Eighteen Holes With 'Apprentice's' Carolyn Kepcher

	Carolyn Kepcher

For Amish or amnesiac readers, Carolyn Kepcher has become famous as Donald Trump's right-hand woman on NBC's hit series "The Apprentice," the steely blue-eyed yin to the gruff yang of right-hand man George Ross.

Less well known is Kepcher's leadership role in Trump's ever-expanding golf operation. She serves as an executive vice president of The Trump Organization and managing partner of Trump Golf Management, LLC, the umbrella unit for all six current golf properties, and is responsible for both their marketing and operations.

Kepcher was a central figure in the creation of Trump National Golf Club, Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., in 2003, and Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, N.J., in 2004, working throughout course construction with their architects Tom, Jim and Tommy Fazio, and with input from Trump.
The two courses allegedly cost $120 million and now sport a combined membership of 600.

Kepcher's current tasks include overseeing the $150 million real estate sales offering of the Residences at Trump National (Westchester) as well as oversight of Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles, and Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Fla., which this year will again host the LPGA Tour's season-ending ADT Championship. (You may sense a not-so-coincidental branding theme.)

TheStreet.com spoke to Kepcher, 37, a married mother of two and far more affable than her TV persona would suggest, from her office at Trump National Golf Club, Westchester.

Tell us about your background in golf.

Believe it or not, I learned how to play golf after I took on the job here at Trump National. I didn't know anything about the game.

Then I took a few lessons, enjoyed it and started doing exceptionally well. And then two things got in the way -- Connor and Cassidy, my two kids. So I've put it off for a while, but now that they're almost 6 and 4, I'm starting to get back into it.

So how does someone without golf experience get into that side of Mr. Trump's business?

It was more on the business end of things in the beginning. First, I was doing sales and marketing -- budgets and controls, things like that. Then I learned the golf business very quickly.

What's a typical workday like for you?

I don't ever have a typical workday -- there's no such thing here. During the season, days are long.

We typically take some time off during the winter, but this has been a crazy ... winter. We had the opening of the California property about two months ago. We just opened the 65,000-square-foot clubhouse here at Westchester. We're in the midst of preparing to build an additional 18 holes at the Bedminster site. We just opened an additional nine holes at the Florida course. And we just closed the deal in Scotland. It's a very busy time.

When Mr. Trump got started in golf, there was a lot of emphasis in the press, not all of it positive, on trappings like the $7 million waterfall at the Westchester course. But the Bedminster property in particular has drawn raves. Is it a matter of golf getting used to Mr. Trump, or has Mr. Trump been altered by golf?

I wouldn't say altered. Right now, there are a lot of developers in golf. I don't think anyone is spending as much money or time as Donald is right now.

He's an avid golfer who loves the game. He has a new appreciation for developing and running courses. It's in his blood now. He's fostered great relationships with the USGA, PGA and LPGA. It's something he's dedicated himself to.

Is there a sense that the architecture of a Trump course somehow has to say "Trump"?

I can't speak to the courses, but I can say that we're chameleons at Trump Golf. We build according to the location -- it's conducive to the area, the land and the clientele.

Basically, Trump is synonymous with the best. Donald wants to make sure that every single one of these properties, no matter where it is or what it looks like, is competitive. You can say that about the courses and the clubhouses. And they fit in with their surroundings.

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