You've Been Trumped, Again

You've Been Trumped, the award-winning British documentary that chronicled Trumps purchase and

building of the "Greatest Golf Course in the World," is due for a sequel.  How's that for ruining your breakfast?

James Corrigan has the story in the Telegraph:

The Open Championship will not have seen anything quite like it. Donald Trump, the controversial billionaire property developer, is set to buy himself a piece of golf’s most historic tournament with a £35 million deal for Turnberry expected to be finalised soon.

The revered South Ayrshire course, which is almost guaranteed to host its fifth Open in the next decade, is currently owned by Leisurecorp, a subsidiary of the Dubai government, and has been unofficially up for sale since the global financial downturn hit the emirate so hard.

Dubai bought the resort – which includes two other courses as well as a golf academy, a five-star hotel and lodge and cottage accommodations – for £52 million and when Tom Watson almost won the following year’s Open there, bringing yet more exposure to the layout on the rugged coastline overlooking the Firth of Clyde, it seemed good business.

Yet Trump is ready to increase his ever-expanding golfing empire – which currently stands at 16 resorts – by paying almost £17 million less than the Sheikhs at the same time as earning himself a place at the heart of the game’s establishment. “The deal is not done yet, but it should be soon,” a source said on Sunday.

The jokes write themselves.  Just to review some very recent history, Trump completed the aforementioned "Greatest Golf Course in the the World," a/k/a/ The Trump International Links, on the Aberdeenshire Coast.  Per Corrigan:

The flamboyant 67-year-old, with his trademark quiff and outspoken opinions, will doubtless flaunt his acquisition in front of the Scottish parliament, particularly the First Minister, Alex Salmond. Since building the Trump International Links on the Menie Estate perched on the Aberdeenshire coast, he has waged a public battle against the building of offshore wind turbines which he claims are a blight on the views from his, and other courses. 

Although that particular links, which Trump claims to be the “best course in the world”, has opened, the turbine row has seen him suspend the construction of a proposed 450-bedroom hotel, conference facilities and residential developments. Trump considered taking legal action when You’ve Been Trumped, a British-made documentary which focused on some of the disgruntled long-term residents by that beach in Balmedie, was released in 2011.

Wikipedia defines a quiff as a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour hairstyle, the 50s flattop, and sometimes a mohawk. The etymology of the word is uncertain but may derive from the French word "coiffe" which can mean either a hairstyle or, going further back, the mail knights wore over their heads and under their helmets. The hairstyle was a staple in the British 'Teddy Boy' movement, but became popular again in Europe in the early 1980s and is currently facing a resurgence in popularity.

I'm not sure what this is, though we can likely rule out a Mohawk.

Maybe I've lost the plot, but I thought it was Trump's purchase of Donnbeg, a resort that's, you know, in another country, that was his "Up Yours" to First Minister Salmond.  There was this threat:

In an interview with the Telegraph last month, Trump vowed not to make any more investments in Scotland until the turbine project is shelved.

 Isn't he just asking fir a wind turbine project on the West Coast?  

Shackelford files his post on the subject from atop the grassy knoll, tying this item to Peter Dawson's surprise retirement notice as well the recent rumors of taking the Open Championship to Royal Portrush.  The jokes do write themselves, as we know The Donald lusts after an Open Championship for his Aberdeen links, though we can be equally assured that the R&A recoils in horror at sharing the stage with him.

But, as Shack notes, Turnberry has not as of now been awarded another Open Championship.  In fact, The R&A has not awarded any Opens past 2016 (Royal Troon), and Turnberry is the most logistically-challenging location for the Open and, as wonderful as the middle stretch of holes are, the openign and closing holes are quite pedestrian.  It could be that we've seen our last Open there.

He comes in peace.  It's just that he has to kiss and make up with many folks in Scotland.