Golf course architects Tom Fazio and Tom Fazio II designed the 36-hole layout, and the first course opened in 2004. The reviews were strong: Golf Magazine ranked it 73rd in the United States in 2005, and Golf Digest placed it 84th for 2005 and 2006. Membership cost as much as $300,000 as reported in 2012. The club hosted the U.S. Women's Open in July 2017, and in 2014 the Professional Golfers' Association of America awarded it the 2022 PGA Championship. In 2022, the club hosted the third event of the Saudi Arabian-sponsored LIV Golf Invitational Series. Whatever one's view of the club's owner, the course itself earned respect from golf's governing bodies -- at least for a time.

After winning the 2016 presidential election, Trump used the Bedminster clubhouse for transition meetings. Representative Leonard Lance predicted it would become "Camp David North," and in 2017 it was designated one of three official presidential residences alongside Trump Tower in New York and Mar-a-Lago in Florida. From May through September, when Mar-a-Lago closes for the season, Bedminster became the preferred retreat. Trump lived in a small cottage next to the communal swimming pool; a matching cottage housed his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. In August 2017, the estate hosted a 17-day "working vacation" while the White House underwent renovations. Similar summer stays followed in 2018 and 2019. On October 1, 2020, Trump held a fundraising event at the property; several hours later, back in Washington, his positive COVID-19 test was announced.

On January 10, 2021, days after the storming of the United States Capitol, the PGA of America announced it was stripping the 2022 PGA Championship from Bedminster. The organization concluded that hosting the tournament there would be "detrimental to the PGA of America brand." It was an extraordinary step -- major championships are rarely moved for non-logistical reasons -- and it underscored how thoroughly the club's identity had become entangled with its owner's political life. The decision did not end competitive golf at Bedminster; the LIV Golf event followed in 2022. But the PGA's withdrawal marked a moment when sport and politics collided on a fairway in central New Jersey.

The club's role as a presidential retreat created an unusual burden for the surrounding region. During Trump's stays, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed temporary flight restrictions within a 30-mile radius, affecting 19 airports in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Two airports -- Solberg-Hunterdon in Readington Township and Somerset Airport in Bedminster itself -- fell within the 10-mile inner zone and had to close entirely. For a rural area with active general aviation, the disruption was significant and recurring. Meanwhile, the property's tax status drew scrutiny of a different kind. Because much of the estate is used for agriculture -- growing hay and raising a small herd of goats -- parts of the Bedminster course qualify as farmland for property tax purposes. The Wall Street Journal estimated this reduced the tax bill from $80,000 to less than $1,000. The director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club accused Trump of "hiding behind a farmland assessment to get a massive tax break on a golf course." In 2015, Trump received approval to build a family cemetery on the estate, complete with a classical mausoleum -- an indication that his connection to this piece of New Jersey ground is intended to be permanent.