absolutely disgusting
Aberdeen is a beautiful city

New Jersey meets Scotland
with apologies to New Jersey (and Scotland for that matter)

Is nothing Trump does subject to audit? He throws out huge numbers. Is the truth ever verified?

I was unable to pull up the article... Did it say who was designing the course?

Thanks,
Paul

 5   GolfClubAtlas.com / Golf Course Architecture / Re:A letter to the editor (you'll likely never see)  on: December 31, 2004, 11:52:19 am  
Started by Steve Lapper, Message by Bob_Huntley
I think I wrote this a few months ago.... it holds still.

5  GolfClubAtlas.com / Golf Course Architecture / Re:Better than Pebble (Trump Content)  on: April 15, 2004, 11:25:54 pm  
Started by Jeffrey Formanczyk, Message by Bob_Huntley


How on earth can anyone give credence to anything this man says. His ridiculous hairstyle with dyed ends makes him out to be a mountebank.

Surely, he is one of the most odious men in the public eye.
 

Paul -

When the project was first announced, Tom Fazio's nephew (also named Tom Fazio) was named as the architect for a least one of the courses.

Check out:

www.trumpgolfscotland.com

Be sure to look at the gallery of pictures. It really is a spectacular property.

DT

boy it sure is beautiful there...I hope whoever designs it uses what's there and moves as little earth as possible

I wish he wouldn't feel the need to put his name all over EVERY project

Ally -

Go to:

www.globest.com

Do a search for Trump and the article should come up. Hope that works.

DT

I'm with the Donald on this one, waterfalls or not.  The land is crying out for a golf course, the Aberdeen area sorely needs some posh accommodation, and Scotland needs some better golf courses.

My over/under on the Golf Week rater's convention being held there is 2008/2009.

Ally

I am mostly serious.  As the Beatles said, "o bla di, o bla da, o bla da, ah, la di da da life goes on."

My guess is that whatever the Trumspter builds, it will be better than what was there before, from a golfer's point of view.

Would you rather have another Newmachar, or Old Meldrum, or Drumoig or Letham Grange or even a Twitcher's Heaven?  Not me.

Cheers

Rich

Trump's plans for Aberdeen are making Mark Parsinen's plans for Castle Stuart (near Inverness) seem almost quaint -

www.castlestuartgolf.com/artistsimages/index.htm

Paul -

Sorry, I don't know anything about Bedminster.

DT

Ally,
I, like you possibly, harbour deep scottish presbyterian sympathies. We are what we are born.
I agree with EVERY point you made in that post

BUT

the realities of development, TODAY, are economic, as much as they might be environmentally sympathetic, historically nostalgic or measurably tasteful.

Your comment re: 'seeing the land made the most of' must be one of the best things I've seen about what is actually DONE when development takes place. We have to temper 'best uses' with what a developer might see as profitable - both in an economic AND a SOCIAL sense.

Trumpety-trump is an EXPERT at self-congratulation, but we have to take the higher ground on these things and, accepting of the surrounding drivel, examine more closely what the SOCIAL benefits of such a development might be.

The 'Ground' is secondary to what the socio-economic changes might be and THE PUBLIC will always see jobs, cash in hand and social stability as much more important than contours, green sites and sensitive environmental integration.

Us taking a moral high ground about a 'furriner developer' abusing or otherwise our ground is important, but we have to see it in a MUCH broader context. I hope you agree (in principle, at least...!)

FBD.

Martin:  Do you really believe what you just wrote?

"The 'Ground' is secondary to what the socio-economic changes might be and THE PUBLIC will always see jobs, cash in hand and social stability as much more important than contours, green sites and sensitive environmental integration.

Us taking a moral high ground about a 'furriner developer' abusing or otherwise our ground is important, but we have to see it in a MUCH broader context. I hope you agree (in principle, at least...!)"

I have seen knee-jerk reaction to the plans of overseas developers in New Zealand, and agree that sometimes it is just used as a xenophobic excuse to halt development.  The design for a lodge at Cape Kidnappers (by an Auckland architect) was really extraordinary, but it was scuttled because of "environmental opposition" that was close on the heels of several articles about rich Americans trying to "take over" New Zealand.

Still, does that mean everyone in Scotland has to bend over for Mr. Trump's visions of grandeur?  Isn't anyone there honest enough to say they think these plans are an affront to Scottish modesty and sensibilities?  There are always politicians who are willing to give in to developers' demands in order to say they have helped to create jobs, but that doesn't mean the people have to follow them.

The main reason this project is so overwrought is because the price tag on the land was extremely high -- it came not just with some beautiful dunesland, but with a twenty-million-dollar mansion that has to be paid for out of something other than greens fees.  I didn't see it requiring a $1.9 billion development to make the numbers work, but obviously, I don't have the vision of Donald Trump.