Trump Course Has Opening Today

Trump National Golf Club has its oft-delayed opening today, when, for the first time, the general public will be allowed to play all 18 holes at the Rancho Palos Verdes course.

Owner Donald Trump originally planned to have the course open to the public in the middle of last year, but construction and permitting delays pushed it back several times. Today’s opening was made possible when the city of Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday night issued a temporary, 90-day operating permit for public use.

During the 90 days, course operators need to satisfy a final list of conditions set forth by the city or else the permanent operating permit will be withheld, said Greg Pfost, the city’s deputy planning director.

Green fees are $195 weekdays before noon and $145 after noon. On weekends, it will cost $300 before noon and $195 after.

Trump National, formerly Ocean Trails, has been mired in a sea of logistical problems since its 18th hole famously slid toward the ocean in a 1999 landslide.

It operated as a 15-hole course from November 2000 through August 2004. That’s when Trump, who purchased the property in 2002, shut it down and began a massive re-design project that included rebuilding the destroyed 18th.

The project was completed in late summer and the LPGA held a tournament there Sept. 30-Oct. 3 under a special-use permit.

-- Peter Yoon