To Tee or Not to Tee

March 21, 2011

Scotland is the birthplace of golf, but although I was born and bred there, somehow that particular "g"-chromosome ended up missing from my DNAplex. Maybe that and my lack of depth perception is the reason, be it pool, golf, cricket, etc. For some unknown reason, I have never been able to hit a little ball with a stick and have it go where I want it to. Neither have I found the aforementioned to be the greatest spectator sports. However, I must be in a minority, judging from the ardor friends and relatives have for them. It amazed me when I saw a whole channel devoted to golf, and as I was surfing the TV, I happened to catch a show there with Donald Trump on it.

Golf aficionadas, who fantasize and dream of playing at the mecca of golfers, St. Andrew’s, will soon have another mega course to look forward to in Scotland. The "Donald" is building one on the east coast near Aberdeen and bordering the North Sea. Everyone knows he is not exactly low key, and this course will be typical. He has bought a castle there, and he is renaming ‘Macleod House’ in honor of his mother, Mary Macleod.

She was born in a crofting community (Tong) a few miles from the main town (Stornoway) on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. After she emigrated to the USA, she worked for Trump’s father, and the rest is history. Her relatives still live there, and my family tells me he has been there several times. The Macleod Clan were once known as Lords of the Isles and ruled over it.

Did you know that MCPL, through the "Seven Degrees of Separation" scenario, is connected to the "Donald"? The wife of one our MCPL-Claycomo staff members is a direct descendant of those very same "Lords of the Isles", hence the link. I guess there’s more than one way to make a hit with Donald Trump.

Mary B.
Claycomo Branch