The Week That Was, december 13, 2015

     Once again, Mike Keiser is stirring controversy in Oregon. Just months after the famed, influential developer gave up on his attempt to build a municipal golf complex south of Bandon Dunes, he’s now angling to build an 18-hole course on waterfront property outside Netarts, on the state’s northern coast. If Keiser’s proposal is approved, the track would take shape on property that he plans to lease from a Boy Scouts troop. Note to prospective architects: Coore & Crenshaw has already done a routing. “It’s a beautiful place,” Bill Coore has concluded. Coore didn’t say it, but the site appears to have something else going for it: It looks to be within an hour’s drive of Portland, which is as close as a Keiser complex ever comes to a major city.

     While he contemplates his joint venture with the Boy Scouts, Mike Keiser also appears to be eager to revive the great dream of Bandon Muni, but with fewer holes and without the headaches associated with municipal golf. “I hope to do both,” the Chicago-based developer told Golf Advisor. “They could be really good.” Keiser still owns 300 acres south of Bandon Dunes, and these days he’s thinking about what fun it might be to get back to where he once belonged, building an 18-hole track on property that Gil Hanse, the course’s architect, describes as “spectacular.” If Keiser green-lights the venture, Hanse’s course would function as Bandon Dunes’ fifth 18-hole layout.

     Regarding the 2020 or 2021 Open Championship, the one that’s been virtually guaranteed to Trump Turnberry: You can forget about it, at least until Donald “the Insulter” Trump rehabilitates his image in Europe and the Middle East. Although the power elites in the U.S. golf industry continue to implicitly support Trump, the Independent on Sunday writes that “his dream of handing over the trophy at the Open is in tatters” because the R&A, the event’s organizer, “has privately decided that his reputation is now so toxic” that his historic Scottish resort “can no longer host the game’s most prestigious tournament.” Nobody has so far been willing to talk on the record, but good old boys at the R&A have begun to say nasty things behind Trump’s back. “Turnberry will be back,” one of them told the newspaper, “but perhaps not Trump Turnberry.” Another one said, “Those who forecast worse would come, including warnings from our American cousins, have been proved correct.” And finally, according to a source who’s said to be “close to the championship committee,” during a recent discussion about Trump, “One word was thrown around: Enough.”

     In recent months Donald Trump has insulted Mexicans, John McCain, Univision, Megan Kelly, women in general, Jews, the handicapped, and who knows how many others. Nonetheless, the R&A allowed his increasingly inane comments to slide until he proposed to build a wall around the United States that would deny entry to Muslims. But why was an attack on Muslims the straw that broke the camel’s back? Why didn’t Trump’s many previous insults provoke indignation at the organization that takes pride in being the custodian of golf’s glorious traditions? The Independent on Sunday provides the answer: “Middle East sovereign wealth,” it notes, “is a key element of European Tour golf sponsorship.” So if you’re thinking that the Powers That Be in golf have found a social conscience, think again: They’ll forever tolerate insults to people of all races, colors, and creeds, but they’ll absolutely, positively never offend those who pay the bills.

     Speaking of pocket-book issues, just days after it dismissed any notion of severing ties with Donald Trump, a high-profile Middle Eastern developer has apparently reconsidered. Reuters reports that Damac Properties, the company building Trump International Golf Club Dubai (the venue with the Gil Hanse-designed course), has “stripped the property of his name and image.” It’s hard to figure exactly what Damac’s action signifies, because neither it nor Trump has commented on the matter, but both parties have much to lose. If the partnership ends, Damac would have to overhaul its marketing program, and it would likely be forced to offer refunds to everyone who’s already purchased a high-priced house in a community that’s supposed to feature a Trump-branded golf course. Things could potentially be far worse for Trump, however, for such a loss of face would likely prevent him from turning the Middle East into his next gravy train. While we wait for things to shake out, it’s worth noting that both of Trump’s ventures with Damac -- Trump International Golf Club Dubai and Trump World Golf Club Dubai (the venue with the Tiger Woods-designed course) -- are still listed as part of Trump Golf’s portfolio.

     Although doors are being closed on Donald Trump in the Middle East, it appears that he’ll have to hurl many more racial and religious insults before he wears out his welcome with the U.S. golf business. None of the organizations that have scheduled upcoming events at Trump-branded golf properties -- the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the U. S. Golf Association -- have as yet shown any inclination to relocate them. In fact, last week the PGA Tour, which professes to have “a strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment,” announced that Trump National Doral Golf Club Miami will most definitely host the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championships. As far as subsequent events at the resort are concerned, the tour remains non-committal: “Immediately after the completion of the 2016 tournament,” it said in a press statement, “we will explore all options regarding the event’s future.” Anyone who believes such comments indicate that a change of venue is on the horizon is giving the tour too much credit.