SALE OF TURNBERRY SEES PROPERTY TYCOON DONALD TRUMP POISED TO EXPAND HIS GOLF PORTFOLIO

Dubai government's sale of Turnberry sees property

tycoon Donald Trump propose a deal for golf's historic Open Championship host

(From The Telegraph website, by James Corrigan, Golf Correspondent)

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.

Turnberry is the only one of the nine courses on the current Open roster which is owned by a private company, rather than by the members – in the case of Muirfield and others – or by local authorities in the case of St Andrews and Carnoustie.  

As well as infrastructure problems and comparatively poor attendances, this was considered one of the reasons why the R&A, the game’s governing body which runs the British, did not stage the Open there between 1994 and 2009.  

Yet because of the quality of the links, as well as its scenery and it’s place in the game – it hosted the legendary 1977 Duel in The Sun which saw Watson beat Jack Nicklaus – the R&A was drawn back to the course, which boasts its own lighthouse as well as the view of the Ailsa Craig, the volcanic island 10 miles out to sea.  

It will be interesting how the R&A reacts to Trump’s purchase, although it would be highly doubtful Trump would affect the course’s status on the rota. Within the sport, Trump’s influence is seen as positive, as he has updated and substantially improved golf resorts.  

Trump bought Doral, the Miami resort, for £89 million two years ago and, after a £148million overhaul, was a larger-than-life presence at the WGC Cadillac Championship last month, which featured most of the world’s top players.  

The majors are next on the Trump radar and it is believed that he has assurances to host the US PGA Championship and is close to securing a US Open. But Turnberry will be Trump’s biggest coup yet, both in terms of the heritage of the course itself and the inevitable publicity his ownership will generate. The Women’s British Open will take place at Turnberry next year.  

The flamboyant 67-year-old, with his trademark quiff and outspoken opinions, will doubtless flaunt his acquisition in front of the Scottish Assembly, 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.  

In an interview with the Telegraph last month, Trump vowed not to make any more investments in Scotland until the turbine project is shelved. He has clearly found Turnberry irresistible, however. Neither Trump nor Turnberry were available for comment.