a decade.

A planned 75-foot waterfall behind the first green is still just a large concrete structure with steel poles sticking from it. There are several construction staging areas around the course that are exactly what they look like: large dirt patches.

The green on the first hole was planted only a week ago -- barely in time for the 60-day period required for it to grow in and be ready for the start of the LPGA event Sept. 30 -- and if nobody pointed out the site of the proposed driving range, it easily could be mistaken for a barren field littered with mounds of loose dirt.

Still, during a visit to the course July 13, Trump insisted that even though the June 1 public opening he announced this year had long passed without a green fee paid, the course will be ready when Annika Sorenstam arrives to defend her title in the Office Depot Championship.

“This is pretty much ready now,” Trump said, ignoring that he was talking while standing on top of a huge dirt mound behind the first hole.

Coming from a developer who for almost three years has cavalierly proclaimed that Trump National would be “better than Pebble Beach,” and last week praised everything from the stones used to build the retaining walls to the golf carts and lawn mowers -- “nobody has better lawn mowers than us,” he said -- it was a statement best served with a grain of salt.

LPGA officials, however, say they aren’t terribly concerned, even though their tournament is less than 10 weeks away. They’ve kept a close eye on the construction progress, and representatives from the tour have visited twice in the last two months to make sure deadlines have been met.

The main areas of concern are the first and 17th greens, sites of the waterfalls Trump has added to enhance the aesthetics, and the absence of a driving range. Thus far, they seem satisfied.

“We sort of hooked on to the end of July before we were going to start looking for another site,” said Barbara Trammell, vice president of tournament operations for the LPGA. “Obviously we had to be prepared to do that, but at this point we feel comfortable that the course will be ready.”

Joel Rojas, director of planning, building and code enforcement for Rancho Palos Verdes, pointed out that the course does not need to be open to the public before the LPGA tournament. They can obtain a special-use permit for tournament week.

“They had expectations that the course would open to the public in June, and we thought that was optimistic,” Rojas said. “Right now we’re more focused on what we have to do to get the tournament happening.”

The course can be played in its current state. Course officials booked several charity tournaments for the last six weeks, and the Dodgers and Oscar De La Hoya are among those who have held tournaments under special-use permits.

General Manager Mike Van der Goes said that obtaining permits and having inspectors sign off on the work for the construction of the waterfalls and the driving range have caused most of the delays. A range of agencies, including the California Coastal Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, the City Council and the Department Fish and Game, had to approve the projects.

“Building the water features took a lot longer than what we thought,” Van der Goes said. “You’ve got eight or nine different agencies that we need to have a stamp of approval before we can even move forward.”

The waterfalls aren’t necessary for the LPGA tournament. An incomplete first green and driving range could have been deal-breakers. The first green was planted just in time, but the driving range, approved in June, will not be completed before the LPGA tournament. Trump has applied for a special permit to build a temporary driving range to be used during the LPGA tournament, and Rojas said there should be no problem in approving it in time for the event.

The LPGA’s Trammell said that would be satisfactory.

“Our main concern now is the driving range,” she said. “But they have broken ground on it and they are going to sod it instead of seed, so it will be ready faster. It should be ready to go in about four to six weeks.”

Logistical problems may still hamper the event. Parking is scarce around the course, so spectators probably will have to use lots in nearby San Pedro and then take shuttles to the tournament. Once there, getting around the course figures to be a concern.

The fairways are narrow and surrounded mostly by natural, environmentally protected areas. Many of the holes have parallel fairways, which would allow viewing of multiple holes from one spot, but if the galleries are large, they might not fit in some places.

“That is definitely going to be a challenge,” Trammell said. “We’re going to have to do some things in terms of course setup to try and facilitate spectator movement. We’ll select certain tees that we might not normally use. It’s going to be a pretty big task getting fans around there.”

Trump isn’t that concerned about it. He had areas around many of the greens built amphitheater style to accommodate fans. The cart paths have been built extra wide -- 11 feet -- to accommodate people walking around. And the course has secured permission to build stands in some environmentally protected areas.

“We can have up to 75,000 people here, easy, for tournaments,” Trump said. “We’ve designed the cart paths for galleries. You can have thousands of people around the green, yet everyone has a great view of the greens.”

Trump bought the course -- formerly known as Ocean Trails -- out of bankruptcy in August 2002. The previous owners had run out of money while trying to repair damage from a 1999 landslide that sent the 18th hole sliding toward the Pacific Ocean.

The course operated as a 15-hole layout from November 2000 through last August before Trump closed it to commence a rebuilding and redesign project with an estimated cost of nearly $100 million.

Opening the course to the public and showing off one of the few courses in the nation that has an ocean view on every hole isn’t among Trump’s foremost concerns. He plans to charge green fees of $195 on weekdays and $300 on weekends and said he would like to begin earning back his investment, but completing the course the way he wants it is far more important.

“The land here is too important to not do the best possible job,” Trump said. “To have 2 1/2 miles on the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles is just unheard of. With a piece of land like this, you don’t want to blow it. You’ve got to do it right. I just wanted to take my time and make sure I did that. I could have opened this a year ago if I wanted to do a nice easy job, but that’s not my thing.”

There is no longer an official opening date for the public. There will be a grand opening ceremony Aug. 10, but it is uncertain whether the public will play then. Some have guessed that opening day might not be until after the LPGA leaves town Oct. 2.

“The list of things that need to be completed before it can open to the public is long,” Rojas said.

But no matter how long it is, Trump said, the wait will be worth it.

“My thing is, I have the No. 1-rated course in Florida, I have the best course in New York and the one in New Jersey, a lot of people say, is going to top everything,” he said. “I wanted to build the best one in California.”

The hyperbole, he said, is just an indication of his passion.

“If you’re not passionate about it, it’s never going to be successful,” he said.

So, although many things are uncertain, this much is clear: Trump will continue to trumpet the Pebble Beach line he has been using since he bought the course.

“I said we were going to make a course that was better than Pebble Beach, and that’s what we’ve done,” he said.

This week

PGA TOUR

U.S. Bank Championship

* Site: Milwaukee.

* Schedule: Today-Sunday.

* Course: Brown Deer Park Golf Course (6,759 yards, par 70).

* Purse: $3.8 million. Winner’s share: $684,000.

* Television: USA Network (today-Friday, 4-6 p.m., delayed) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

* 2004 champion: Carlos Franco.

CHAMPIONS TOUR and EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR

Senior British Open