As The Berry Turns

We have an update of sorts on the Trumpmeister, but of far greater importance, we have additional photos of the man himself with wind-swept hair... I know, I know, why else would you keep coming back to this blog?  But I'm going to make you wait for the pics, unless you're familiar with the "Page Down" key....

First up, is this post from the Bunkered blog... yesterday I was battling an outbreak of travelfreude, ruing my decision to put off Askernish until next summer.  Today we're medicating a case of blogenfreude, unbecoming jealousy over the name of someone else's blog.  Fighting my bitterness, I'll begrudgingly acknowledge his post on Trump's vision for recently-acquired Turnberry:

Re-named Trump Turnberry, the South Ayrshire resort was purchased in April by the

billionaire American tycoon and property developer in a deal reported to be worth as much as £35m.

Speaking in the famous hotel today, Trump outlined major planned changes to the illustrious Open Championship venue, which include:

• Significant alterations to the tenth and 11th holes on the Ailsa Course;

• Potential further course changes – including the possibility of re-working the ninth into a par-3;

• The iconic Turnberry lighthouse becoming the halfway house on the Ailsa Course;

• A complete redo of the Kintyre Course;

• An investment of over £100m in refurbishing the hotel, which includes all suites being re-done in their entirety.

Oy vey, this is why the words "Trump" and "vision" are incompatible.  The ninth hole is only one of the most

The 10th hole - Doesn't this just scream for "significant alteration."

iconic holes in all of Scotland, so by all means let's chop it up.  It's a spectacular tee shot from the far reaches of the property near the lighthouse, with a scary forced carry form the Championship Tee.  Now the fairway can e challenged on fairness grounds, as it's too crowned and accordingly too hard to hold... but it just needs to be leveled a hair (perhaps hair isn't quite the perfect reference give that it's the Donald).

More importantly, the problems with Turnberry as an Open Championship venue are in the first few and last two holes.  The middle of the routing is quite spectacular, running along the craggy cliffs and offering spectacular views of the Irish Sea and Ailsa Craig.  Turnberry has a deserved reputation as the most beautiful links in the Open rota, and this is the most beautiful section of the course, not that there's anything that could be done to make these vistas ugly.

In particular, Nos. 17 and 18 are not up to the task, with little in the way of options to improve them.  When the Kintyre, their second course, was last renovated, there was talk of developing a composite course that would address these weaker golf holes, but nothing came of that.  But back to their plans for Nos.  10 and 11:

Subject to planning consent and the approval of the R&A, the tenth and 11th holes on the Ailsa Course will be the first to change. 

The championship tee on the tenth will be moved further back and to the left from its current position – almost to the lighthouse – creating a much more dramatic and daunting tee shot, which will have a carry of over 260 yards to the fairway. 

“It’s on the limit [in terms of distance],” admitted Ebert, “but we how know how far the guys these days hit the ball and that shot generally plays with the wind behind.”

Yes, we certainly want them at the edge of distance, and Lord knows we need more tee boxes used once every twelve years.  Reminds me of the 2002 U.S. Open when the shorter hitters aimed for the walking path...what will they aim for here if the wind shifts?

The tenth green, meanwhile (pictured at right), will be moved further back and to the left, where

it will eat into the existing back tee of the par-3 11th hole. The infamous island bunker on the tenth, currently around 120 yards short of the green, will also be retained and re-located. 

The 11th, meanwhile, will become a classic, ‘across the bay’ par-3. The tee will be moved further forward – to make way for the new tenth green – with the 11th green being pushed further back and left to sit amongst the rocks on the shoreline. “It is so simple and natural to sit a green in there,” added Ebert.

Yes, those "Across the bay" Par-3's are real classics, in Hawaii and Florida.  Not so much in Scotland and Ireland, but Messrs. Trump and Ebert don't seem to apply much thought for why that might be.

It occurs to me that I've likely played my last round at Turnberry... I'm certainly glad we got two loops in on our 2009 trip.

Now that I'm depressed about the Trumping of Turnberry, let's turn for amusement to the coverage from the Mail Online.  You're probably wondering how a venerable paper would handle the story, well of course they led with the important stuff:

Donald Trump had some hair trouble as he toured his newly acquired Scotland golf course by helicopter today - but his swirled dyed-blonde mop remained on his head, putting paid to rumors he sports a toupee. 

The property tycoon's fair locks blew in every direction as the 68-year-old's namesake chopper's propeller sent a huge gust of wind his way.

Trump was visiting Turnberry in Ayreshire, one of the world's most iconic golf resorts that he purchased last month and quickly renamed 'Trump Turnberry.'

Trump Turnberry.... never saw that coming, though, as a fellow lover of alliteration, you gotta respect it.  But let's go to the videotape, as they've greatly enriched our archive of Trump bad-hair pics:

His handlers really should keep him on the chopper until the blades cease turning.

The dorky thumbs up is an added bonus.

But I'll be forever grateful for this close-up.  It's both real and unreal, don't you agree?