The Donald In Scotland, Vol. 2

The Donald visited Scotland and as always, the trip produced some fine stories.

Auslan Cramb writes in the Guardian:

A four-handicap golfer, he described Sir Sean Connery as one of his best friends, Nick Faldo as a supporter, and, mindful of where he was, added: "I love your Colin Montgomerie".

Jonathan Coates reports on the bonding between Donald and another emerging architect, Peter Dawson.

Trump is aware of all this - heck, his course hasn't even been approved yet - but he insisted yesterday, just minutes after meeting R&A secretary Peter Dawson in the Old Course clubhouse, that taking the Open to Aberdeenshire was a realistic aim. "What I really hope to do is build the greatest golf course anywhere in the world," Trump said after being ferried by helicopter from Menie to St Andrews. Asked if he thought his course could host the Open Championship, Trump replied: "Yes, I would love that. We are shooting for that. And yes, I think it's realistic."

Trump's right-hand man, Ashley Cooper, elaborated: "When we go out and build big golf courses we build them with championships in mind. So we understand how the infrastructure works, we understand how the medical situation needs to be done, how hospitality has to be done, how viewing has to be done. So what we will do over the next two or three years building the links course is build it with the Open Championship in mind. But whatever happens, the public and some of our private members will have an Open Championship venue to enjoy for the next 100 years."

Having just met Dawson, whom the New Yorker described as "a fantastic guy who has done an amazing job", Trump added: "We had a great conversation and he understands the greatness of this land. He was born in Aberdeen and he understands the greatness of these dunes. I've built a lot of golf courses but there's nothing like the great dunes in Scotland. That's why we chose this site over so many others."

Meanwhile, Lorna Martin reports on criticism of the project.