It’s been a month since Trump International Golf Club Dubai was announced, and the parties involved still haven’t revealed the identity of the golf course’s designer. However, they’re talking up a desert storm on what they apparently feel are more important matters related to Trump’s first foray into the Middle East.
“We are looking forward to presenting a beautiful and challenging course for those who love golf,” Trump said in a conversation with the National. “No one will be disappointed.”
They’d better not be, because the managing director of Damac Properites, the developer that’s licensed Trump’s name and branding, says that memberships in the club will be “more expensive than any other golf course in Dubai.”
Clearly, people who can afford to join such clubs believe that Trump’s name has a lot more value than any designer’s. The quest for luxury trumps all.
• What happens to a golf dream deferred? It shrinks to fit leaner times. A case in point is the long-planned golf community at Rocking K Ranch in suburban Tucson, Ariz. Once upon a time, Donald Diamond’s 5,600-acre development fantasy was to include 10,000 houses, three resort-style hotels, and four golf courses. Today, Rocking K has been downsized to less than 3,000 houses, one hotel, and one golf course. Bigger may be better, but let’s be thankful for small favors: Diamond thinks it can start construction within two years.
• Developers in Arizona aren’t the only ones taking revival meetings these days. In Franklin County, New York, up near Lake Placid, a group may try to reopen Loon Lake Golf Course, which has been closed since 2003, and build a resort community on 2,800 surrounding acres. Although North Country Public Radio reports that Loon Gulf, Inc. is “just testing the waters,” it can’t be denied that a conceptual development plan has been submitted to local planning officials.
“We have no immediate plans to do anything,” a representative for the developers emphasizes. That may be true, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.