Donald Trump in Scotland: Why US president's new course is billed as forming ‘The Greatest 36 Holes of Golf’
Donald Trump has officially opened up a new golf course at his Aberdeenshire resort, cutting a red ribbon with his sons Eric and Donald Jnr by his side.
Today’s opening of a second golf course at US President Donald Trump’s venue north of Aberdeen has been hailed as being destined to play a “very important part in the future of golf in Scotland”.
Opened in 2012, the original course at Trump International Golf Links at Menie Estate is gearing up to stage an exciting double-header this summer. For the third year in a row and second in succession with Colin Montgomerie as its host, the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship will take place this week.
Next week it will stage its first DP World Tour event in the shape of The Scottish Championship, which will boast a prize fund of $2.75 million [£2.06m]. In addition, this week also marks the opening of a second course, which is being billed as providing a test that will be equal to its neighbour.
“This is a very significant, very special year for us,” said Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Trump International, as she spoke at a media conference alongside Montgomerie.
“It is a great honour for us to have Colin with us again. He has a great history with this site, having been here on the opening day in 2012 with the Trump family to open our magnificent links. So it is very fitting that he is the host of the Legends Tour event here for the second year.
“It is a milestone year for this asset in the north-east of Scotland. It has been a labour of love for the Trump family. It is held in the highest regard by the family and the organisation. We are immensely proud to be hosting the Legends Tour for the third year. It is a special event that has many components to it.
“It is very firmly established in the north-east as a must for spectators, for celebrity spotters. It is very much in people’s diaries and it has attracted great sponsors.
“To add to that, we have the DP World Tour event. This is why this site was built. We said at the very outset that we wanted to host tournaments and so this year we are doing back-to-back tournaments and we will also be announcing very soon the opening date of our new championship links course.”
The double offering is being billed as ‘The Greatest 36 Holes of Golf’ and Ms Malone explained why she felt that was the case.
“It is not the second golf course,” she said. “It is equal in stature to the existing course, which I can confirm will be known as the Old Course and the New Course, something of a nod to tradition and to make it easy for our golfers to book.
“It is the beginning of a new era for us, having 36 holes is a big thing. It will ensure that golfers will not be too ready to leave the area, which is good news and gives us limitless options and possibilities for tournament and professional play.”
Mr Trump, of course, also owns Turnberry, with Mark Darbon, The R&A’s new chief executive, having admitted recently that he would like to see The Open return there, though acknowledging that some issues need to be overcome.
In the meantime, though, the golf-mad US President will clearly be delighted to see his other Scottish venue playing host to back-to-back events that should be appealing to fans in the Aberdeen area in particular, but further afield as well.
“The nucleus for this entire site was the Trump family’s connection with the ancestral home of Mary Anne McLeod, the president’s mother, and the great game of golf,” said Ms Malone. “It was a visionary project, always a multi-phase project.
“The Trump family has been steadfast in their commitment, irrespective of the backdrop with the economy or the markets. None of that has had an impact on our vision to create a world-glass golf destination that hosts the biggest and best tournaments in the world.
“This year is a milestone for us. It’s the completion of two magnificent golf courses. Maybe not quite tomorrow, but I think we could possibly put a tournament out there as it is ready for play.
“We have gone to great lengths to ensure that it complements the existing links. That was the benchmark - what a benchmark. Yeah, this is a big year for us and the family are very proud of what we have accomplished and I think it plays a very important part in the future of golf in Scotland.”
Montgomerie will be part of a star-studded field for the 2025 Staysure PGA Championship, won by Englishman Robert Coles in a dramatic finish.
“I’m very honoured obviously to be associated with this event again,” said Montgomerie. “Any event you are associated with that is first-class, five-star is special and this is - the venue and everything about it.
“It was very easy to put my name to this again for a second year out of the three that have been here. I think it is superb, I really do. I might be a bit biased, but I thought it was a great success last year and let’s hope this year we can build on that success and make it even better.
“Last week we had Sunningdale as our Senior Open venue followed by next week here. I mean, you can’t really get any better than that. You would go a long way to beat that, I can assure you. You’ve got two weeks on the Legends Tour that is second to none.”
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