Trump identified his site at Balmedie, north of Aberdeen, as a potential 750 million-pound golf resort in 2005 and battled for almost three years to gain consent to build the two courses as well as the 450-bed hotel, homes and apartments.
Menie Estate
Trump bought the 1,400-acre Menie estate in 2006. His planning application was rejected by Aberdeenshire Council in November 2007, six months after Salmond’s Scottish National Party won elections and its first term in power. Finance Secretary John Swinney overturned the planning decision in 2008, citing the economic and social benefits.
Opponents faulted Trump’s plans to build part of the course on a stretch of sand dunes that government environmental advisers said should be protected. Trump planted marram grass in a stretch of the dunes, a site designated of special scientific interest, to stop them moving northward a few yards each year and encroaching on the golf course.
“The decision to go forward with the second course was driven by demand,” Sorial said. “We are on track to sell out 22,000 rounds this year plus corporate outings. We are selling as many rounds as we can.”
Opened Course
The first course, which opened for the season in July and closed in October, sold more than 10,000 rounds in its first year, Sorial said. It will reopen in April and may stay open into November, he said.
Trump is looking to start building the second course this year, assuming it will take four to six months to gain planning consent. The first course took 18 months to build and the latest should take less time, Sorial said.
Trump has spent 100 million pounds on the estate, putting in infrastructure and building the first course. The Mary MacLeod course, named for Trump’s Scottish-born mother, should be less costly, Sorial said.