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 necessarily a course operated by a governmental entity. The top ten on the 2007–08 list, also published in May 2007, was as follows: Of these courses, the only one that is operated by a governmental entity is Bethpage Black. In addition to its national rankings, "Golf Digest" also ranks courses at a state level. For example, in a 1998 survey of Connecticut Public Golf Courses, "Golf Digest" ranked Crestbrook Park Golf Course as one of Connecticut's top public golf courses. The magazine also compiles a list of the leading courses outside the United States. This is created using information from