Trump sons open clubhouse amid big bet on golf business

NEW YORK — The president’s company is hoping a new clubhouse opening at a Trump golf resort in New York City will boost its fortunes as it lays big bets on golf properties around the world.

Donald Trump’s two adult sons are cutting the ribbon on a clubhouse at the Trump Golf Links in the Bronx on Monday with hopes it will attract more visitors. Data from the city obtained in a Freedom of Information request by The Associated Press show revenue at the course fell 7 percent last year versus the year earlier.

Just how Trump’s golf business in general is faring in the second year of the presidency is difficult to tell given that the company is private. The few figures that are available to the public suggest a few courses are struggling, but temporary shutdowns and weather may have hurt those businesses.

The Trump Organization oversees 17 golf courses, generating $221 million in revenue last year, according to the president’s latest financial disclosure report. A comparable figure from the year earlier is not available, but Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that that number is up.

He said one of the company’s biggest courses — the Doral in Miami, which generated $75 million in revenue last year — is doing especially well.

“The Doral is on fire,” he said.

Other publicly available figures paint a mixed picture.

Greens fees fell last year at Trump’s Los Angeles course, and his two Scottish resorts and one in Ireland posted losses in 2016, the latest year available. One of the Scottish courses and the Irish resort were at various times closed for business, so the numbers are not directly comparable to the year earlier.

Eric Trump said that the 2017 figures for the Scottish and Irish properties show vast improvement, though he would not elaborate.

“The courses are doing fantastic,” he said.