Trump team comes up trumps at Trump

 

Picture caption: Team Trump Ross Allteron, left, and Chris Turner, right, with former Ryder Cup player Paul Way

 

A Trump team came out on top in the final of the 2018 DF Communications Business Golf League.

Ross Allerton, reservations and membership manager, and Chris Turner, head of golf sales Scotland (Trump Aberdeen and Trump Turnberry) triumphed over their home course - Trump International Golf Links (Scotland).

In a two-ball scramble format the Trump team finished in first place, with GAC Services UK in second place and Duncan and Todd in third. More than £1,000 was raised on the day for the Cash for Kids charity. As winners, the Trump team will pick the charity to benefit from the 2019 event.

The winners received their prizes at the event’s dinner at MacLeod House where former Ryder Cup player Paul Way gave an entertaining speech.

Craig Forsyth, sales director at DF Communications, said: “Congratulations to the Trump team on their success at this year’s event. They made home advantage count. The final was a superb opportunity for players to network over a game of golf at a first-class venue.

“This was the first time we held a dinner and we plan to do the same next year. Paul Way was excellent, and this year’s event couldn’t have gone any better.”

Other teams taking part in the final were Premier Investigations, Knight Frank, Aberdeen Property Leasing, DF Communications, HVAC, Equalizer International, Falck Safety Services, Right People and Nu-Style Products.

Second course back on plan for Trump's Balmedie Links

NEWS RELEASE
Donald Trump and his organisation are expanding the Trump International Golf Links at Balmedie, 12 miles up the North-east coastline from Aberdeen.

The Aberdeenshire Council has approved a proposal that will allow a second 18-hole golf course to be built on the resort, the clubhouse of which is pictured right.
Though the original proposal was sent in 2015, the announcement comes at a curious time.
Last week, an attorney for the President-elect made a promise that “no new foreign deals will be made whatsoever” by Trump's businesses, in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest during his presidency.
However, a spokesperson for Trump said the plans do not apply to this ban, as it is not a new foreign deal. “Implementing future phasing of existing properties does not constitute a new transaction so we intend to proceed," she  said
This is not the first time the resort has seen controversy. Its opening saw a backlash as the property was built on "a unique, protected area" for wildlife, and last summer it was reported that Trump had tax discrepancies on both the Aberdeen and Turnberry properties

THERE'S MORE TO TRUMP THAN HIS BULLYING, BLOWHARD IMAGE

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By Michael Bamberger, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated
DORAL, Florida -- Donald Trump showed up in person at the golf tournament here, and, as a subject, at the Miami International Film Festival.
He was at the World Golf Championships event taking meetings, holding a press conference, chatting up fans, walking around the sprawling Marriott-run hotel and the Blue Monster course that abuts it.
By June 1, he is planning to take ownership of the resort, once so spiffy and cool but now looking kind of tired. He is buying four of the resort's five courses and all of its nearly 700 rooms at the fire-sale price of $150 million. He'll put much more than that back into it.
At the front lobby, right behind the famous portrait of J. Willard Marriott and his son Bill that you see at every Marriott, there's now a large photograph of Trump, all smiley. (What teeth!)
By this time next year, the Marriotts, the portrait and the company, will be out. I'm betting spiffy is going to make a big comeback here. You bet against Trump at your own peril. Trump, by the way, recently endorsed Willard Mitt Romney, who was named for J. Willard Marriott and who until recently served on the Marriott board. Coincidence? Probably, but that won't stop the conspiracy theorists.
Trump's appearance at the film festival, in the documentary "You've Been Trumped," has less promotional value. The film, directed by a former BBC reporter named Anthony Baxter who lives in Montrose, Scotland, is about Trump's construction of a links golf course outside Aberdeen.
The film is about the uncivil war between Trump and several locals who live on land abutting the course and have no use for it.
This is not a balanced, nuanced piece of reporting and filmmaking, and it doesn't pretend to be. The poster for it features a painting of Trump -- no smile -- his face covered in dollar bills.
I saw the film Friday night, when Baxter was there, taking questions from the audience and explaining how he came to be arrested by local police after a manager of the Trump International Golf Links made a trespassing complaint against him. He was handcuffed and detained for four hours. The charges were eventually dropped, and Baxter received a police apology for his rough treatment in their hands.
Trump couldn't possibly have any use for this film, of course, but Rosie O'Donnell liked it, and so did I. On the movie's website, there's a link to Baxter's appearance on "The Rosie Show."
I watched the movie with keen interest and loved the interspersed clips from the beautiful 1983 movie "Local Hero." Keen interest because in 2007, when I was writing a story about Trump's interest in golf and golf courses, I walked all over Trump's Scottish property. This was before a single bulldozer had touched the land, a series of towering dunes so windswept and rugged it took your breath away.
I have played eight or nine rounds of golf with Trump and, when I was reporting my story, spent hours and hours talking to him, in person and over the phone. For a while there, when I was useful to him, I was in Trump's life. I was eager to learn of Baxter's experience.
The Trump that appears in Baxter's film is a bully and a blowhard, and he comes off the same way in my friend Mike Tollin's ESPN film "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?" (Trump! At least, that's Mike's considered view.)
I don't doubt that Trump can be a bully and a blowhard, but I have a different take on him. I found Trump to be smart, open and weirdly charismatic.
But the thing I liked best about him is that he didn't take himself too seriously, or not overly so. When I was doing my reporting on Trump, he had an ugly, ongoing feud with Rosie O'Donnell. Three days a week or so there was a "Page Six" item about their Seinfeldian war over nothing.
I said to Trump, "This thing with Rosie, you're loving it, aren't you?" He said, "Michael." (If you meet him and you can help him, he will learn your name and use it often.) "Rose O'Donnell is the gift that keeps giving."
In other words, she kept his name in the paper, and he likes that. More recently, I've abandoned my old view. I now think Trump takes himself very seriously. You've heard him talk about running for president and questioning Obama's birth records. There was no wink in any of that, not that I saw.
He used to talk to me about golf-course construction as a hobby, the way gardening is for other people. Now I think golf has become something more for him.
I think, for sure, he's interested in creating more wealth for himself and his family. I think he's restless by nature. He's a good golfer, and if he had to break 80 with a pencil in hand, I bet he could do it. He's drawn to the game for competitive reasons. But more than anything, I think his golfing motivation is rooted in his desire to have his five-letter surname, so crowded with heavy consonants, find a place of permanence in this impermanent world.
He has built some good courses, most particularly (opinion alert) the one in West Palm Beach, designed by Jim Fazio, and the second of his two courses in Bedminster, New Jersey, designed by Jim's son, Tommy Fazio.
I can't imagine any of his courses getting the thing he most wants, a men's U.S. Open. (He has told me I'm wrong about this.)
I can imagine his course in Scotland getting a Ryder Cup. And if that happens, anybody who ever looks up the results of, say, the 2034 Ryder Cup will see the site right next to the winning score: Trump International Golf Links. That's one way to get sealed in the book of life.
Trump is a complicated man, much more so than the cartoon figure he is often portrayed to be, including the Trump of "You've Been Trumped." His father, Fred Trump, got rich building and managing working-class apartment buildings in New York City, but Trump made his mark building for the sparkly people. Trump's late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, grew up in a wee croft house in Scotland. Trump worshipped his older brother, Fred, whom Trump described to me as a brilliant athlete and a dashing man with a bad drinking problem. He died at age 43, and Trump himself does not drink at all, not even a sip of the vodka he sells.
There are forces at work in the man, and I think those forces are showing up in the course he is building in Scotland. It is scheduled to open in July. In the pictures, it looks gorgeous.
I'm sympathetic to Anthony Baxter's cause, and to the tone of his film. If reporters aren't going to stand up for the common man, who is? In recent years, Trump has spoken about one of his Scottish neighbours, one Michael Forbes, in a truly vulgar fashion, and he has paid for it.
Why Trump didn't try one of his patented charm offensives with him, I do not know. Trump knows various members of the Forbes family of the New Jersey horse country. He could have brought Forbeses together and turned it into a party, although Trump does have an ongoing feud with Forbes the magazine for (he claims) underestimating his wealth.
Trump loves the fight. I actually think he needs it.
Baxter lives in Montrose, on the East Coast of Scotland, and the producer of his labour-of-love film, Richard Phinney, was an active member of the celebrated, rugged ancient links of the Royal Montrose Golf Club.
Montrose represents everything that is great about Scottish golf. The course was built by shifting winds. It doesn't exist to make money. Anyone can make arrangements to play it. It's affordable. Golf at Montrose, and throughout Scotland, is communal. The course fits with the land and with the citizenry.
And compared to, say, Augusta National or any of the Trump courses, it requires almost nothing to maintain. A year's membership at Montrose, 130 pounds ($204), is less than one round of golf for a local golfer playing Trump's course. The weekend non-resident green fee at Trump's new place is 200 pounds ($313).
On the website, that term of golf is listed as the "greens fee." There really shouldn't be an "s." The course is the green, and the correct term is green fee. But Trump is approaching this thing as an American, and American golfers often speak of paying a greens fee.
Trump's not really into the whole public thing, even though he has built public courses, like his one in Rancho Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles. I told Trump how I liked the public right-of-way through that course that surfers used to get to the beach. Trump was totally dismissive.
What Trump is doing in Scotland is not really part of traditional Scottish golf. He's building a golf course with a financial incentive, putting his name on it and hoping to attract a big-time event. Old Tom Morris wasn't thinking about any of that when he schlepped over to Machrihanish from St. Andrews to have a look and lay out a course.
Trump has hired a very nice man to make extensive renovations at Doral, Gil Hanse, who is moving his wife and teenage daughter to Brazil to build the Olympic course there. Hanse is skilful on a bulldozer, a do-it-yourselfer, even though he is part of the modern minimalist movement, at least in theory. He'll surely have to move loads of dirt at Doral to make it interesting.
Hanse was an unlikely hire for Trump. He's as understated as Trump is loud. But the (US PGA) Tour liked the work that Hanse did, with Brad Faxon, on TPC Boston, where the September FedEx event is played.
To me, the Boston course looks like another way-difficult, way-expensive American golf course that's hard to walk, but don't go by me. My tastes are quirky. I like the North Palm Beach Municipal course more than PGA National. I mean, it's not even close.
Tommy Fazio moved a tremendous amount of dirt to build the beautiful Quail Valley golf course in Vero Beach, Florida, but when he first drew plans for the Trump course in Scotland he knew what he had: true linksland. The most incredible duneland I've ever seen, anyway.
It didn't need much, and Fazio didn't plan to move any dirt. The routing plans he submitted to Trump were simple and brilliant, but in the end, Trump hired a semi-local, the Englishman Martin Hawtree, whose family has been building golf courses in the British Isles for 100 years.
In 2007, after I had played all the Trump courses -- and he's added a bunch since then -- Trump called and asked me which of his courses I liked best.
"Scotland," I said, blurting out my answer. Trump will do that. He gets you involved emotionally. At that point, the Scottish course was nothing but an idea, and the golf world did not know the name Michael Forbes, star of "You've Been Trumped."
"That is a very interesting answer," Trump said. "You did not say a course, but a property. What you are saying is that my land in Scotland has the potential to be the site of the greatest seaside golf course in the world."
Of course, I wasn't saying that, but I was thinking it, and that's part of the genius of the man. Maybe the course will be wonderful. Maybe it will be impossible to play and more difficult to walk. I don't know. As for Trump, he's dropped the word "seaside."
Now he's saying that the Scottish course has the potential to be the greatest course in the world, period. There are all sorts of people, Aberdeenshire locals and other annoyed persons, in "You've Got Trumped" who couldn't care less, but they had a great time playing a miniature golf hole where the cup was Donald Trump's mouth.
The Scots have a cruel sense of humour. That's why they like golf so much.

Click on the image to enlarge it and try to work out what's what. The golf course will be through the dunes (dark green) on the strip between light green (practice areas?) and the beach.

Trump International submits detailed masterplan

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE TRUMP ORGANISATION
Following the Scottish Government’s decision to grant outline planning permission on December 16, 2008, Trump International – Scotland submitted its detailed masterplan for the entire site and designs for its championship golf course to Aberdeenshire Council today.
Commenting on today’s submission, Donald J. Trump, president and chief executive officer, The Trump Organisation, said “This is another significant step towards our goal of building the world’s greatest golf course and resort in Aberdeenshire.”
The culmination of more than twelve months of intensive analysis and input from a wide range of specialist consultants, working under the direction of Trump International – Scotland and project master-planners, Gareth Hoskins Architects, the application sets out the detailed masterplan for the land at Menie and establishes a framework for the overall phased development of the site.
The masterplan provides direction on how the project should be built and outlines the positioning, scale and materials of its buildings and spaces, and addresses landscaping, environmental and infrastructure requirements. As part of the master-planning process a large number of surveys and plans have been commissioned which form part of the submission. These include detailed environmental, landscaping, construction and infrastructure plans.
Gareth Hoskins, director, Gareth Hoskins Architects, said “The past 14 months have seen a huge amount of work and engagement with Aberdeenshire Council and both local and national consultees such as Architecture & Design Scotland.
"This has involved input from a wide range of specialist consultants to create an overall design strategy that works carefully with the different types of landscape setting found within the overall site.
"Importantly the masterplan establishes a framework for both the resort and residential community that is about creating well designed places and ensuring ease of movement and accessibility both for the surrounding communities and the wider public. The team is now looking forward to taking forward the detailed design of the different elements of the development.”
The first phase of the development is the championship golf course designed by Dr. Martin Hawtree, the detailed plans for which were also submitted today. Commenting, Dr Martin Hawtree, stated:
"The golf course follows a classic pattern of two out-and-back loops of nine holes. All 18 holes thread their way engagingly through the dunes, rising here to find views of the sea and coastline, plunging there into secluded valleys, offering a sequence of superlative topographies, landscapes, alternating between spaciousness and enclosure, then panoramic views, and the whole time a rich texture of vegetation and wild-life habitats surrounding the golf holes.
"The golf course will lack for nothing. The landscape framework of the site comes close to an ideal. There is nothing missing and the layout as conceived would contain no weak holes. It will produce simply the most dramatic, stimulating, invigorating stretch of golf anywhere I have seen in my career.”
Featuring the detailed drawings and plans from today’s submission, Trump International – Scotland is hosting a masterplan and championship golf course exhibition at the Udny Arms Hotel, Main Street, Newburgh from March 12 – 13, 2010.
The exhibition is open to the public on Friday, 12 from 10am to 7pm and Saturday, 13 from 10am to 5pm, and provides an opportunity for members of the public to view the latest plans and to take part in the pre-application consultation process for the detailed golf course design developed by golf course architects, Hawtree Limited.
Trump International – Scotland’s application will be determined by Formartine Area Committee later in the year.
Detailed plans for the phase two and three of the development (hotel and resort accommodation, and residential village) are currently underway and will be released in due course.

SOL to construct links course at Menie Estate

Irish company gets

multi-million contract

from Donald Trump


NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY TRUMP INTERNATIONAL-SCOTLAND
Donald J. Trump has awarded the multi-million pound golf course construction contract at Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire, to SOL Golf Course Construction Limited – the foremost links golf course construction firm in the UK.
Growing from an Irish-based operation to include projects across the British Isles, SOL has worked on many of the world’s best golf courses and is currently working on various Open Championship courses on behalf of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews including Royal Liverpool, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Muirfield and Royal Birkdale.
Following an extensive tendering process, Donald J. Trump, president and chief executive of The Trump Organisation, stepped in to negotiate the final deal and select his preferred contractor and stated: “SOL’s experience of championship links courses is unequalled and their workmanship is second-to-none. They will do an outstanding job.”
Specialising in the construction of new courses and the modification of existing golf courses, SOL has built some of the finest courses in the world.
Managing director, Michael O’Leary stated: “We have worked on over 40 world-class links courses across Ireland and Britain, but it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a world leading course on terrain such as this. The land is incredible and the course design is flawless - we are thrilled to have secured the contract to build Donald Trump’s course. It would be wonderful to one day see a young rising star, such as Rory Mcllory, win an Open Championship at Trump International Golf Links, Scotland.”
From fairways and bunkers to tees and greens, SOL is now responsible for developing all aspects of the championship links course, and will work alongside Dr Martin Hawtree, golf course architect for Trump International, Scotland.
Hawtree has worked on a number of award-winning projects with SOL including Portmarnock Golf Course, Lahinch Golf Course and Dooks Golf Course.
In response to their appointment, Dr Hawtree stated: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with SOL on this site. SOL has done great work with us in the past on some of the best known courses in Ireland and Britain. Their huge experience of working on links sites makes them very suitable partners on what is undoubtedly one of the most challenging and stimulating golfing projects for very many years."
SOL recently completed the golf course at Lough Erne Golf Club in Ireland, where Sir Nick Faldo described their work: “The course is going really well - just look around at the quality of work by SOL Construction Group.”
SOL is also currently creating a short games practice facility at Rory Mcllroy’s private residence in Belfast.

Links for more informatiion:
http://www.trumpgolfscotland.com/
SOL Golf Course Construction Ltd Ballinahulla, Ballydesmond, Co. Cork.
www.solgolfconst.com

Links courses worked on by SOL include:
Hesketh Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Mersyside
Royal Lytham & St Annes, Lancashire
Muirfield Golf Club, East Lothian
Ballybunion Golf Club, Ballybunion, Co Kerry
Baltray Golf Club, Drogheda, Co Louth
Bundoran Golf Club, Dundoran, Co Donegal
Ceann Sibeal Golf Club, Dingle, Co Kerry
Doonbeg Golf Club, Doonbeg, Co Clare
Dooks Golf Club, Dooks, Glenbeigh, Co Kerry
Enniscrone Golf Club, Enniscrone, Co Sligo
Galway Golf Club, Blackrock, Salthill, Co Galway
Kilkee Golf Club, Kilkee, Co Clare
Lahinch Golf Club, Lahinch, Co Clare
Malahide Golf Club, Co Dublin
Narin Golf Club, Co Donegal
Portmarnock Golf Club, Portmarnock, Co Dublin
Portmarnock Links Golf Course, Portmarnock, Co Dublin
Rosapenna Golf Resort, Downings, Co Donegal
Royal Dublin Golf Club, Dollymount, Dublin
Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portrush, Co Antrim
St Anne’s Golf Club, Dollymount, Dublin
The Island Golf Club, Donabate, Co Dublin
Tralee Golf Club, Ardfert, Co Kerry

SOL is also currently tendering for projects in Poland, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

+Any comments? E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Trump can have £35 car park - for 'at least £10,000'

FROM THE PRESS AND JOURNAL
By RYAN CRIGHTON
A former car park which a north-east local authority bought for just £35 will be sold to Donald Trump for at least £10,000.
Aberdeenshire Council's Formartine area committee has backed plans to block seven rival bidders from buying the plot of land at the Menie Estate, near Aberdeen, which the American tycoon wants to add to his golf resort plans.
As revealed in the P&J yesterday, the council's property bosses said Mr Trump should be given "special purchaser" status for the half-acre site because of his plans to create "the world's greatest golf course" around it.
The matter was discussed in private at Ellon yesterday and councillors voted 7-3 for entering into negotiations solely with Mr Trump.
Once the deal is complete, the field will become part of the championship golf course he plans to build, alongside a 450-bedroom hotel, 950 holiday homes and 500 houses.
The site, which is beside Leyton Cottage, one of four local homes now included in Mr Trump's plans, cost the council £35 in 1976.
The report considered by councillors yesteday said the land was valued at £1,000, but the council had been told it should accept nothing less than £10,000 from Mr Trump. The council confirmed last night all other bids had now been rejected.
"Aberdeenshire Council is to enter into negotiations with Trump International Golf Links Scotland over the sale of a former car park owned by the council at Menie Estate, Balmedie," a spokesman said.
"It was decided that the Trump Orgnaisation be regarded as a 'special purchaser' due to the local economic benefits expected to be generated by the golf resort development that has been granted outline permission at Menie. Officers will now begin negotiations with the Trump Organisation concerning the sale of the land. As a result, none of the other bids will be progressed."
Trump International Golf Links executive vice-president Sarah Malone said a bidding war for the site was unnecessary. She said:
"We are grateful to Aberdeenshire Council for awarding us status of special purchaser, which clearly recognises the scale, impact an importance of this project for the North-east of Scotland.
"It was inevitable that others would express an interest in buying the council land as a result of the Trump devleopment, and this was an appropriate step taken by the council to prevent an unnecssary bidding war over a tiny piece of land that lies with the heart of the golf development."
Former Green Party MSP Shioa Baird and Tripping Up Trump members Sue Edwards and David Milne were among those interested in the land.

Donald Trump appoints Carnoustie

man as links superintendent

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY TRUMP INTERNATIONAL - SCOTLAND
After more than 18 years of service at Carnoustie Golf Links, former assistant superintendent, Paul O’Connor, has been appointed links superintendent for Trump International Golf Links, Scotland.
Donald J. Trump states “Paul is highly respected and is known to be one of the best in his field. His years of training and experience at Carnoustie made him an obvious choice for this appointment. He is a very important addition to my team.”
O’Connor forms part of the golf course construction team at Menie Estate and will be responsible for the maintenance and management of the course when it is built.
O’Connor, pictured, said: “I enjoyed 18 years at Carnoustie and understand the high standards required of a leading championship course. I am extremely proud to be involved in the construction and development of what will be the finest links course ever built - it is a privilege to work for Mr Trump on this spectacular terrain.”
Studying greenkeeping at Elmwood College in Cupar, Fife, in the early nineties, whilst working as an apprentice green keeper at Carnoustie, O’Connor quickly rose to the position of head green keeper and by 1996 was running all aspects of the championship course.
Regarded as an expert on agronomy and turf grass management, O’Connor contributed to significant course design changes at Carnoustie and introduced many innovative practices and new working methods during his years of service.
Scotland and Ireland area manager for the Sports Turf Research Institute, Dr Ian McClements, commented:
“Paul was instrumental in restoring the authenticity and quality of Carnoustie Golf Links over the last 15-20 years. During The 2007 Open Championship he expertly led the greenkeeping team to prepare what was widely regarded as the best conditioned Open Venue of all time. His attention to detail, passion for the job and knowledge of links golf sets him apart; he will be a significant asset to the management team at Balmedie.”
Having worked directly with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) during the 2007 Open Championship, O’Connor played a vital role in the success of the course conditions and playing surfaces that earned that year’s championship event plaudits from players and officials.
O’Connor, 42, has also advised on other international championship courses overseas, and has a golf handicap of 3. He and his family (wife and daughter) currently live in Broughty Ferry.

DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCES

LOCAL APPOINTMENTS

FOR FIRST PHASE

NEWS RELEASE
Following planning approval for marram grass planting and preparatory earthworks on October 27, Trump International – Scotland is pleased to announce the appointment of Moray Landscapes and a team of Ecological Clerks of Works from EnviroCentre, Stonehaven, to undertake the first phase of work (on the Menie Estate, pictured above, at Balmedie, north of Aberdeen).
Donald J. Trump, president and chief executive of The Trump Organization, expressed: “In addition to the team of leading Scottish consultants working behind the scenes, I am delighted to announce the first of many local contractors who will help deliver this project for the benefit of the region and for Scotland.”
Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “This is an important milestone and we welcome Trump International’s commitment to contracting local businesses for what is going to be a major international development. This will ensure that the project will have a real impact on local companies and stimulating new jobs and investment for the North-east and wider Scottish economy.”
Stabilisation of the sand dunes using the time-proven technique of hand-sprigging, Cullen-based firm, Moray Landscapes has worked on some of the most sensitive sites in the North-east of Scotland. Beginning hand-sprigging this month will enable the team to take advantage of the November to March marram grass season when the vegetation is dormant and the weather conditions are considered most favourable.
Director Eddie McQuat stated: “Having worked on significant coastal erosion restoration projects throughout the north of Scotland, we are delighted to bring over 30 years' experience to this major development.”
North-east ecologists, Peter Cosgrove, Kathy Dale and Jackie Webley, from EnviroCentre, carry a breadth of knowledge and skills, and have worked on projects such as Cairngorms National Park, Aberdeen Harbour and Aberdeen’s Western Peripheral Route. Kathy Dale, principal ecologist said “We welcome the opportunity to provide an independent Ecological Clerk of Works service for this important site.”
Sinclair Agricultural & Recycling Services Ltd, based near Ellon, is also currently working at Menie Estate.
* Moray Landscape Holdings Ltd, Cullen, was formed in 1977 and principally performs landscape construction, ground maintenance and aftercare, site clearance and site finishing operations, semi mature tree planting and all aspects of plant material procurement. In addition, the company’s Specialist Projects Division focuses on areas such as sand-dune systems and coastal erosion works, and has worked on all pipeline landfall projects at St Fergus Gas Terminal, since 1977, and other coastal restoration projects from Benbecular to Shetland, and north-west coastal areas of Scotland and north-east England.
* EnviroCentre Limited is a consultancy with an area office in Stonehaven. The ECoW team has over 30 years' experience of working and operating on a range of environmental projects in the North East of Scotland.

Work starts on Trump

International

- Scotland links

tomorrow

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY TRUMP INTERNATIONAL-SCOTLAND
From Donald J Trump:
“We are pleased to announce that work on site will begin tomorrow (Wednesday, October 28), ahead of schedule, to build the greatest golf course in history. For a golf course there are no dunes and there is no land as large and magnificent anywhere in the world. I want to thank Aberdeenshire Council, the business community and the residents of Aberdeenshire for their ongoing support”.
In response to the news that work on the site will commence, Jack Perry, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise, stated:
"As Head of Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's main economic, enterprise innovation and investment agency, I welcome the progress on Trump International Golf Links' development in Aberdeenshire. We value the commitment which the Trump organisation is demonstrating by commencing work on the site at Menie, as this type of new resort development, will deliver modern, high quality accommodation and facilities to Scotland.
"This is critical to our ambition to help Scotland realise more value from our tourism assets. The development will attract higher spending visitors from across the UK and overseas and will further support Scotland's position in the global market as the Home of Golf."
Robert Collier, Chief Executive, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, commented:
"The Chamber of Commerce is re-assured that the project is proceeding, despite the current downturn impacts on the global economy, being fully funded by the Trump Organisation. A resort of this profile, scale and quality is a critical component of the ACSEF strategy to position Aberdeen City and Shire as a place to do business, and a place to visit. It gives an international message that Aberdeen is open to business."
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive, VisitScotland, commented:
"Whilst this is a private development and VisitScotland did not have a role in the planning process, we recognise the significant economic impact it will have on the North-east, and indeed to the wider Scottish economy.
"Tourism will always be strong in the North-east, but this development will help refresh Scotland’s profile through the publicity it will generate and the potential for ancillary businesses. It is especially encouraging to see this level of investment, considering the current global economic climate and it shows the strength of appeal of the area."
Based approximately five miles (south) from Trump International – Scotland and celebrating their centenary anniversary this year, Hugh B Stuart, captain of Murcar Links Golf Club, said:
"There are several excellent championship golf courses in the North-east but this gives us a World Championship Golf Resort in our area. The links are a magnificent setting for this, very similar to our own links at Murcar.
"Our own experience of wild life at Murcar would be replicated at Menie and your expanses of water and marram grass will encourage wild life. This will be a big boost to tourism in the North- east and with the expected invasion of golfers, all the golf clubs (in the area) will benefit from this development."

Work on site will include stabilisation of the sand dunes, using the traditional technique of hand-springing, and slabbing of marram turves harvested on-site.
Chestnut pale fencing will also be installed when planting is completed to reduce wind velocity and encourage the stabilisation process.
Detailed master planning for the entire development continues and is on target for completion and submission to Aberdeenshire Council for approval in early 2010.
For more information, log on to to:
http://www.trumpgolfscotland.com/

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT - TOP TEN QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

In response to Trump International – Scotland’s public exhibition hosted on September 18 – 19, 2009, a report addressing the top ten questions asked by local residents and members of the public is now available on-line at www.trumpgolfscotland.com and detailed below.

(Members of the public interested in learning more about the project as it progresses are welcome to join Trump International – Scotland mailing-list and are invited to e-mail their contact details to info@trumpgolfscotland.com).

Q 1. I’ve heard this development is only for the elite – will I be able to use the facilities?
A 1. The development will be accessible to all. This is not a ‘gated community.’ The golf courses, spa, tennis courts, equestrian centre, restaurants and shops, along with the community facilities within the residential village, will be accessible to the general public.
It is intended that there will be two main routes into the golf resort and village. The centre of the development is being designed to link into the wider public transport network to encourage ease of access for residents and visitors.

Q 2. I enjoy the (Balmedie) beach at weekends – will I still have access?
A 2. The beach will remain fully accessible to the public. Pathways through the development are planned, to encourage residents and visitors to explore the coastline and take full advantage of the beaches. A new public car park is also planned within the village which will link into one of the public routes across the courses onto the beach.

Q 3. I’d love to play the course, but I’ve heard it will be private membership – is this true?
A 3. The courses will operate on a pay-and-play basis and will be open to the public. Special discounted rates will be on offer to local golfers, so everyone can enjoy the courses. A limited number of corporate memberships may also be on offer.

Q 4. I’ve heard the buildings will be very high and am concerned they will look out of place. Can you provide more information on the design of the buildings?
A 4. Gareth Hoskins Architects is a leading Scottish architect and is working with Architecture & Design Scotland on the detailed design of the site to ensure the development fits with the character of the landscape and complements its wider surroundings.
Other than the hotel, the buildings are not likely to be higher than four storeys. The hotel, however, will be a taller landmark building. Our aim is to create an ‘iconic’ hotel that becomes synonymous with the area and provides a dramatic backdrop to the world-class championship events planned. Details of the height and design will, of course, be subject to further planning approval.
Gareth Hoskins Architects is now working on the appearance and character of the key buildings, which will be available for view in early 2010.

Q 5. There is a pathway to Balmedie on your plans which passes my house and goes through private land – has this been formally agreed?
A 5. The external footpath and cycleway on our recent plans illustrates the desire to create beneficial links between Trump International – Scotland and the neighbouring community of Balmedie. The route shown on the current lay-out is one of a number of possible options.
Creating a pedestrian route between the two villages is considered to be good master planning practice and has been encouraged by Aberdeenshire Council. We would like to explore this idea further in the future and aim to work with Aberdeenshire Council and local landowners to see how best this ambition can be achieved.

Q 6. I’m concerned the Trump development will put a strain on existing infrastructure and cause traffic problems – what are you going to do about this?
A 6. Infrastructure requirements have been set by Aberdeenshire Council and we have a legal agreement to provide funding for the expansion, or addition, of facilities and infrastructure requirements, including drainage, electricity and other services.
We are working in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and Transport Scotland to ensure this development also meets the infrastructure requirements set out by Scottish Government, which includes shared financial contributions towards upgrading junctions and roadways to accommodate the identified increase in traffic.

Q 7. Will the houses in the residential area cost millions of pounds?
A 7. A full spectrum of homes, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom luxury houses, will be on offer. Housing prices have not yet been set but they will be in line with market values in Aberdeenshire. We anticipate that many local people will occupy the houses planned, and will price them accordingly.

Q 8. I’m concerned about the staff accommodation proposed – will the jobs created be available to local people?
A 8. Appropriate levels of staff accommodation will be established as the development evolves and will be integrated into the resort area and village as needed.
We have already partnered with local recruiters and universities, and a range of training opportunities will be developed in the future. Job vacancies will be advertised locally.

Q 9. This development has outline planning approval. Why do you now need additional land?
A 9. A condition of outline planning consent is the development of a detailed Master Plan. In order to address this condition, a Scottish architectural firm - Gareth Hoskins Architects - was commissioned in January 2009 to revisit the plans and develop a greater understanding of the land and its special characteristics.
During this process, it has been identified that for the better planning of the area and the operational efficiency of the site, these six additional parcels of land need to be included.

Q 10. I think this development is great, but understand the Trump Organisation intends to use Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) – is this true?
A 10. The Trump Organisation has no CPO powers. CPO is a statutory process and the use of these powers is a matter for Government.
We are currently negotiating with our neighbours, regarding the acquisition of additional plots of land and hope to reach fair and amicable agreements.

Construction starts on Menie

Links November-December,

says Donald Trump

FROM THE GOLF WEEK WEBSITE
By Bradley S Keith
A controversy over five privately-owned parcels of land adjoining the planned Trump International Golf Club Scotland in Aberdeen, Scotland, will not stop Donald Trump from proceeding with construction of his links course before the end of the year.
The real estate magnate and golf course developer told Golfweek that he has initiated bid negotiations with four experienced links golf contractors and that “construction starts November-December.”
Trump International is a proposed 1,700-acre real estate, resort and golf development located seven miles north of Aberdeen. The site incorporates over three miles of prime dunes frontage along the North Sea and anticipates a five-star, nine-storey high, 500-room hotel. It also calls for a conference centre, 950 vacation homes and 500 luxury homes.
Two 18-hole courses also are planned, though Trump, working with English-based course architect Martin Hawtree, has finalised routing plans for only one course. Trump envisions it as worthy of an international championship, preferably the British Open.
That lay-out, as yet unnamed, calls for a circa 7,400-yard routing through dramatic dunes (pictured above) and across an environmentally sensitive sand dome that eventually will be covered in turf. The plan has passed muster with Aberdeenshire and Scottish zoning and environmental authorities.
Plans for the second course, intended as a more modest resort lay-out with more of an inland orientation, will depend in part upon the final configurations of the whole site.
Despite regional approvals, Trump doesn’t yet own all of the land he’d like to have for the project. There still are five contested inland parcels he’s trying to acquire. Though none are central to the golf course, they affect the ultimate scope and value of the development, according to Trump.
On Monday this week, the local Fortmartine Area Committee granted Trump permission to include the five parcels on his plan – despite the fact that they were not originally included in the site plan.
One parcel, a parking lot, is owned by Aberdeenshire Council, the governing body that gave Trump initial permission for the project. The other four are in the possession of individual homeowners. One hold-out, a retired fisherman named Michael Forbes, already has gained worldwide attention for his refusal to sell his 23-acre plot at any price.
Another hold-out, David Milne, told the Glasgow-based newspaper, The Herald, that "We have taken legal advice and been advised that these current applications are technically invalid and therefore any granted permission would be technically unlawful. The intention is to challenge these in court. It is likely to be on the basis of all four households. My home is not for sale.”
Trump’s on-site project director, George Sorial, has vowed to continue negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump plans to begin before the end of this year the 18-24 month long process of building the first course and its clubhouse.
Trump recognises that while it’s a down time in the golf and real estate market – “there’s a depression going,” he said – the site is too good to abandon. Nor is he worried about the immediate area’s susceptibility to heavy morning fog (“haar”) and cool temperatures – or the late afternoon shadows that emerge as the sun sets behind the Grampian Mountains. Such factors potentially limit golf-playable hours, even by Scottish standards.
Instead, Trump points to the famed Royal Aberdeen Golf Course just to the south of his site.
“It's got dunes that make their front nine one of the greatest stretches of golf in the world,” he says. “And our dunes are even better.”

Donald Trump announces development team for

Menie Estate project

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF OF

DONALD J TRUMP
Speaking from The Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue New York City, Donald J. Trump has announced his local development team appointed to carry out the design and build of Trump International Golf Links, Scotland.
Joining the world renowned British golf course architectural firm, Hawtree Ltd, is a vast array of local businesses and consultants, taking Mr Trump’s vision for Trump International and delivering the reality.

The Development team appointed is as follows:
Dundas & Wilson LLP - Planning Agents and Legal Counsel
Ironside Farrar – Environmental and Landscape Consultants
W A Fairhurst & Partners – Civil & Structural Engineers
Raeburn Drilling and Geotechnical Ltd – Ground Investigation Contractors
Wallace Whittle Ltd – Mechanical & Electrical Engineers
Hardies Property & Construction Consultants – Quantity Surveyors and Health & Safety Consultants
Gareth Hoskins Architects – Master Plan Consultants
Acanthus DF – Clubhouse Architects
Hawtree Ltd – Golf Course Architects
STRI Ltd – Agronomists
Robin Hume Associates Ltd – Irrigation Consultants
Loy Surveys – Topographical Surveys
Johnston Carmichael – Accountants and Tax Advisors

The team is being managed by Neil Hobday, who is the appointed Project Director at Trump International Golf Links, Scotland.
Trump International Golf Links Scotland comprises:

+Two championship golf courses.

+A five-star' 450-bedroomed hotel with associated facilities.

+A state-of-the-art golf academy.

+950 holiday homes.

+ 500 private family residences.

+ 36 luxury golf villas as well as Mr Trump's Family home, the former Menie House.

Speaking from New York, Mr Trump said, “It is extremely exciting that the project has become a reality.”

He went on to say, “We are working through the planning process and as soon as we receive our detailed planning approval, the golf course construction can begin.”
For the last two years the Trump Organization has employed local people, bought equipment and materials from local suppliers and now the team is ready to deliver a product that every Scot will be proud of for many generations to come.

Donald Trump pays $28million

for Shadow Isle GC, New Jersey

PRESS RELEASE

Donald J. Trump, who owns some of the finest golf courses in the world including Trump National Golf Club/Los Angeles, California, Trump National Golf Club/ Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump National Golf Club/Westchester, New York, Trump International Golf Club/Palm Beach, Florida, has just purchased Shadow Isle Golf Club, which is located in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, Colts Neck, New Jersey.
Shadow Isle, which sits on 450 acres, was originally designed by Jerry Pate. It has a magnificent 90,000 square foot clubhouse, said to be one of the largest and finest in the country. The total cost of the project is an unknown, but including the value of the land would approximate $100 million. Based on the quality of the course and the clubhouse, over 100 members initially joined at $200,000 per member and then, because of financial difficulties and the bad press associated with these difficulties, sales stopped.
The transaction was made between Mr. Trump, a major New Jersey bank, and the original developer, a large family building firm. The purchase price was $28 million.
It is anticipated that Mr. Trump, who has been a big supporter and believer in the Fazio family, will bring in Tom Fazio or Tom Fazio II to do course upgrades. It is also anticipated that he will be changing and upgrading large sections of the clubhouse, which opened only three months ago.
“This is a great location on magnificent land. Colts Neck and the surrounding area is one of the finest communities in the country. When completed I believe that this club will be one of the most successful anywhere. I will be changing the name to Trump National Golf Club/Colts Neck. We already have a long list of people who want to join,” said Mr. Trump.