Donald Trump comments on Pinehurst over Twitter

[Joey Buckley]

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/trump-attacks-pinehurst-twitter/

[Frank Pont]

I am sure C&C are real excited to be working for T after these comments  

Very interesting that T does not mention Aberdeen among the courses better than Pinehurst....

[Paul Gray]

Of all the poisoned chalices for an architect, accepting Trump money must be right up there.

[Adam Lawrence]

Of all the poisoned chalices for an architect, accepting Trump money must be right up there.

You'd think so, wouldn't you, but everything I hear is that he's an excellent client - engaged, wants to have his say but is also open to reasoned argument and appreciates high quality professional advice.

I think these tweets, ridiculous though they are, just represent another example of Trump Logic: 'It's not one of mine, therefore it can't be as good as those that are.' With Trump, you are either with him or against him - there doesn't seem to be any in between.

[Mike Sweeney]

When someone whispers in his ear that he can:

• save money on water/maintenance
• attract a different style of golfer
• create a second unique brand for a Doral course
• market Doral to GCA.com types with a "throwback look"

I say he does it

Donnie likes his blondes and brunettes, and I am saying you will see a Pinehurst style course at Doral within 3 years......but not the Blue.

[Jon Wiggett]

I wonder if it is him tweeting or just a PR man

[Adam Lawrence]

I'm sure it's him. No PR person on earth would say the sort of things he does. He's also very hands on, and his PR teams have easy access to him. When they hired Gil for Doral, I spoke to his PR firm in New York to get a specific comment and they had a handwritten quote from Trump for me within three hours

Although being Donald Trump's PR ghost would be a pretty entertaining gig.

[Scott Warren]

Reading his tweets, I was immediately made to wonder if anyone has ever seen Pat Mucci and Donald Trump in the same room.

"My opinion is the right one"

"You (Matt Ginella) don't understand the topic"

"You're a grand poobah moron" (paraphrasing now...)

I'm not convinced they're not the same person!

[JMEvensky]

Reading his tweets, I was immediately made to wonder if anyone has ever seen Pat Mucci and Donald Trump in the same room.

"My opinion is the right one"

"You (Matt Ginella) don't understand the topic"

"You're a grand poobah moron" (paraphrasing now...)

I'm not convinced they're not the same person!

Trump has better hair.

[Dan_Callahan]

Trump continues to exist in a pre-recession era. He is all about excess and over-the-top presentation. His entire persona was built on flash and extravagance, lush rough, waterfalls, and helicopter landing pads. He is so cocky and arrogant that I doubt anyone could convince him that the more natural setup of #2 in 2014 is better than it's wall-to-wall green appearance in 1999.

[Paul Gray]

Dan,

Trumps' ego is his weakness as well as his strength.

Ultimately he spends his life trying to obtain prestige, albeit very badly, buy buying the class he seeks. I've been saying for a while now that I see a softening from him. Consider how he rocked into Scotland and how now he's prepared to accept whatever the R&A says goes at Turnberry. That wasn't part of the plan when he was bastardising the dunes at Balmedie with pretty lawns and fountains whilst declaring that he was building 'the best course in the world.'

[Jim_Coleman]

    I am constantly amazed at the ability of posters here to excuse bad behavior.  There is a very simple explanation for Trump - he's a jerk. (I'd use a better word, but I'm not sure of proper language here.)

[Paul Gray]

Jim,

If that was meant for me, you REALLY have the wrong person. Jerk is not a word I'd compliment the guy with.

[jeffwarne]

Trump continues to exist in a pre-recession era. He is all about excess and over-the-top presentation. His entire persona was built on flash and extravagance, lush rough, waterfalls, and helicopter landing pads. He is so cocky and arrogant that I doubt anyone could convince him that the more natural setup of #2 in 2014 is better than it's wall-to-wall green appearance in 1999.

I really like Pinehurst's new presentation of the last couple years, though not a gigantic fan of the course in general.

I'm not sure we can categorize Pinehurst as a reaction/product of the recession.
I'd venture a guess that more money was spent in the last 5 years leading up to this Open, than was spent leading up to the 2005 Open.
And it's not like the $410 green fee is dropping

[Dan_Callahan]

Good point. I'm not saying the Pinehurst restoration is a product of the recession. I AM saying that the lush green courses without a single brown spot, with sprinkler heads 20 feet into the rough, are a product of the excesses of the 80s and 90s, also known as Trump's formative years. And while Pinehurst's restoration isn't a product of the recession, it stands as a shining example that it's ok for some parts of a golf course to be a color other than green. In the same way Augusta's appearance put pressure on local courses to be manicured and perfect to match what's its members saw on TV, so too might Pinehurst lead a trend in the opposite direction. With Trump kicking and screaming all the way, of course.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mike Sweeney,

For once, you might be right  

When the cost of water escalates I think everyone will get religion.

But, let's not forget that water hides a lot of shortcomings and a lot of people will resist the exposure of same.

Actually, I'm surprised at these tweets.
Trump is very smart and I have to wonder whether he's the author or merely signed off on them.

He needs to consult with those knowledgeable about "playing conditions".
Maybe I'll talk to him if I see him over the weekend

Scott, when you see me arm and arm with Melania, you'll know the answer

[Jim Tang]

Trump is all about sensationalism which gets his mug and his properties attention, as evidenced by this thread.  It' hard to take anything he says seriously, so I usually don't.

[Carson Pilcher]

What's ironic is that he is offending to the USGA.  He covets a US Open at one of his venues, yet he will make remarks like the ones we are discussing.  He just cannot get out of his own way.

The man obvisouly loves the game of golf.  If he would just humble himself around his golf courses a tad, he might just get what he wants most.

[Bill Seitz]

Of all the poisoned chalices for an architect, accepting Trump money must be right up there.

Then again, you go into a job with Trump knowing that your course will be considered "the greatest in the world"....at least according to Trump.  You don't even have to wait for the raters to show up. 

[David Davis]

Doesn't it kind of make you worry that he's not a fan of firm and fast yet now owns two links courses with the rumor of Turnberry becoming the third. I cringe at the thought of links courses being maintained as lush green target golf US parkland courses.

[Adam Lawrence]

Doesn't it kind of make you worry that he's not a fan of firm and fast yet now owns two links courses with the rumor of Turnberry becoming the third. I cringe at the thought of links courses being maintained as lush green target golf US parkland courses.

The thought of being an apologist for Trump fills me with horror, but in the interests of accuracy, I'd like you to show me where he's said he isn't a fan of fast and firm, David.

[Jim Nugent]

Adam, I don't know what Trump has said, but he built a links course that plays like a parkland course. 

[Adam Lawrence]

Slightly unfair, Jim. He built a links course that, on both occasions I have visited since it opened, had a reasonable amount of bounce and roll, not as much as you should expect on a true links, but not really like any parkland course I've played. I've said repeatedly on here and elsewhere that the rye in the fairways at Trump Aberdeen is a major obstacle to the course achieving anything like the status its owner wants for it, but it is like that not through intention but because they opened too early and the fescue fairways got massively beaten up. I am prepared to give them a couple of years' grace to get it right.

[Mac Plumart]

Props to Matty G!

I think Trump is smart, but ignorant on somethings.  If he digs into what "golf is all about", he'll figure it out quick and grasp why the set up, maintenance meld, and restoration at Pinehurst was so great.  And he might even begin to embrace this kind of course in his future endeavors.  If he wants critical acclaim, he'd be smart to do that.

[Howard Riefs]

Matt Ginella   >   Donald Trump


http://www.clubupgolf.com/2014/06/16/donald-trump-vs-mat-ginella/