The Open Is Coming! Which Means This Site Will Fly Into Full Open Championship Mode

I'm off to work on some stories for next year's Open Championship, to review Trump International Scotland for Golf World, and to take in the Scottish Open this weekend. This will be followed by next week's coverage of the Open Championship from Royal Lytham for Golf World and GolfDigest.com.

After the Open, I have a dream round of golf in the greater Edinburgh area on tap (details, photos and video likely at some point). This will be followed by a few days of vacation.

So bear with me the next three weeks as posting frequency, times and content will vary depending on WiFi access, the news, media regulations, moods, the weather or the need to withhold certain observations for magazine stories.

But as always, your submissions for blog worthy stories will be greatly appreciated. And a special thanks to the art department for the "stamp" mastheads.

Comments

[act38]

Just remember Geoff, there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

[jjshaka]

Sounds incredible - have a blast, Geoff.

[fourputter]

Bring your umbrella and your thermal stuff, Geoff. The UK has been deluged over the last ten days and the forecast for the rest of the month isn't much better. I've had three visits to my course in the last three weeks. The rest ? Pouring and / or freezing.

But you'll have a great time anyway!

[ForeRight!]

Best site banner yet. Stoked to read the learn-Ed opinions here.

[Jeremy]

Are you going to be able to review Trump International Scotland with an open mind?

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

Another grand slam with the banner! Nice work, Tommy.

Have fun, work hard, but don't forget those left behind...

[Pasaplayer]

I'm not sure precisely where or when it occurred but I have no doubt I took the wrong career turn.

[Blue Canyon]

I thought the same thing - banner for Castle Stuart looks really good.

[digsouth]

The masthead is awesome, and the cancellation is the ''crowning touch''. Genius!

Have a great time, but be sure and work hard: Herb may be reading.

[Geek Tragedy]

Dream round in the greater Edinburgh area? I hope ur talking the West Links at North Berwick or Muirfield. And not something like The Renaissance Club or Archerfield.

Can't wait for the Trump International Scotland review. I want to know how playable it is with all that artificially planted marram grass off the fairways.

[No Longer Used to be Former S&T Convert]

The Trump International review and subsequent discussion will be interesting based on previews and discussions to date.

[mike]

Geoff
I live in the centre of Edinburgh
Where are you playing ?

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

@ Geek ... or, Muirfield?

[rb]

except...is that a cart path throught the middle?...oy

[alp]

Have a great trip and play well.
I am sure there are a lot of us regular readers that wish we were going with you.

[Mark]

Great banner.....hat tip to Tommy.

Funny how you describe all those great activities for the next two weeks then conclude with...and then I will take a few days vacation. The two weeks prior to your "vacation" would be a dream vacation for almost all of us.

[MatthewM]

Another vote for the banner - great stuff. Not long before Pete Dawson gets you on retainer Tommy.

[Press Agent]

@ Geek:

That is an awful lot of planting to cover all those dunes for miles and miles, and to do it before starting construction on the golf course, in fact decades before hand, to get all that "artificially planted" marram grass to be there when needed. A masterful job of planning to know they would come through so many years later and cut some golf through all the artificially planted grass. Or perhaps you are saying God was in on it by artificially planting all that grass so they could have it there to frame the holes?

Amazing.

[Geek Tragedy]

@Press Agent - Before it was developed, Trump's property was mostly exposed sand dune without soil or grass. His fairways also had to be artificially turfed. That is primarly why there was never any golf played on this stretch of coast between Aberdeen and Cruden Bay.

Look at pictures of other links courses in Aberdeenshire, and you will notice natural fescue. Then, look at Trumps course - the marram grass was planted in a way that make it look like hairplugs after a guy gets a hair transplant.

You must be a very religious man if you think God plants grass like that, or very naive.

[walkie talkie banks]

My spy from Cruden Bay who has been there says it is a very very good course but that it is also very very difficult-and he can play a bit!
A serious stock of golf balls required apparently.

[Geek Tragedy]

@Press Agent - here is an article from the Scottish Sun mentioning the planting of the marram grass:

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3937436/Golf-fans-queue-up-for-tee-with-Donald-Trump.html

"Its construction included 5.6million individual hand-sown Marram grass sprigs painstakingly planted in 2010"

What is really amazing is that @Press Agent thinks that God himself might have painstakingly hand-planted the 5.6 million marram grass sprigs.

Absolutely bloody friggin AMAZING.

[D. maculata]

Marram grass, hairplugs and hair transplant in the same sentence with Trump? You can't make this stuff up.....

[Press Agent]

You are going to tell me this was all planted, and the site was barren, "without soil or grass" before construction??
I've got a bridge to sell you son, real cheap. Good deal - I promise.
Don't believe everything you read in the Scottish Sun lad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/26/donald-trump-scotland-golf-protest

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/9140774/Donald-Trump-an-unlikely-Braveheart-prepares-to-defend-Scotlands-coastline-from-wind-farms.html

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/Lcq9qBtHzsg/Construction+Begins+New+Donald+Trump+Golf/rqpJo0ZvbUq/Donald+Trump+Jr.

"The contractor has carefully lifted the vegetation, constructed the tee boxes and then relayed the vegetation around the box embankments. In addition, the players footpaths, the permanent maintenance track and minor drainage channels have all been constructed using the existing vegetation to successfully merge these features within the existing dunes and rolling landform."

By-the-way, all fairways are "artificially turfed" as you call it. LOL

[Geek Tragedy]

@Press Agent - your attempt to save yourself on this is pathetic.

St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Troon, Machrihanish, Dornoch were all "artificially turfed"? I see.

I certainly doubt that 500 yrs ago the residents of St. Andrews painstakingly hand-planted millions of marram grass sprigs while constructing The Old Course.

Check out this pic of Trump's land before construction:

http://www.eagleparbirdie.com/50226711/trumps_scotland_saga_the_latest.php

And:

http://www.conservation-jobs.co.uk/53040/donald-trumps-impact-on-the-environment/

Clearly that is exposed sand - not hard and fast naturally turfed linksland.

You and your Scottish Sun Marram Grass Conspiracy. Lame.

You've lost this one bud. Sorry.

[Hole in Three]

Is @Press Agent The Donald's Press Agent? Did The Donald fire Donny Dr.?

[sgolfer]

Gratuitous Trump photo:

http://www.enagri.info/blog/?p=207

Here he is wearing one of those marram spigs.

[Press Agent]

Yep, not a blade of grass to be seen anywhere in your photos - just all sand like a desert, its' amazing it all doesn't just blow away.
They hand planted every blade of grass - LOL, they also spent "60 to 100 million dollars" (finger touching lip)
and they built "the best golf course in the world." the bathroom fixtures will be solid gold and it will be the most expensive development in the history of the world, and you'll just keep believing every word the Trump marketing machine pumps out.
No links golf courses use seeded grasses, they just start mowing the sand....
Yep I lost this one, and I'm glad I did.

[neon lights]

geek and hole in three are the same person.

[Geek Tragedy]

Press Agent: you've lost the argument, and your mind.

[John Morris]

@Geek
Is the Trump course at Balmedia, we stayed there one time while my wife was tracing her ancestory in Aberdeen. There was a really barren stretch of dunes close by with a couple of small carparks and paths through to the beach. Reminde me of the dunes betwen Formby and Southport when I was akid. great to play games in. That time I drove up to Cruden Bay but the Haa cme in couldn't see a hand in front of my face. Got back to Belmedie by luck
John

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

@ Press Agent ...

" ... just all sand like a desert, its' amazing it all doesn't just blow away."

Actually it does, sort of ...

From The Guardian ...

"The Menie Estate includes a magnificent stretch of sand dunes that form part of the Foveran Links SSSI. This special status was awarded to this 4,000-year-old site in recognition of its importance as the finest UK example of a dynamic system of wind-blown dunes. But the development of the Trump resort requires the "stabilisation" of the dunes, thus desptroying their scientific value."

Trump is so ignorant, he actually stated he was doing this dune a favour by stabilising it with marram grass.

As a footnote, the first planting was vandalised and ... no ... it wisnae me!

[Tommy Naccarato]

Thank you for the compliments and thanks to Geoff for making it all happen.

[digsouth]

This thread will be 200 posts long before the first Geoff installment of what's actually happening.

I could use a couple thousand sprigs in my yard, if Donny has any leftovers.

Tommy, again, just awesome!

[Tommy Naccarato]

Thanks Dig!

[Visman]

Cruden Bay is the most amazing golf course you could ever hope to play. Seriously. Get there.

[John Morris]

The Menie Estate in 2008

http://robinwilson.net/menie3/menie.html

John

[Tim in Hoylake]

And if on the last day of your vacation, you are still looking for something to do Geoff, let me know if you want to play Hoylake; we're only about an hour from the airport in Manchester. Perhaps you can see it in its natural state - and standard 30 mph constant wind. Cheers,