Until Donald Trump came along I thought trump was a bridge term. Now it means “outlandish statement” or refers to golf courses with phoney waterfalls, as in that course is all “trumped up”. Anyway, he is trying to build the world’s finest links course with the worlds finest gated community in an area of Scotland’s coldest golfing conditions. I’d say good luck but his success is in the financing, his projects are 120% covered, he doesn’t need luck. The investors do.
Some of The Donald’s wisdom in our local newspaper here.
Princess Diana “I wish I’d had a chance to date (?) her, her skin was incredible.”
Handicap “I had it down to 1 but now it’s 4, it’s going up”
How many golf clubs do you own? “I have five, one in California with two miles of ocean front, it’s the number one in California. (Right, better than Cypress and Pebble), One in Palm Beach, which is the number one rated course in Florida, (right, maybe the best one within sight of a prison), another one in Bedminster built on John De Lorean’s estate and designed by Tom Fazio, another one in Westchester New York and one in Canouan Island in the Grenadines, which has been voted the best international course anywhere”. Right. He does have Sean Connery as his first member. I’d love to see the check (cheque). Connery just won his case about another not-so-free membership in California, at Thousand Oaks.
His number one course in California cost $264 million to build and is famous for having an 18th hole that slipped into the ocean. Trump said he bought it from the banks and “it’s already ahead of Pebble Beach”. Watch out for Clint!
On Dunes Trump said that his project will protect the dunes for a long time as he is planting Marin grass. The local authorities are skeptical, pointing out that “they seem to have been quite stable for the past 9,000 years”. In spite of every possible obstacle I think Trump will get permission to build his artificial links community in one of the most protected unspoilt areas of Scotland. A local Aberdeen citizen was quoted as “Will the last person to sell what remains of unspoiled Aberdeenshire please order more cement”. The movie “Local Hero” is getting lots of play here.
Years ago, when I was the Pro at Bayview, there was a protected green belt area running parallel to Highway #7. We were told that this area would be forever protected, a green area north of the “city”. Friends had a golf proposal but even a golf course wasn’t going to be allowed. When you fly into Chicago you see areas of green that were similarly protected 80 years ago. What happened In Markham? That whole area has been built on. Was it “trumped-up” ? Thankfully I heard recently that Uplands Golf Club is still “almost” there. Now that course should be protected!
