TRUMP INTERNATIONAL ABERDEEN COULD BECOME MAGNET FOR THE RICH

AND THE FAMOUS

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE

By ROBERT PHILIP
Donald Trump's arrival on Scottish soil has been frequently likened to that of Texan oil tycoon Felix Happer in the Hollywood movie Local Hero. But whereas Burt Lancaster's character was ultimately persuaded to allow the fictional village of Ferness to remain unspoiled by relocating his refinery offshore, Trump is determined to transform 2½ miles of 4,000-year-old coastal sand dunes into a championship links in his quest for golfing glory.
"We have the land to do it," he says of the Menie Estate (pictured above) in Aberdeenshire, "and I'm willing to spend the money to make it the finest course of its kind anywhere in the world."
As befitting the character of a man whose stated ambition is to eclipse St Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, and Turnberry (I could expand my net south) by staging an Open Championship, this new venture will not be called Balmedie to reflect its location on the North Sea coast, but the grandiose-sounding Trump International, Aberdeen (there is also a Trump International, Canouan Island, in the Grenadines) as opposed to the three Trump National courses in Westchester, New York, Bedminster, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, California.
As anyone who has seen the Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City or the Trump National Golf Course, Bedminster, where the 13th green sits in front of a 101-foot infinity waterfall, here is a man who does not 'do' understated; consequently, Trump International, Aberdeen, will cost £1 billion and comprise two championship courses, a golf academy, 950 holiday homes, 500 private houses and a 450-room five-star hotel.
The advantages to the area in terms of employment and tourism are obvious, but just as happened in 'Ferness' (the street scenes in Local Hero, incidentally, were actually shot in the village of Pennan, just a few miles away from the proposed Trump International, Aberdeen) some of the locals are restless. Conservation groups including the RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust are concerned that the complex will have a detrimental effect on animals and their rare sand dune habitat.
Trump, of course, has a different perspective. "It's going to mean jobs for the north-east which brings economic benefit. And all this is going to be around long after the oil has gone."
Felix Happer experiences an epiphany that results in him opting for an observatory rather than a refinery after forging a friendship with beachcomber Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay) on the silver screen, but Trump has yet to find a kindred spirit in local salmon fisherman Malcolm Forbes, who stubbornly refuses to sell his 23 acres on the edge of the planned development. The Forbes' family home, say the Trump camp, is a scruffy plot of land with a ramshackle house - scruffy and ramshackle it may be, but, according to reports, Mr Forbes rejected an offer of £1 million for his land by telling Trump to "stick your money".
With a Saltire and a sign protesting 'No Golf Course!' just a few hundred yards from where members and visitors will drive into the complex down Trump Boulevard, the thwarted mogul finally lost patience when he fumed: "Take a look and see how badly maintained the property is. It's disgusting. There are rusty tractors, rusty oil cans. . ."
Beauty being in the eye of the beholder, across the lane the mobile home belonging to Mr Forbes' 83-year-old mother, Molly, is named 'Paradise'. Oh, how The Donald (as one of his former wives, Ivana, called him) must wish he can stare at the Forbes across his boardroom table and bark: "You're fired!"
Trump's own late mother, Mary Macleod, was born in the village of Tong outside Stornoway before leaving the island of Lewis in 1930 for a new life in New York, where she met property developer Fred Trump at a dance. Mary Trump died in 2000 at the age of 88 having bequeathed her "passionate Scottishness" upon her son who devotes an entire section to his family history on the Trump International, Aberdeen website.

"That's why, after looking at 211 rival sites around the world," he says, "I really wanted this to be built in Scotland. Mary Macleod was seriously Scots.
"When I first saw this piece of land I was overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire coastline. I'd never seen such an unspoilt and dramatic seaside landscape. It's the perfect location."
Although Trump is a great fan of traditional links golf, it is safe to assume his new venture will be out of the ordinary one way or another. When golf.com sought the opinions of a number of panellists about his earlier designs, the results were, let's say, 'mixed':
"I've played Trump National in Florida and found it like its owner - extravagant, over the top and self-indulgent. . ."
"The design at Westchester is natural and classic. . ."
"I played Trump's Florida course and felt like I was in Disneyland. Too many gimmicks. . ."
"Given my preferences in golf - natural, traditional, low-key - and my distaste for The Donald's self-promoting ways, I was hell bent on hating the Florida course even before I saw it. But the course was excellent, it reminded me a great deal of Shadow Creek. . ."
"The gaudy front gate at Florida set the tone for the experience, exhibiting the taste of a Colombian drug lord. . ."
Trump can afford to shut his ears to any criticism. "My Florida course is the best in the state and the Trump National LA is better than Pebble Beach [which will stage its fifth US Open in 2010 and is the No 1 course in America, in the opinion of many experts]. I love Pebble Beach but even other people who love it tell me that Trump LA is superior. I have 3,000 acres and 2.5 miles of ocean - ocean, not bay. Every single hole has ocean views. What Pebble Beach has is history and some day Trump LA will have history - though I might not be around to see that day."
A close friend of fellow golf 'nuts' Prince Andrew and Sir Sean Connery (who has been offered membership number 007), it is safe to presume that the helicopter pad at Trump International, Aberdeen will become a magnet to the rich and famous, such as Bill Clinton and Michael Jordan, two of his regular golfing cronies.
Being one of the most powerful men in America allows Trump, who plays off a handicap of four, to pick and choose his partners. "I like to play with someone who can share a joke on the course. You can never forget that playing golf might be a passion but it's a hobby, it's not what I do to make a living.
"That's why Bill Clinton is such great company on the golf course. He's a pretty amazing player for someone who doesn't get to play that often. We talk a bit of golf, a bit of politics. He's a very interesting guy to be with. A lot of people are great players but not such great company. You learn a lot about people when you play golf with them."
As Donald Trump is fond of saying: "I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big."
Love it or loathe it, Trump International, Aberdeen is going to be the next big thing in golf.
http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/philip