Real estate mogul Donald Trump announced he is bringing the 33rd annual PGA Grand Slam of Golf to Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes. The 36-hole tournament showcasing the four winners of the year’s major golf championships will take place Oct. 19-21, Trump and PGA officials said Tuesday. It’s the first PGA tournament at the 261-acre luxury golf club overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. The golf course will also host this year’s PGA Junior League Championship Oct. 17-19. The Golf Channel will televise the Grand Slam and highlights from the Junior League championship.
The PGA Grand Slam will bring together the four winners of the Masters Tournament, which takes place April 9-12 in Augusta, Ga.; the U.S. Open, June 18-21 in University Park, Wash.; the Open Championship, July 16-19 in St. Andrews, Scotland; and the PGA Championship, Aug. 13-16 in Kohler, Wis. If a golfer wins more than one tournament, a system is in place to select a fourth player. Prize money has not yet been announced, but in the past it has been $1.35 million, $600,000 of which goes to the first place winner.
Past winners include defending champion Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
At a press conference attended by PGA officials and community leaders, PGA of America President Derek Sprague called the Grand Slam “an event that is based on the most difficult qualification requirements in all of golf.”
This year’s event will mark the Grand Slam’s return to the United States mainland since 1993 after eight years in Bermuda and 13 in Hawaii before that.
Sprague said the golf course at Trump National will provide a challenge to the world’s finest players and told Trump the PGA is “thrilled to align with you and your organization and create the next chapter in the great history of this event.”
Last year, Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C., in Potomac Falls, Va., was named host of the 2017 Senior PGA Championship and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., was named host of the PGA Championship in 2022.
Sitting beside Sprague, PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua and Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Jim Knight, Trump said the showcase of champions “will bring tremendous income to the local economy.”
Closing the course for the tournaments, he said, was an expensive choice, but the PGA Grand Slam was “something that we wanted.”
Sprague added that the 80 youth players competing in the Junior League championship and their families traveling to Rancho Palos Verdes will add to the economic impact.
The event is expected to draw thousands, according to PGA Senior Director of Championships David Charles.
Unlike larger tournaments that have dozens of golfers, the Grand Slam’s limited field of four players will offer spectators a more intimate view.
“You’re a part of the action,” Bevacqua said. “The people who come here and watch — and we think the crowd will be really tremendous here at Trump LA — you’re going to see major champions play golf and have an experience that people aren’t used to anymore in the world of sports. And that’s an exciting element to this.”
At a press conference in January announcing an 11.5 acre land easement over the golf course’s driving range to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, Trump hinted that a “really big” tournament would be announced soon.
The Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance car show will move to the Los Verdes Golf Course after eight years at Trump National.
Tickets to the Grand Slam will be limited and prices will be announced later in the season.