Donald: “My feasibility study is my gut."

And that's a big study these days. Brad Klein looks at the Ferry Point situation and reminds us that anyone complaining about the $125 green fee should not blame the man who kept Gary Busey in line during season eleven--yes, eleven--of Celebrity Apprentice, but instead, on sloppy and slightly corrupt bureaucrats. And maybe Jack Nicklaus.

The project finally went to public bid in 2008, with the design contract awarded to the team of Jack Nicklaus and John Sanford. Both are golf course designers, with Nicklaus, the game’s leading major champion, having a legendary worldwide portfolio, and Sanford having done much work on land remediation, including conversion of a Boston-area dumpsite for the “Big Dig” into public-access Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills.

The idea behind Ferry Point has been for the city to add to its existing supply of 13 municipal golf courses and to do so on a level that would make a big splash. There’s certainly a demand for golf, with tee sheets booked steadily through the year and rates attractive and affordable, in the $40 range in peak season.

And the Donald sounds like he wants to displace a course in the current Barclay's rotation. Judging by our Golf World ranking of tour courses, I think I know which one goes first!

For his part, Trump is understandably excited about the prospect of being part of a New York City landmark. “It’s a spectacular piece of land, a major-championship site literally right next to everything, on the city,” he told Golfweek. “It’s important for golf. Golf has been suffering lately, and it’s major course in the biggest city in the world.”

For such projects, Trump says he doesn’t need to do a detailed cost-benefit analysis. “My feasibility study is my gut,” he said.

Every Lights Up Waialae, Rolls To Sony Open Lead

Just had to get those out of the system. Now I can put Matt Every's pot-arrest past behind him. So can Reuters after this less-than-subtle lede:

Matt Every, who was suspended by the PGA Tour in 2010 for three months after being arrested on drug charges, birdied his last three holes to move two strokes clear in Friday's second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The 28-year-old American fired a flawless six-under-par 64 at a breezy Waialae Country Club for a 10-under total of 130 and the early lead in the first full-field event of the season on the U.S. circuit.

Update on 2012-01-14 18:50 by Geoff

**Thanks to reader Mark for this awkward Every post round interview with Kelly Tilghman. 

Deadspin also embeds it on their site for the inevitable YouTube removal.

And even better, Mark Rolfing with an early candidate for the Yogi Berra quote of the year: "Well that was a revealing interview, but I'm not sure what it revealed."

The post round transcript was a little less awkward.

Update on 2012-01-14 18:49 by Geoff

**Doug Ferguson explains that no one seems to have an answer for what exactly happened to Every's case, but the word dismissed is not one of them.

"I don't do drugs. It was a crappy deal, man," Every said. "Wrong place, wrong time, perfect storm. And you know, I got three months out of it. It's over with. I'm not mad at the tour. They did what they had to do. I totally understand it. But it's over with."

Every said he is not a "party animal."

"I still hang out with the same people," he said. "I have great friends, man. If one of my friends likes to smoke marijuana every now and then, I'm not going to say, 'Well, you can't be my friend anymore.' Honestly, man, I know more people who smoke marijuana than who don't smoke marijuana. I know that's probably not the politically correct thing to say, but it's the truth."

Asked about the outcome of the charge, Every said he had to "stay out of trouble" for a year. One of his agents at Goal Marketing, Kevin Canning, declined comment when asked how the case was disposed.