Connect with us

Opinion & Analysis

A Quick Nine: A Q&A with Eric Trump

Published

on

The 78th Kitchen Aid Senior PGA Championship is being held at Trump International Golf Club just outside Washington, D.C., this weekend. About two years ago I had lunch with then Presidential candidate Donald Trump at the venue, where he had given a tour of the changes he had made to the course in advance of the event. Now he has been bumped upstairs, and Eric Trump has taken over the mantle as head of the family’s extensive golf operations.

I had a chance to speak with Eric to get his thoughts on the game, the business of golf, coping with winds of politics and having The Donald as a father.

Michael Williams: So what do we call you now, Head of the Trump Organization?

Eric Trump: Well, we aren’t really “title” people, but I guess that’s the right name. We’ve had a wild ride the past couple of years, specifically this year. It’s been amazing and this tournament is a great culmination of everything that we’ve aimed for in the sport of golf. We have the U.S. Women’s Open coming up at Bedminster in about two months; we have the 2022 PGA Championship also at Bedminster, and we’re excited about that. And there are many other tournaments that we’re adding. Listen, we’re doing awesome as a family, we’re doing awesome as a company, and we’re just so blessed in life.

The 2017 Kitchen Aid Senior PGA Championship is being held at Trump National just outside Washington, D.C. This was an existing club. What is the story for how you found and acquired it?

Well, I actually went to school not to far from here at Georgetown University. I love the area here, and in 2009 the course came up for sale. It was brought to us, and I came down here to look at it. I remember calling my father from the course and saying, “Listen, this is something that we have to do, this place is incredible.” And the potential…you know, that is something that we’ve always done well as a company is recognize potential. I told my Dad that the potential here was unbelievable. So we ended up buying the course and we went to work the two of us, me and my father. It’s a very sentimental thing for me, because we spent a lot of time together working on it. We went through every inch of this property together. So in a certain way, this is a great testament to him and his vision. We rebuilt the course and made it into something amazing. It’s right on the Potomac River, and with the views of the falls and the river and the scenery…it’s just an unbelievably special place. It can never be duplicated ever again. I was on the course today with Colin Montgomery in the Pro-Am…

You just played in the pro-am? Who did you play with and how did you do?

I played with Colin Montgomerie and (defending Senior PGA Champion) Rocco Mediate. We did well, we came in second. But I want to audit the winner because I think they cheated! [Laughs] Just kidding. We played great…but when you hear Rocco Mediate, Colin, John Daly and all these other guys just raving about the course and the conditioning, it validates everything that we strived for each and every day to achieve, so I couldn’t be more proud.

What was the process for the Senior PGA Championship coming to Trump National, and was there any point over that “wild ride” of the last two years when there was doubt that the tournament would stay here?

I don’t think you “seek” tournaments, I think they seek you. They seek the best properties, and if you’re not the best you’re not going to get the tournaments, especially a tournament as prestigious as this one, or the Women’s Open or the PGA Championship. They seek you if you have the best course and the best location, and I think that’s what we have. This is 800 acres on the Potomac River right outside Washington, D.C. It’s an amazing facility with views like none other…an unbelievable course. Long, amazing, I mean, the putting surfaces are incredible, and it’s going to be an incredible test of golf. The USGA, the PGA, the R&A, the European Tour and all of the big agencies in golf, they want the best. And the players want the best. I care about one thing, and that is that this be the best championship that the seniors have ever had. Our whole team strives to achieve that, and I strive to achieve that every day. That’s who we are as a company, and I know that they are going to have an amazing experience. And that’s what its all about at the end of the day.

What is the current portfolio and where are the new acquisitions coming?

We have 19 properties around the world. We just opened our first course in the Middle East, in Dubai, designed by Gil Hanse. It’s an amazing, amazing course…second to none in that part of the world, and we’re building a second course there with Tiger Woods in 2018. We have two courses in Indonesia, one in Bali (Phil Mickelson), and one in Jakarta (Ernie Els), and both of those will be amazing. As you probably know, we bought Turnberry two years ago and that course has been on the cover of every golf magazine and has won every accolade, and we’re so proud of that. And of course there’s Doral, and you know what we’ve done with that property. There’s Ferry Point in New York City, which has been such an amazing success for the city of New York and for us as a company. People really love that course. And we have our course just outside L.A, overlooking Catalina Island right on the Pacific Ocean, it’s so spectacular…I could go on and on. We’ve really done something great in this world; we care about golf, we love the game. We’ve dumped our heart and soul into it, and we’ve really built something that’s awesome.

Did you grow up playing golf? Did you get your knowledge and passion for golf “from the ground up?”

I did play, yes. I developed my love of the game certainly from the ground up playing, but also from the business of the game. I spent a long time and my father spent a lot longer time building vertical towers, and right around 2000 we got into the game of golf. I came into the business in about 2005; we had three golf courses, and from that point on we went on kind of a tear, going from three to 19 courses today. I did every single one of those courses with my father; built them, bought them, developed them…to build the portfolio into what it is today. So my love of golf comes from all that, from playing, and quite frankly because I get to spend so much time with [my father] on these courses. There’s no one who loves the game of golf more [than him]; he loves everything about it. It’s special to me beyond playing. It’s the game I care about, a game that creates so much good. You know, more charity dollars are generated by golf than all the other major sports combined. More people have gotten jobs because of golf, friendships are created, deals are done because of golf. It’s an amazing sport.

Does having a father in the White House make your job harder or easier? Is it difficult to isolate yourself from the politics?

It’s funny. There’s certainly a lot of noise. No matter who or when you’re talking about, politics creates a lot of noise. And Washington is a tough town. Politicians aren’t always the greatest people, and I think that’s one of the reasons I choose to stay on this side of the aisle instead of the other. At the same time, what my father accomplished, what we accomplished as a family, is something very special. I’ll never forget the last two years; he did some thing no one said he would do or could do. Virtually everybody got it wrong and he did what he does best; he worked and he fought and he proved a lot of people wrong. Somebody at the end of the campaign right before the election came up to me and said, “Listen, I think that this election is going to be celebrity versus family and believe me, the American people are going to choose family.” So I think that if there’s one thing that came out of this is that we showed that as a family you fight together, you win together. I think everybody saw the bond that we have, which started at a young age but really came together in the business and everything else that we’ve done. We love each other; my father is an amazing man and he has a heart of gold and I’m truly proud of him. So, does politics make it more difficult? Absolutely. But as a business, we’re a non-political company. We do not get involved in politics; we can’t get involved in politics because we have people checking into hotels every night and they’re Democrats and Republicans. But it has certainly been fun and interesting, and I’m incredibly proud of him.

Who is the best player in the family?

My father is. He’s a great, great putter and he’s very consistent. He’s a legitimate 2-3 handicap. He’s a real player, and he surprises a lot of people. Younger people challenge him, and then he’ll go out and not miss a putt. If you ever play with him, leave your wallet in the car!

Will we see the President on the weekend at Trump National?

It’s totally his decision. I know that he’d love to, but it’s his call you make. I wonder how he’s going to feel after this trip. I’ve been watching him on TV every day and I’m kind of living life vicariously through the news channels. (NOTE: POTUS came on a TV screen right behind us as we were talking). I took a look at his schedule: Saudi Arabia, Israel and then going to the NATO meetings. He is just working himself so incredibly hard, but he’d love to be here. He’s friends with so many of the players; he loves the game and he loves this property. Let’s see how he feels.

I once predicted that Donald Trump would be the next PGA Tour Commissioner, but as it turns out he took a different job. You have a pretty good job, but if you were to change what would it be?

There’s so many things that are interesting, but I love building. I think my father would choose building over anything else, and I share that DNA with him. He loves building; I love building. He loves taking a building and watching it materialize on the skyline; I like taking a golf course and making it spectacular. I love taking a Turnberry and renovating it to what many consider to be the best course and hotel anywhere in the world. This is what gets us up in the morning and what we fall asleep doing at night. I think I found my calling; I think I found my passion. When you combine golf with real estate and construction to make things beautiful and vitalized and add an entrepreneurial sprit, then you’ve got a great combination. I think we’ve proven that can be very successful, and I think that’s why we’re sitting where we are today with all of these championships at beautiful courses that are thriving, and that’s a great thing for the game of golf. Golf needs more of that, and fortunately I think we’ve gotten a lot of credit for it because we put our whole heart and should into this industry and these assets. It’s all materializing, and events on the [the Senior PGA Championship] are the proof.

Williams has a reputation as a savvy broadcaster, and as an incisive interviewer and writer. An avid golfer himself, Williams has covered the game of golf and the golf lifestyle including courses, restaurants, travel and sports marketing for publications all over the world. He is currently working with a wide range of outlets in traditional and electronic media, and has produced and hosted “Sticks and Stones” on the Fox Radio network, a critically acclaimed show that combined coverage of the golf world with interviews of the Washington power elite. His work on Newschannel8’s “Capital Golf Weekly” and “SportsTalk” have established him as one of the area’s most trusted sources for golf reporting. Williams has also made numerous radio appearances on “The John Thompson Show,” and a host of other local productions. He is a sought-after speaker and panel moderator, he has recently launched a new partnership with The O Team to create original golf-themed programming and events. Williams is a member of the United States Golf Association and the Golf Writers Association of America.

Opinion & Analysis

The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

Published

on

As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!

Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.

Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.

One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?

Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.

Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.

Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”

For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…

Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…

That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.

Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.

@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic

Continue Reading

Podcasts

Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

Published

on

Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!

Continue Reading

Opinion & Analysis

On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

Published

on

Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by BBC SPORT (@bbcsport)

“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”

Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.

That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.

As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.

I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.

One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.

The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.

If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.

Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.

As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.

It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.

David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.

In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:

“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”

Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

Eventually, though, something shifts.

We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.

Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.

Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.

Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.

So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.

I see someone evolving.

He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.

It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.

Continue Reading

Trending