With former President Donald Trump spending his summers in the township, Bedminster is accustomed to having celebrities within its borders.
This weekend, the township will host 48 professional golfers as they compete in the new LIV Golf’s third event at Trump National Golf Club on Lamington Road.
For Trump, hosting the controversial breakaway tour’s event at his club could be sweet revenge. The PGA of America moved its 2022 championship, one of golf’s four major championships, away from Trump National after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Trump and the PGA later reached an out-of-court settlement over the move.
Last week, on his Truth Social site, Trump encouraged current players on the PGA Tour to jump to LIV, where there is guaranteed money, no cuts and shorter tournaments.
“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year,” Trump wrote. “If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
Trump will host another LIV event Oct. 27-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami.
The PGA Championship was expected to draw tens of thousands of spectators each day of the four-round tournament. But there have been no concrete estimates of how many spectators will attend the LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster to be held from Friday to Sunday.
However, because LIV is backed by Saudi Arabian money and Trump is involved, some of those who might be showing up at the tournament won’t be there to watch golf.
Members of 9/11 Justice, a group whose loved ones were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and believe Saudi Arabia should be held accountable, have urged Trump to cancel the event. The group demonstrated outside LIV’s previous event outside Portland.
Previous demonstrators. both supporters and opponents of Trump, were allowed to gather at a “free speech” zone at the township’s Clarence P. Dillon Library at the corner of Route 206 and Lamington Road.
For those who want to watch golf, tickets are $75 per day. Gates will open at 10 a.m. before the 1 p.m. start on each of the tournament’s three days. Discounts of 25% are available for youths, students, teachers, medical personnel and first responders. Military personnel and one guest will be admitted for free. Unlike tournaments on the PGA Tour, LIV will have a shotgun start with the 48 golfers starting on threesomes on each of the course’s 18 holes.
But it’s not going to be the normal shotgun start. Members of the Frog-X Parachute Team will skydive onto the course to kick off the action.
Besides the golf, the tournament will offer a Fan Village with what LIV is calling “a food festival-style atmosphere.” There will also be a LIV Kids Zone for children which will include crafts soft play equipment, glow-in-the-dark mini-golf putting course and educational activities.
Also within the Fan Village will be LIV Golf’s Performance Center, featuring the latest golf technology and golf simulator bays. Fans can also test putting skills on the Zen Green Stage, touted as golf’s most advanced indoor playing surface, recreating any makeable putt in the world.
There will also be the Metaverse, where fans can experience virtual reality golf exhibits. LIV Golf’s Eco Village will offer a chance to relax in an eco-friendly setting where fans can refill water bottles at a hydro station, charge cellphones by pedaling a bike, watch a 3D printer create golf tees from recycled plastic and attempt to chip golf balls into a canoe to raise money for local charities.
There will be two free parking locations – Red Tail Farm, 1100 Rattlesnake Bridge Road, just north of the Interstate 78 intersection and 655 Lamington Road. From the Lamington parking lot shuttle buses will take spectators to the main tournament gate at Red Tail Farm.
The field will include 10 major champions with a combined 20 majors tournament victories, four former world No. 1 players and half of the competitors currently ranked in the top 100. Players will compete for a $25 million purse.
Featured players will be Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer and Patrick Reed.
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
