Tiger Woods has played golf with President Donald Trump two times since the 45th Commander-in-Chief won the 2016 election, including a round over the Thanksgiving holiday while Trump was at Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
For liberal golf fans and those who have enjoyed watching Woods' career, there has been some expressed disappointment that Woods, as well world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, chose to play with Trump at his Jupiter, Fla. club. That's fine; your fandom, your choice. However, a number of critics are making a false charge about Woods and his relationship with Trump that should be corrected.
A number of critics have asked why Woods is building a golf course in Dubai for Donald Trump. He's not. Tiger Woods is not building a golf course in Dubai for Donald Trump. Here's what Tiger Woods actually did -- past tense. The job is done. Woods' design company partnered with AKOYA, a Dubai semi-state-run property developer, to design a golf course for one of their mega developments in the most chic of the United Arab Emirates' mini-kingdoms. That golf course, then, was named after Trump through a licensing deal which will see Trump's golf company managed the property for AKOYA. The course is called Trump World Golf Club, Dubai, similar in nomenclature to other Trump clubs that he either owns or operates in the United States, Ireland, Scotland, the UAE (there's also Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, in a separate AKOYA development, which Gil Hanse did) and elsewhere.
In other words, Tiger Woods designed his golf course for Dubai Emirates, not for Donald Trump.
Tiger Woods' first golf course design was supposed to be in Dubai, and it was dubbed Al Ruwaya. Several holes of the course were built before the Great Recession left Dubai on the verge of sovereign default and its developers without the money to build the course or surrounding real estate. Trump World Golf Club, Dubai, is basically built on the same intended land but with an updated design to fit the master-planned community.
