He famously boasted his first golf course in Aberdeenshire will be ‘the best in the world’.
But it is Donald Trump’s newly opened second venture in Balmedie that rung true with no fewer than three top accolades at the annual World Golf Awards.
Trump International Golf Links, in Balmedie, triumphed with an impressive hat-trick of gongs, including World’s Best Golf Course 2025, World’s Best Contribution to Golf Tourism Hospitality and World’s Best New Golf Course 2025.
The victory comes just months after the resort’s New Course was unveiled in July next to the site’s original championship greens.
First opened in 2012, the tees are famed for their sweeping views of the North Sea and the rolling sand dunes.
Part of Trump Scotland, the resort has already built an enviable reputation, having topped Golfweek’s Top 50 Modern Courses in Great Britain and Ireland in 2021 and claimed Scotland’s Best Golf Course at that year’s World Golf Awards.
The prestigious annual honours are voted on by professionals, media and golf enthusiasts around the globe to recognise the best in sport.
Following the hat trick of trophies, President Trump said:‘A great honor to win such a prestigious award from the highly respected World Golf Awards.
Donald Trump pictured at the opening of his new Aberdeenshire golf course earlier this year
The US President’s golf resort at Balmedie opened in 2012
The President jetted in on Air Force One for a private visit to his course at the Menie Estate in July
‘I am very proud of the job that Eric Trump and my team did on building one of the greatest golf courses anywhere in the world.
‘It will make people happy for a long time to come.’
Eric Trump, the President’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organisation – which oversees Trump Scotland – attended Trump International’s New Course’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in July alongside his father.
He said: ‘We are incredibly proud and truly honored to be awarded three top World Golf Awards and to be named World’s Best Golf Course for our magnificent New Course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
‘From the outset, this property has been a labour of love. We have built the greatest 36 holes along the spectacular North Sea shoreline and are immensely grateful to World Golf Awards and all those who have supported us.’
Sarah Malone, executive vice president of Trump International Scotland, added: ‘This level of recognition from World Golf Awards is wonderful and acknowledges the great investment, vision and hard work of everyone who has contributed to our journey.
‘Our entire ethos is the unrelenting pursuit of excellence – to build, maintain and operate truly awe-inspiring golf courses that will be enjoyed by many generations of golfers to come.
‘To be named the World’s Best is the ultimate honour.’
Trump International is one of two Scottish resorts owned by Mr Trump, the other being Turnberry in Ayrshire.
The President has roots in Scotland as his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, famously hailed from the village of Tong, on the Isle of Lewis, before she emigrated to the United States in 1930 to seek work as a domestic maid.
Six years later, aged 25, she married property developer Frederick Trump, son of German migrants.
Earlier this year, plans were announced for a memorial garden for the mother-of-five at the Balmedie resort.
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Donald Trump’s Scottish course wins three top accolades at the annual World Golf Awards
