Donald Trump's $28 million Colts Neck, New Jersey course buy shows his golf cents

Donald Trump buying the club formerly known as Shadow Isle (it was immediately renamed Trump National before the ink even dried on the contracts of course) in Colts Neck, N.J. is arguably the least reported and commented on major Trump acquisition ever. None of the golf magazines have done big stories on it and since there’s not some wacky self-anointed shepherd vowing to put his garbage outside to annoy Trump off the land, you can be certain HBO’s Real Sports will not be visiting either.

But by spending $28 million to purchase a private golf course in a time when everyone else in big business seems to be hiding under their desk and waiting for Uncle Sam to roll in with Brinks Trucks, Trump is sticking by the ignore-the-fear business approach he talked about with GolfCourseRealty.com almost a year ago. Back when the economy was bad, but nowhere close to as panicked as things are now.

“When other people get jumpy or short sighted, you can make a lot of money,” Trump said then. “I’ve made a lot of money going against the crowd.”

It says something that Trump is still doing that in golf today. Shadow Isle failed pretty miserably under its previous owners, but Trump is already pouring more money into it, planning to bring in Tom Fazio to tweak a Jerry Pate design that only opened in 2005, already having ordered the immediate widening of the entrance drive (the better to fit those Trump limo fleets).

If you’re not familiar with central New Jersey (and few people who haven’t lived there are), Colts Neck is an interesting area. It’s a rich man’s enclave that’s close to the Jersey Shore, but isn’t actually on any water. Instead it’s old horse country turned into McMansion country. It’s about an hour from Manhattan and many of its residents work for New York’s financial firms, leaving it with a disproportionate number of victims in 9-11 (with most of those having worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, stuck on one of the highest floors) and certainly many economic nervous folks today.

One of the most emotionally gut-wrenching assignments I ever had as newspaper journalist was covering the dedication of a Colts Neck Little League field to fathers/youth coaches who’d perished in the Twin Towers. The grace and strength those widows with small children showed (not to mention their patience with a reporter asking questions in a tough time) has always made me root for the people of Colts Neck.

Home owners in Colts Neck have largely embraced Trump coming in, so with no juicy controversy for all those folks who can’t stand Trump, there doesn’t figure to be major national coverage elsewhere. But you can still read about Trump Natonal Colts Neck in the coming weeks at WorldGolf.com.

The difference between the federal government coming in to bail out Wall Street firms and Donald Trump coming in to bail out a private club largely made up of Wall Street golfers is that you can be sure that The Donald will find a way to make a nice profit. Unlike the suits throwing away your tax dollars.