Donald Trump and golf is more than a game. It is a passion." In 1999, Trump opened his first golf course: the Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach in Florida. Land for the US$45 million course was acquired through a lawsuit against Palm Beach County, Florida after Trump's purchase of the Mar-a-Lago resort. By 2007, Trump owned 4 courses around the US. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Trump began purchasing existing golf courses and re-designing them. Golf courses owned by Trump hosted the LPGA Tour finale from 2001 to 2008, as well as the 2009 US Junior Amateur and US Junior Girls
Golf Digest lists called at different times "America's 100 Most Testing Courses" and "America's 100 Greatest Tests of Golf". The top ten on the 2009–10 list are as follows: The top ten on the 2007–08 list, published in May 2007, was as follows: The top ten on the 2005–06 list, published in May 2005, was as follows: Alongside the "100 Greatest Courses" ranking, and using the same methodology, "Golf Digest" publishes a list of "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses". In this context, "public" means a golf course that is open to play by the public, as opposed to a private club—not