The locals are furious and with good cause. Donald Trump is a litterbug, a species of urban creature that was reviled and eradicated starting back in the early 1960’s. People used to dump trash on public thoroughfares or in parks but never in history have we had a *president* who saw fit to tear up the White House and then dump the remains in a local park. Daily Beast:
According to The New York Times, a National Park Service memo estimated that Trump will end up offloading some 30,000 cubic yards of soil, or around 2,000 truckloads, onto the park, which is already home to an affordable public golf course.
East Potomac Golf Links was managed by a nonprofit, National Links Trust, until Trump terminated its 50-year lease soon after he began destroying the East Wing in October.
The billionaire president, a golf course developer, told reporters last month that he would turn the links into “a beautiful world-class U.S. Open-caliber course,” yet another piece of his tacky makeover of the nation’s capital.
“Ideally, we’re going to have major tournaments there and everything else. It’s going to bring a lot of business into Washington,” he said.
But locals fear Trump’s plan to transform the course into a championship-level complex would price out everyday golfers, who now pay just $42 for 18 holes, a rare bargain. At Trump’s Miami golf course, the cheapest round costs $215, according to The Times. A hot dog goes for $24.
$24 for a hot dog. I can get a good lunch at my favorite Italian place for less than $24. I wonder if the denizens of Trump’s course think that hot dogs normally cost $24? There’s only one song I can think to play now and it’s sure not Welfare Cadillac.
He’s being sued about terminating the lease so perhaps a judge will step in. As for East Potomac Park and its golf course dumping the rubble of the east wing there has already done a lot of damage I’m sure. It was actually a twofer for Trump – not only did he mess up an affordable public golf course driving around the perimeter was an essential part of enjoying the annual Cherry Blossom festival each spring. All those trees are really quite special when in bloom and of course there’s the Potomac River right there on the west side and water on the east side too which is another special part of DC.
As for creating a championship course suitable for a U.S. Open that’s as dumbass a statement as he’s ever made. I’ve been there more times than I can remember, not so much to play golf because while by DC standards it was inexpensive the course is flat and featureless. It was a nice drive around the place and when I was stationed at Henderson Hall twice a year it’s where we went for our Physical Fitness tests because for some reason their were pull-up bars out near the southern tip. Do your pullups, then your situps and then head over to the picnic table to check in for the start of your three mile run. You’d head up the ‘inboard’ (the side closest to DC proper) and turn left to run over to the west/Potomac River side and run back down to near the point. Nice, flat land for the run and a lot nicer than running laps around some track.
Anway, there simply isn’t enough land for the kind of golf course Trump claims he’ll create, even with that part at the tip (Haines Point) available after that weird statue (it’s huge) called The Awakening (it’s like a guy on his back realizing he’s been buried alive – it was even weirder when the Potomac flooded. If you got over there in time during a bad flood before the water blocked the tip at Haines point seeing it partially covered by water made it even more eerie.
Anway, championship courses including and especially those used for Majors are LONG. There’s no way in hell to create a course of the length required for designation as a championship course. And, as I said the land itself is essentially flat. It’s a ‘links’ style course on big ass river, and a short one. Only most of the time without the wind one finds at a true seaside links course, or one at the edge of a HUGE lake where there happens to be a big enough piece of flat land.
Nope, Trump’s talking nonsense. What he really wants to do is create a shortish course RICH people can play. It offends him that common folks like me could go play golf on an actual golf course.