The Week That Was, november 18, 2012

It turns out that Donald Trump was just making empty threats when he vowed to stop development at Trump International Golf Links Scotland if the nation followed through on its plan to build an off-shore wind farm. The Sunday Express reports that the Birther in Chief, citing “phenomenal demand,” intends to move forward with the resort’s second course. Like course number one, the new track will be designed by Martin Hawtree. “He is the only man for the job,” Trump told the newspaper.

This week Trump also made news on this side of the Atlantic. He agreed to buy the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa in Jupiter, Florida, a 215-acre property that features a Jack Nicklaus “signature” golf course. “Great land, great location, great future!” Trump typed in a tweet. So far this year, Trump has opened a course in Scotland, closed on acquisitions in Charlotte and Miami, and agreed to operate New York City’s forthcoming Nicklaus-designed course in the Bronx. What will he do for an encore?

Clive Palmer, one of Australia’s richest people (Forbes says he’s worth $795 million), has purchased Sea Temple Golf & Country Club in Port Douglas, Queensland. The price: $7.23 million. The property’s centerpiece is an 18-hole, links-style course that was designed by Peter Thomson’s firm. Through one of his corporations, Palmer owns three other Australian golf properties, including the Palmer Coolum Resort on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

South Korean investors are backing out of agreements to build golf courses in Vietnam. Do they know something other foreign investors don’t?

The Jack Nicklaus-designed layout at Summit Rock Golf Club in the Texas Hill Country has officially opened. The property’s website notes that the 7,258-yard layout is “the only Jack Nicklaus signature golf course to open in the U.S. this year.” Steve Habel, a reviewer, thinks that “any golf course built in America these days is a triumph.”

The development group in control of the Bear Mountain resort community on Vancouver Island plans to shave nine holes from its 36-hole, Nicklaus Design golf complex. The facility is said to be operating at less than 50 percent of capacity. “Bear Mountain is a microcosm of what is going on throughout the entire golf industry -- too much supply for too little demand,” said an executive from Troon Golf, which is helping to plan the community’s less ambitious future.

Bill Esping’s EFO Financial Group has acquired Brightwater Club, a tony but financially troubled resort community outside Vail, Colorado. The centerpiece of the 963-acre property is an 18-hole, 8,005-yard golf course -- the fifth-longest course in the United States -- that was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. In April 2011, Brightwater’s parent company defaulted on $100 million worth of loans. At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported that Jones was owed $81,000.

What hath Augusta National wrought? Colin Moynihan, the outgoing chairman of the British Olympic Association, is pressuring the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews to admit female members. “Let’s get real and let’s get on with the job of providing equality of opportunity across sports,” he counseled during a radio interview. In August, a former prime minister made essentially the same pitch. How long until some of Great Britain’s other single-sex clubs -- among them Muirfield, Troon, and Royal St. George’s -- begin to feel the heat?

Nashville, Tennessee’s Belle Meade Country Club has reportedly admitted its first resident African-American member.

Golfers who score a hole-in-one on the 11th at Tierra Rejada Golf Club in Moorpark, California will take home a memento: an “award of excellence” from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The award includes a facsimile of a plaque bearing words once spoken by the former president: “Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.” Perhaps more importantly, Tierra Rejada’s customers will receive a discounted admission to the Ronald Reagan Library & Museum, which is right next door to the golf course. And vice versa.

On November 15, Larry Packard celebrated a true milestone: his 100th birthday. Earlier this year, when asked how he planned to honor the occasion, he replied: “Have a bourbon.” Several news outlets have published sketchy, unsatisfying retrospectives of Packard’s architectural career, but the Innisbrook resort has posted a video of the party.

I can’t tell you how President Obama celebrated on re-election night, but I know where he was on the following Saturday morning.