Trout teams with Tiger to build golf course in N.J.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout and 15-time major champion Tiger Woods are teaming up to build a new private golf club in southern New Jersey, the pair announced Monday.

Trout National-The Reserve will feature an 18-hole course that will be designed by Woods and his firm, TGR Design. The club will be built in Trout’s birthplace of Vineland, New Jersey, which is about 40 miles south of Philadelphia. Construction is scheduled to begin this year. They hope the club will be open to members in 2025.

The club will also include a practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, lodging and wedding chapel, according to a news release.

Trout grew up in Millville, New Jersey, about 7 miles from the location of the course. He and his wife, Jessica, still live in the area, as do his parents, siblings and in-laws.

“I could put down roots anywhere in the country, but Jessica and I make south Jersey our off-season home and always cherish the time we get to spend there,” Trout said in a news release. “I love south Jersey and I love golf, so creating Trout National-The Reserve is a dream come true. And then to add to that we’ll have a golf course designed by Tiger? It’s just incredible to think that this project has grown to where we’re going to be working with someone many consider the greatest and most influential golfer of all time.”

Local businesspeople John and Lorie Ruga are also partners in the project.

“I’ve always enjoyed watching Mike on the diamond so when the opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National-The Reserve, I couldn’t pass it up,” Woods said in a statement. “It’s a great site for golf and our team’s looking forward to creating a special course for Mike, Jessica, John and Lorie.”

The golf course will be built on the location of a former silica sand mine, according to the release.

Trout isn’t the first celebrity to own his own golf course. NBA legend Michael Jordan owns The Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound, Florida; actor/director Clint Eastwood built and owns Tehama Golf Club in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California; and country music legend George Strait previously had a stake in Tapatio Springs Golf Resort in Boerne, Texas. Pop star Justin Timberlake also owned and sold Mirimichi in Millington, Tennessee, a course he played as a child.