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Links in his armor
Trump’s Euro course vies for prestigious events
It is no secret Donald Trump craves the excesses in life.
In golf, Trump is as passionate about the courses he owns as he is about firing people on his hit TV show “The Apprentice.’’ And the thing that Trump desires most about his golf courses is recognition.
His Trump National course in Bedminster, N.J., has been awarded the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open — a prestigious appointment. And now his latest venture, Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, Scotland, is on the European Tour’s radar as a host to future tournaments, including the Ryder Cup.
European Tour chief executive George O’Grady has indicated Trump’s course, built on the spectacular dunes of the east coast of Scotland, soon will be ready to host a European Tour event.
O’Grady floated the possibility of Trump’s newest course hosting a Ryder Cup or even a future Open Championship, which currently is in a rotation on some of the oldest, most established courses in Britain.
“When I first visited the course during the Walker Cup [at nearby Royal Aberdeen in 2011], Donald Trump and I actually walked 16 holes in the rain,’’ O’Grady recently told the Press and Journal in Britain. “It certainly has the capacity to be one of the best courses in the world. [Course architect] Martin Hawtree and Donald have done a tremendous job, as it is a spectacular links.
“I told him when it is finished it could be a modern-day Turnberry, which I regard as a huge compliment as Turnberry has stood the test of time if you consider how long ago it was built.’’
Trump told The Post this week that European Tour officials “have already approached us’’ about bringing a Ryder Cup to the course.
“Oh, I think we’re going to have that,’’ Trump said. “We’re already talking about doing that, which is a great honor.’’
Trump described his “motivation’’ for building the links course, which came with great opposition from a number of the locals and environmentalists there, as this: “I wanted to build the greatest golf course anywhere in the world.
“To do that you need numerous things to be successful.’’
You need location. Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe. I needed the land, and the entire course runs along the North Sea at its most beautiful point. We have the largest dunes in the world.
“I took a flier on the land when everyone said it would be impossible to get it ‘zoned,’ as we call it in New York.’’
Trump International Golf Links has been open to the public since July and charges about 200 Sterling Pounds ($350) for greens fees.
“The Trump course is brutally tough at the moment and a few areas need to be softened out, but at every hole when you are on the tee, the views are spectacular,’’ O’Grady said. “When the hotel is finished and the rest of the work has been completed, there is no reason why any kind of golf tournament shouldn’t go there eventually.’’
Initial LJ ad idea died on operating table
It turns out that the legendary “Grandmama” was not the first commercial idea Converse had for former Knicks great Larry Johnson when he signed with the sneaker company out of UNLV.
On the first episode of MSG Network’s new show “Four Courses with JB Smoove,” which premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m., Johnson tells host JB Smoove about Converse’s original marketing pitch to him. It came after sneaker kingpin Sonny Vaccaro told LJ that Nike wouldn’t sign him because they didn’t think he would turn into an NBA star.
Converse’s first idea was to have LJ, covered by a sheet, lie on a gurney in a lab as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird operated on him, trying to create the perfect basketball player.
As the two legends finish up, they argue what to name him, with Bird pushing for Larry and Magic pushing for Johnson. As they go back and forth with “Larry or Johnson, Larry, Johnson,” LJ would sit up and be revealed.
“I was like, I’m signing!” LJ told MSG Network. “So I sign, they give me a million dollars, I buy my mom a house, and then they come to me four months later and say, ‘Hah, we’re not gonna do that commercial, we’re gonna do another one. We’re gonna put you in a dress and a wig.’”
And so Grandmama was born. “Four Courses with JB Smoove” will run through the summer. JB Smoove is best known for his role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Former Knick Rasheed Wallace, Brooklyn native NBA champion John Salley and “30 Rock” actor Judah Friedlander also will be guests.
‘Crushing’ prize for amateur
Mike Miller, the 21-year-old son of Knollwood head pro Bob Miller, is taking dead aim at making the U.S. Walker Cup team that will face Great Britain & Ireland this September on Long Island at National Golf Links.
But Miller didn’t put himself in the driver’s seat recently when he made a hole-in-one to win a car last month at Knollwood’s 16th hole while playing in a pro-am. Miller was so excited after the shot, he jumped onto the shiny Lincoln MKZ, ala Rich Beem, and busted the windshield.
Worse, because he wants to keep his amateur status, he couldn’t keep the car.