DONALD Trump has officially opened – to much fanfare – his new golf course in Aberdeenshire.
Of course, he was characteristically boastful as the ribbon was cut in front of a crowd including celebrities, golfers, First Minister John Swinney and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Just before hitting the first ball at the New Course, which is a 0-minute drive from Aberdeen near a town called Balmedie, the US president told those gathered on a grandstand: “We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful.
“The area has really welcomed us. If you remember at the beginning there wasn’t quite a welcome, but it wasn’t bad.
“But with time they liked us more and more, now they love us and we love them.”
The National went out in Balmedie to find out if that was true.
“No, not at all,” 66-year-old Steve Young said – who expressed concerns over how accessible and beneficial it actually was – suggesting the course should offer, for example, discounted rates for locals.
“I used to be a golfer. I've never played at Donald Trump's course because it's too expensive. I've never played, it’s too elite.”
He added that he once drove over to Trump International with his wife with the intention of eating there but decided it was “too posh”.
64-year-old Gordon, who has lived in the area for over 25 years, also wasn’t a huge fan of the golf course – albeit more for ecological reasons.
"We always knew from the outset this was going to happen. So it comes as really no great surprise,” he told The National.
“I think people, when it was originally proposed, didn't realise how close it came to the edge of the country park and it does impact.”
He added: “There's obviously been huge environmental concerns.”
The sand dunes at Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf resort lost their special status as a nationally-important protected environment in 2020.
The countryside agency NatureScot said that, after construction, the area no longer merited being retained as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
“It was always going to be downgraded once he stabilised the dunes, it's a moving dune system,” he said.
“And normally you don't get planning permission, but the rules for Trump were very different.”
Gordon added: “In this country, we should not be crashing our sites of scientific interest for a golf course. I think Trump missed a trick. I think he could have done something that worked with nature. But, you know, that's not his style, is it?”
There were, however, pockets of positivism.
“Trump is great for Balmedie,” he told The National.
“It's a beautiful course. Everything is just immaculate.”
Another local, Alan, said of the course: “I don't mind. It doesn't put me up or down.
“We don't want the national park to disappear. As long as it stays the way it is.”
Finally, Pat, an elderly pensioner who was walking her dog Rupert near Balmedie beach, wasn’t aware of the course opening at all.
“No idea,” she said. “If I played golf, I'd rather go down to the Old Course or Carnoustie – somewhere like that.”
