The Week That Was: April 17, 2011

ireland The Luck of the Irish

When he isn't trying to expose Barack Obama as a fraud, Donald Trump continues to search the planet for undervalued golf properties. And he may have found one he likes on the eastern coast of Ireland, about a 40-minute drive south of Dublin.

The speculation is that Trump has his eye on the European Club, one of the premier golf properties in the U.K. According to a report in the Irish Examiner, Trump's son, Donnie, recently met with representatives of a government-created group that aims to dump distressed assets for the nation's banks. The newspaper suggests that the parties discussed the European Club.

If that's true, Trump has a good eye. The European Club is owned by Pat Ruddy, a golf writer and editor who, in the early 1990s, put his money where his mouth is and designed what is, by all accounts, a true world-class, 7,323-yard layout. (The track actually has 20 holes available for play, 10 out and 10 in.) Darius Oliver of Planet Golf calls the course “one of the best modern links anywhere in Europe,” and another critic says it “feels like it has been there forever.” Executive Golf says the course record, a 67, was set by Tiger Woods in 2002.

Then again, maybe all this talk about a potential sale of Ruddy's club is much ado about nothing. Another Irish paper, the Journal, points out that the European Club isn't in financial trouble and hasn't been listed for sale, at least not officially.

It's also important to note that while Trump the Younger has reportedly visited the European Club, he's also sized up several other potential acquisition targets in Ireland.

puerto rico Not Your Father's Golf Course

A tired old relic of the 1960s is getting a make-over, and I'm not talking about Grace Slick.

I'm talking about the East course at Puerto Rico's Dorado Beach Club & Resort. The Robert Trent Jones-designed track opened in 1958 and, by the height of the Age of Aquarius, helped turn Dorado Beach into a bona fide celebrity hang-out. During those aromatic, smoke-filled days, the East course hosted its share of professional tournaments -- including the Senior PGA Tour Championship multiple times -- but it hasn't landed an event worth writing home about since the turn of the century.

Alas, the Beautiful People have found new vacation destinations, and they've taken their golf clubs with them. So, to prevent the resort from completely fading from memory, its owners have hired Robert Trent Jones, Jr. to revitalize his father's course. The goal is to once again attract those coveted world-class tournaments, not to mention some new tourist business.

The renovation began last fall. According to a press release that announced the project, Junior plans to recapture “the original design philosophy while uncovering a more flexible and fun course for all players.”

Translated, that means the track is being lengthened, via the addition and/or relocation of rear tees. It also means its greens are being restored to their original sizes and shapes, its bunkers are being rebuilt and relocated, its fairways are being widened, and drainage issues are being addressed.

“It's a treat for me at this point in my career to have the opportunity to refresh some of my father's most notable work,” Jones said in a prepared statement.

talking points Hope for No-Name Architects

It's tough for young and undiscovered architects to make a name for themselves, particularly in international golf circles. So if you're an architect who's flying under the radar, take some advice from Jason Straka: Book a flight to Russia.

When you get into Russia, they're just starting their golf culture, so they don't know the big [designer] names, says Straka, an associate in Hurdzan Fry Environmental Golf Design. They don't know a [Mike] Hurdzan from a [Pete] Dye from a [Jack] Nicklaus. You could be the worst designer in the world, and they wouldn't know any better.