Niall,
Do you think he opened it prematurely in order to catch the end of this year's summer season ?
Co-incidently, I ran into Donald at a wedding we attended last Saturday night.
We were seated next to each other during the ceremony.
After the ceremony and during the reception we discussed the course, and the permitting processes that he had to go through or get around in order to bring the course to fruition.
I sensed a strong committment on his part to do whatever it takes to improve and elevate the course to it's fullest potential.
Whether that takes a few months or a few years didn't seem to matter.
He's committed to improving that course.
I believe that there's a good chance that it will be awarded the Scottish Open and a future Ryder Cup.
As beautiful as Melania looks in photos, she's far more stunning in person.
The terms "Breath taking" and "Riveting" come to mind.
She's both elegant and gorgeous and I would prefer talking to and about her.
I told Donald that I thought alot of the criticism of the course would never have reared it's head had his name been Mike Keiser.
I believe that he agreed.
Patrick
In comparison to other courses I've played when they first opened eg. Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart, Craigielaw etc, its in pretty rough condition but then its had a fair bit of play since it opened and they are closing it down for the winter. From memory the other courses mentioned gave themselves a good bit longer to mature before opening.
Is it worth the money in its present condition ? Definitely not. Why did he open it so soon, no idea but I suspect he wanted to keep the momentum going as he has created a lot of hype. And while I'm sure he will keep puting money into it, I can't imagine there's much left to do that would make any difference to the basic design of the course but as I say it will get a lot better as the condition improves. At the moment I doubt its in the top 5 in Aberdeen let alone the best in the world, and I don't mean that as a glib remark. Anyone who rates it highly it doing so on the basis of the design and its potential to mature, not on the basis of what it is at the moment.
If I was to guess where it will rank when it matures, I would suggest that it will be second tier rather than top tier (ie top 5 in UK). It is a very solid design without some outstanding bits such as the internal green contours however the big weakness for me, believe it or not, was the site. Playing through levelled fairways flanked by dune sytems got a bit samey after a while. Like Adam, I'm not that enamoured by drop shot tee shots but overall its a pretty solid effort.
Niall