“I played Doral in June but this is much more exclusive,” said Ben Dehart, a dentist who voted for Trump and says he’s doing a good job. On a recent evening, two visitors from Mississippi walked into the bar and ordered beer, professing their support for Trump and marveling at the décor. “They started selling more things with just ‘Turnberry,’” she said.
Fiona Hunter, a long-time Turnberry member, said the pro-shop tried to get rid of the Trump gear by offering two-for-one deals, because visitors weren’t buying. “There’s been a smattering of people saying they didn’t vote for him and won’t go to his properties,” Baker says, adding he’s also heard people say, “‘I really don’t like him, but I love what he’s done for Turnberry.’ There’s a grudging respect.”Įven among those who play, Trump-branded gear looks to be a tough sell. Sam Baker, founder of Cincinnati, Ohio-based Haversham & Baker, which organizes tours for Americans to play golf in Britain and Ireland, says about 20 clients since the election volunteered that they wanted to avoid Trump’s courses. In addition to the prices, Trump’s divisiveness does appear to be keeping some visitors away. Although Miller invited questions by email, she did not reply to emails or return phone calls. The prices - a deluxe ocean view room in October was listed on the website for 569 pounds a night, or about $744 - may play a role.Įric Trump, who has taken over Scottish operations for his father since he took office, declined to comment through a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, Amanda Miller. While Turnberry’s flagship Ailsa golf course was busy during a recent mid-week visit, and fully booked for weekends in September, hotel occupancy is down, according to a person familiar with the business. His company has continued pouring money in since, completing a second, 18-hole layout that opened in June 2017.ĭirectors for the company that runs Trump Turnberry attributed the loss primarily to the resort’s closing for just under six months during renovations, although it was reopened in time to catch most of the 2016 golf season.
As he renovated the hotel and reconfigured the championship course last year, Trump increased a personal loan to the resort’s operating company, boosting it to 112 million pounds, up from 63 million pounds.
Turnberry’s 103-room hotel is a building from a grander era, erected as part of the British Railway’s extension into rural Scotland at the turn of the 20th century. Trump’s other course north of Aberdeen also posted widening losses of 1.4 million pounds, an increase of 28 percent, while revenue fell 12 percent. Losses at Trump Turnberry, his biggest investment outside of the U.S., more than doubled to 17.6 million pounds ($23 million) in 2016, while revenue fell 21 percent to 9 million pounds. over the weekend show Trump last year faced mounting losses at Turnberry and his other Scottish golf resort, forcing him to inject more cash to cover shortfalls. Financial reports made public in the U.K. So far, that looks like a sound prediction. “He’ll never get a return on the capital he’s invested.” “It’s a personal investment in aggrandizement,” says Mervyn Caplan, a member for the past 17 years, sipping tea in the clubhouse. Members gathering for their tee times on a recent cloudy Wednesday say they love many of the changes at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, but they doubt the president will ever make his money back. From the 300-plus crystal chandeliers to the gold-plated taps in the bathrooms, Donald Trump has transformed a hotel overlooking one of the world’s most legendary golf courses into an eponymous glittering palace.
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