For Donald Trump, going on about golf is par for the course

By Steve Holland

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) – Donald Trump flew all night from New York to Scotland to talk about his renovated Turnberry golf course and, given the chance to open up on the topic, he was rhapsodic.

At a news conference, the Republican’s opening ode to Turnberry was what greeted American cable TV viewers as they woke to the news that Britain had voted to part ways with the European Union.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee talked plenty about the “Brexit” vote.

But since his event was to mark the reopening of a resort where the Open Championship has been staged four times, he first reviewed the improvements at holes 9, 10 and 11, the sprinkler system, the lighthouse, the resort hotel, and he name-checked golf legends Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Price.

“This hole is an example,” said Trump, standing on the 9th tee. “From approximately this area, you would hit over there … Now you’re hitting out over the ocean. And just to the right of the lighthouse, you have a green, and a lot of people think this will be the greatest par 3 anywhere in the world. And then 10 becomes a par 5,” he said.

Trump quickly dispensed with a protester who emerged from the audience to hold up a package of red golf balls emblazoned with Nazi swastikas.

“Get him out of here,” Trump said, a refrain that he frequently uses when protesters are escorted by security from his rallies back home.

More appreciated by Trump were the two bagpipers in kilts who accompanied him. Everyone at his event knew he was about to arrive because they could hear the skirling of the pipes before he appeared from behind a grassy hill.

“We’re just waiting on Donald Trump. His arrival is imminent. We can see the bagpipers,” said one TV broadcaster.

Having never held public office, Trump does not have a list of political victories to tout on the campaign trail. With his business skills, Trump says, he can work to improve America’s rundown roads and bridges and negotiate better deals on issues as diverse as trade and Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump delights in talking about his projects. His makeover of Washington’s Old Post Office into a luxury Trump hotel, for example, is way ahead of schedule.

He is less enthusiastic about raising money for his campaign and the Republican National Committee. “I don’t like doing it,” he said.

But true to his nature, Trump averred he was good at it.

“You know, I sit with 20 people, and we talk, and they all hand you checks, bing, bing, bing,” he said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller)