In a largely stagnant sport that is associated with an unpredictable real-estate business model, billionaire businessman Donald Trump is one of the bold few who has laced up his golf shoes and marched noisily into the former camp.
A brand unto himself, Trump continues to throw his name and considerable promotional muscle behind the game, including the launch of his first Middle East project, Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, which is scheduled to formally open next spring.
The headline-devouring realty tycoon has continued to add to his golf portfolio abroad, while also flinging around copious amounts of cash and panache in his home market, the United States.
This week, Trump’s newest US purchase, the long-lived Doral Golf Resort & Spa outside Miami, will again host a mega-money World Golf Championships event featuring the top players on the planet.
After spending US$250 million (Dh918m) during the past two years to spruce up the property, including a complete overhaul of the Blue Monster course by designer Gil Hanse, the formal curtain raising begins with Thursday’s first round.
The venerable course reopened last month and, while early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, the opinion of the players will matter most.
“Donald was very, very happy,” Hanse said. “But the main critical reviews will come when the tournament is played.”
Mind the feedback, since the critique from the rebranded Trump National Doral could soon be echoed in Dubai, where Hanse was again retained for the design.
It was at Trump's insistence that Hanse – probably the hottest architect in the sport – was hired to build the Dubai course and replace an unidentified designer who was to have built the new high-end property for developer Damac.
“When Damac finalised the deal with Trump, he insisted we be brought aboard,” Hanse said.
The Dubai course is expected to feature the customary Trump flourishes. Trump is not so much into bells and whistles as he is klaxons and sirens.
“It will not be hard to look at,” Hanse said.
The Dubai project will be Trump’s 15th golf property internationally, just as Hanse continues to make a name for himself, globally, too. The American designer is building the heavily scrutinised Olympics course in Rio de Janeiro, which, because of legal and permitting issues with Brazilian authorities, has occupied most of his time in the past two years and delayed his commitment to the Dubai project.
Damac has no real background in golf, so Trump will manage the Dubai course and the high-end neighbourhood within the community that will be branded with his name.
“Whenever Trump is involved, there is an expectation that it will be of the highest quality,” Hanse said.
If not of the highest profile. The former star of his own reality TV show, Trump is a realty magnate and publicity magnet. He also seems to have grown more architecture-savvy over the years.
A couple of his early properties, in Miami and Los Angeles, caused smirks among many aficionados. Both featured distractingly artificial design features – including a massive man-made waterfall – that coalesced with the existing topography about as well as a camel in a Florida swamp.
Hanse said there are no plans for anything of the sort in Dubai.
With course bankruptcies becoming a weekly occurrence in the west – a reported 643 18-hole facilities since 2006 have closed in the US alone – Trump has emerged as one of the game’s bullish driving forces. Indeed, outside of Tiger Woods, few others associated with the sport have generated more headlines.
In 2014 alone, Trump lost a months-long court case tied to the establishment of an offshore wind-turbine farm within view of his new resort, Trump International, Scotland. After losing the case, he theatrically cancelled plans to add a second course.
Last month, he bought the critically well-received Doonbeg resort in Ireland for €15 million (Dh75.9m) and rechristened it Trump International Golf Links, Ireland.
Last week, he graced the cover of GolfWorld magazine, and today in Miami, he and Hanse have a news conference scheduled to discuss the redesigned layout of Doral, one of the longest-tenured courses on the PGA Tour.
The carefully coiffed, media-centric Trump knows how to market his product. He is part shaman and part showman, which is not always a bad thing when selling million-dollar properties in a battle-scarred economy.
No question, Dubai's real-estate climate has had some well-chronicled setbacks since its last 18-hole course, Jumeirah Golf Estates, opened five years ago. In fact, when Jumeirah hosted the European Tour's Race to Dubai finale last November, some of the community's first residents had just begun moving in.
As evidence of the slump, when Hanse made a recent site visit to the UAE, he took a tour of the now-defunct Tiger Woods Dubai grounds, which was shelved after Woods's firm had completed most of the design and routing work.
In fact, Damac took over a mothballed development that had already been pre-developed, stripped and levelled, Hanse said.
“It was quite a canvas,” said Hanse, who has handled 12 designs or course makeovers internationally, with the Dubai and Rio venues under construction.
Two holes, Nos 10 and 11, are grassed and effectively finished, and the Dubai course is on schedule to be completed by October, with a formal opening next spring, Hanse said.
Building in the arid UAE required some unique occupational adjustments, Hanse said. The course will be irrigated by reclaimed sewage and, because of poor soil quality in the region, topsoil called sweet sand has been trucked in from Oman and used to cap the grassed areas.
Not everything was sculpted and bulldozed. Hanse said the area’s rolling sand dunes, especially on the front nine, will be focal points of the design.
The course will measure 7,205 yards, which is short by modern professional standards. With three European Tour events already being held annually in the UAE, odds that another will be staged at Trump Dubai seem slim.
But few salesmen know how to command a spotlight like Trump, whose bluster at times could power one of those offshore wind turbines.
“I think if the opportunity came along for us to host something [professionally],” Hanse said, “he’d absolutely want us to be able to do that.”
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Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Results
Final: Iran beat Spain 6-3.
Play-off 3rd: UAE beat Russia 2-1 (in extra time).
Play-off 5th: Japan beat Egypt 7-2.
Play-off 7th: Italy beat Mexico 3-2.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Company%20Profile
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More from Armen Sarkissian
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
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• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
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The specs: 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410
Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Naga
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Company%20Profile
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Meydan race card
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
Joy%20Ride%20
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more from Janine di Giovanni
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
