Trout National- The Reserve
For the second time in his life, Mike Trout has landed a dream job.
The 11-time Major League Baseball all-star and three-time American League Most Valuable Player already has the career that anyone who’s ever suited up to play Little League Baseball would dream of.
Now, with a contract with the Los Angeles Angels that runs through 2030, the 33-year-old Millville native has added golf course owner to his resume with the creation of Trout National – The Reserve, located not far from Route 55 in Vineland, bordering the outfielder’s hometown of Millville. Owning a course is a role that he’s always imagined since shortly after first picking up a golf club and learning the joys of the sport while he was busy dominating the scholastic baseball scene in South Jersey during his high school days.
“It’s one of the things I’ve always dreamed about,” Trout said while sitting 10 feet beside a large map of the 18-hole members-only club that he and partners John and Lorie Ruga, owners of the Vineland-based construction company Northeast Precast, will open at roughly this time next year.
“There’s going to be a time when I’m not playing [Major League Baseball] anymore and… you talk to a lot of former pro athletes and baseball players who’ve been in the game for a while and [they say] the first year of not playing, you’ve got to find something to do. This is definitely something that will keep me busy, but I just truly enjoy the game of golf. Getting the opportunity to make decisions and being able to build what we want and how we want, I think that’s the coolest part about it.”
Another cool part? How about the fact that Tiger Woods’ course design company, TGR Design, has been helping the South Jersey natives carve out this unique track planned as a par-72, 7,455-yard course that mixes Links and Parkland styles. Woods has visited at least five times and is truly taking a hands-on approach to crafting a unique, challenging and fun golf experience, bringing Trout and the Rugas’ vision to life.
“When Tiger comes out to the course and has his visits, it’s pretty amazing to see him visualize and then watch him change a hole,” Trout explained. “Being able to look at a blank slate, [he’ll say] ‘you need a bunker here and a bunker there.’ On [hole] No. 18, back in August, when I came back, they shaped out the whole fairway and everything the way he visualized and it was almost done, and then we get on the tee box. He gets up there and says, ‘No, I don’t like it, we need to move the fairway to the left, add a waste area, I don’t like you hitting it this way.’ It’s pretty amazing to just watch him work.”
Woods watches as Ruga hits a shot
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John Ruga has been around construction his entire life since working for his father’s company, Jersey Contractors, before starting his own company in 1998. He’s seen a lot but was genuinely impressed with the intricacies of creating a golf paradise on the 280-acre property that was formerly the site of a silica sand mine and adjacent farmland.
“We have site work equipment, so we moved the bulk of the dirt and did most of the land clearing,” said Ruga, a 1987 Buena High School graduate who grew up in the tiny town of Dorothy, east of Vineland. “Then once we had a layout, Tiger had his shapers on site and Marc Burger is his main guy. He’s like DaVinci on a ‘dozer. The bulldozer was his paintbrush. It was really fun to watch because he never had a print in front of him.
“When Marc was on the dozer, whatever he was building was in his head based on what Tiger would say. Tiger would give him parameters of what he wanted and then the rest was on him. I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve been building my whole life, and this was something unique and to see him do what he did to this property was incredible.”
According to Mike’s brother Tyler, a 2006 Millville High grad and former member of the Thunderbolts golf team, the course is expected to employ 100-110 people in full-time, year-round positions. Plus, there will be several dozen part-time and seasonal positions that will need to be filled as well.
“But it’s more than that,” said Tyler, the development director of Trout National. “For example, all of the people out there now who have been creating the course are local crews, and then once we’re operational, it’s the vendors and other people and businesses who support a club of this stature. So, the economic impact on the community will have a massive ripple effect.”
Ruga, a 56-year-old Vineland resident who met Trout while being involved in building the baseball star’s home in Cumberland County, added: “It’s a snowball effect and that makes it nice to be involved in. Knowing that it’s creating more opportunities for the community and just the exposure it will bring to the community is really pretty special.”
From left: partner and businessman John Ruga, MLB All-Star and Millville native Mike Trout and course designer Tiger Woods stroll the fairways at Trout National – The Reserve.
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As for the golf legend turned course designer, Woods has watched Trout’s exploits in the Majors over the years and jumped at the chance to work with the 2009 Millville High grad and 25th overall player chosen in that year’s MLB Draft.
“I’ve always watched Mike on the diamond so when an opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National – The Reserve, I couldn’t pass it up,” said Woods in a statement from Trout National. “It’s a great site for golf and our team is creating a special course for Mike, Jessica [Mike’s wife], John and Lorie.”
Trout’s admiration of Woods is certainly mutual.
“The first time we met was through golf and he was really the whole reason I got into golf in the first place,” Trout said, echoing the sentiments of many golfers who’ve taken up the game over parts of the last four decades. “Being able to see him on a personal level and see him working at the course…. It was cool to see that different personality. Most people only get to watch him compete and it’s strictly business and now designing the course and to be able to talk to him like I’m talking to you, it’s pretty cool to get to know him.”
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Heading for Home
Trout hopes the private club can offer an escape for its members. Getting out of the spotlight and onto the serenity of a golf course is something that the nine-time Silver Slugger Award winner truly enjoys. He also has a great love for his hometown. So to be able to partner with the Rugas and bring this project home to South Jersey has special meaning.
“With baseball, it’s your life, but to be able to have something that can distract you from it and help you get away from it a little bit, it’s a big help,” Trout said. “Even before we started with the course, golf was always kind of my thing — you know, play a round of golf to just get away from baseball a little bit. I really just enjoy it.”
And as much as Trout likes getting out on the course, he relishes returning to South Jersey where he can spend time with his loved ones who have meant so much to him.
Both Ruga and Trout also feel that it’s special to have the opportunity to build Trout National – The Reserve in what is basically both men’s backyard.
“It’s definitely great to be giving back to South Jersey,” Ruga said. “There’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of people here: South Jersey, Vineland, Millville. You’ve got to have the courage to take a dream and make it happen and we’re seeing it now. We know this will have a big impact, not just on Vineland and Cumberland County, but this is going to have an impact on golf in the entire Northeast. What we’re creating here is one of a kind.”
Trout added: “Going through all of the [draft] process when I was in high school and then when I got to the big leagues, the biggest thing for me was trying to put South Jersey, and really all of New Jersey, on the map. [Baseball players] get overlooked up here a lot because we only get 25 games [during the high school season] and we’re not really playing year-round like the states down south or out in California.
“Every opportunity that comes up, I try and figure out a way to get South Jersey involved, whether it’s publicly speaking about the area, doing stuff like this, to get involved or give back. Every chance I get to recognize the Millville and Vineland areas or the South Jersey area where I came from, I try to do that. I love it here. And really, that’s one of the reasons I come back a lot. It’s where I was brought up. We live here in the offseason. The people have treated me great and like I said, I just enjoy it.”
In living out his baseball dreams, Trout put South Jersey on the map, and he’s trying to do it again with his dream job in golf.
MENTAL HEALTH
There are many unique and interesting parts of Trout National — The Reserve, the private members-only golf course being built in Vineland by Major League Baseball star and Millville native, Mike Trout and his partners, the Rugas, John and Lorie, the CEO and COO of Northeast Precast in Vineland.
There’s a peninsula green on Hole No. 8, a fully lit 18-hole short course, a 7,600 square-foot performance center, and a 30,000 square-foot putting course and short-game area.
But nothing on the course is more significant to the 11-time American League All-Star, than Aaron’s. Named after Mike’s late brother-in-law, Aaron Cox, a former Angels minor leaguer who passed away in 2018 at the age of 24. Aaron was known as the life of the party. Aaron’s will be one of the premier hangout spots. Spanning the 8th to 11th holes, it features wrap-around terraces, fire pits, outdoor cooking, and an indoor-outdoor bar where members and guests can gather to relax.
Aaron’s, named after Mike Trout’s late brother-in-law Aaron Cox, will be one of the premier hang out spots at Trout National.
Aaron’s is not just a place for fun, it’s Trout and wife Jessica’s chance to recognize the importance of mental health. Mike and Jessica don’t have an official foundation but a lot of their philanthropic efforts and charitable works are pointed toward suicide prevention and mental health resources all because of Aaron, who Mike considered one of his best friends.
“People need to speak up and I think just trying to bring awareness to these issues is important,” Trout said. “For me, with my platform, mental health is huge and it’s a big problem and to be able to bring the awareness to it means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family, my wife, her family.
Even for someone as successful and accomplished as Trout is, he has certainly seen his struggles on the diamond and, like anyone else, you can bring things home and get a lot of things stuck in your head. But he’s recognized, personally, what helps him and advocates that others should do the same.
“I think speaking up and talking, instead of sitting back,” said the 33-year-old, three-time AL MVP. “There were some times when I was going through some tough situations and, knowing the process and talking about mental illness and how to make it better, I knew I needed to speak up about it.
“Instead of sitting in the corner, taking it all on yourself and thinking about how terrible the situation may be, think about the positive things. In my case, just have the conversations with your trainers, have the conversation with your wife, your family members, whoever. Sometimes that’s all you need, just to be able to get it off your chest and speak to somebody.”
Despite his unfortunate luck with injuries over the last five seasons, he’s on the right mental track and ready for a big 2025.
“The last few years haven’t gone the way I’ve planned,” said Trout, who’s played in 319 of a possible 810 games since the start of the 2020 season due to a variety of injuries. “It’s been frustrating, trying to get back quick and then having the bump in the road and the setbacks. Things haven’t gone my way but I’m fully good to go this year, fully healthy, and really looking forward to it.”
