Scottish Gold Plating Makers Sweat: The Donald Halts Scotland Development Work In Protest

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David Ross reports on this week's Trump Wind Farm National And Estates drama, with The Donald halting work on his already completed golf course and remaining development plans until the Scottish Government makes a decision on a nearby wind farm. One of the nearby land owners, David Milne, isn't buying The Donald's bluff.
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Donald: “My feasibility study is my gut."

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And that's a big study these days. Brad Klein looks at the Ferry Point situation and reminds us that anyone complaining about the $125 green fee should not blame the man who kept Gary Busey in line during season eleven--yes, eleven--of Celebrity Apprentice, but instead, on sloppy and slightly corrupt bureaucrats. And maybe Jack Nicklaus.

The project finally went to public bid in 2008, with the design contract awarded to the team of Jack Nicklaus and John Sanford. Both are golf course designers, with Nicklaus, the game’s leading major champion, having a legendary worldwide portfolio, and Sanford having done much work on land remediation, including conversion of a Boston-area dumpsite for the “Big Dig” into public-access Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills.

The idea behind Ferry Point has been for the city to add to its existing supply of 13 municipal golf courses and to do so on a level that would make a big splash. There’s certainly a demand for golf, with tee sheets booked steadily through the year and rates attractive and affordable, in the $40 range in peak season.

And the Donald sounds like he wants to displace a course in the current Barclay's rotation. Judging by our Golf World ranking of tour courses, I think I know which one goes first!

For his part, Trump is understandably excited about the prospect of being part of a New York City landmark. “It’s a spectacular piece of land, a major-championship site literally right next to everything, on the city,” he told Golfweek. “It’s important for golf. Golf has been suffering lately, and it’s major course in the biggest city in the world.”

For such projects, Trump says he doesn’t need to do a detailed cost-benefit analysis. “My feasibility study is my gut,” he said.

Bloomberg "Not Sure" The Donald Got A Good Deal

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Ray Rivera of the New York Times talks to New York mayor Michael Bloomberg about the sweetheart deal the city gave Donald Trump to manage its Jack Nicklaus-designed Ferry Point muni. Seems the Mayor is openly suggesting the city did not give the contractor a good deal in this case and he's basing this on the state of the golf industry.
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Kinder, Gentler Donald? Denounces Film, But No Lawsuit

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The Daily Beast's Lizzie Crocker reports on the growing feud between the documentary filmmaker of "You've Been Trumped" and The Donald himself. Oddly, as the film is winning awards and decent enough reviews on the festival circuit, The Donald has not done what he does best: threaten or file a lawsuit! What's gotten into the man?

In a phone conversation with The Daily Beast, George Sorial, the Trump Organization’s managing director and assistant general counsel, elaborated on the statement:

“Anthony Baxter was a guy that hid in the bushes, we dealt with him for weeks. He showed a shot of a field [in the film] and described that area as this terribly important scientific site. He will allege that we destroyed it, when we only ended up touching 3 or 4 percent. He stole footage from the golf channel and David Letterman. That gives you some insight into the veracity of this guy. Once the truth gets out there, everyone will know he’s just another guy out to make a dollar by using the Trump name.”

Baxter brushes off Sorial’s scathing remarks. Using the Trump name only put him at an economic disadvantage in Scotland, where every major organization he reached out to refused to fund the project. It’s not easy to take down a celebrity billionaire.