Page 81 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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T R UM P: N E V E R G I V E U P

the first place. There are always going to be some problems, and
if you can remind yourself of your original goal, it helps to clar-
ify and shed light on any doubts you might be having. Having
done that, I was reassured and ready to move forward.
Then I heard about the oak trees. One thousand of them. It
took five months to move them in because each of them had to
be wrapped and only three could be hauled in at a time. These
oak trees were 20 to 40 feet tall each. They would line the fair-
ways and would be worth it. I hoped.
It was around this time I heard about the gopher tortoises.
This was definitely a new dilemma. I’m used to zoning prob-
lems, but tortoises? Sixty of them in fact. They had to be cared
for, absolutely. We were entering their turf, and we wanted to
make sure we found an equal or better environment for them.
Safely relocating them became a priority. I learned a lot about
gopher tortoises. For example, they have been known to dig bur-
rows as long as 40 feet by 10 feet deep. Just imagine what that
could do to a golf course! So while I admired the tortoises for
their industry, they had to be carefully relocated.
After more than a year of meticulous preparation, the course
was actually being built. Every hole was treated as if it was to be
the culmination of a great course, and the end result is that the
course is an absolute masterpiece. No other description does it
justice.
That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got. Every tree was
worth the time and effort (and believe me, I know about each
and every tree). An additional nine hole course was opened in
2006 to equal acclaim. It was been a resounding success on top
of being an extraordinary achievement of design.
The success and beauty of Trump International Golf Club
set me up for building more golf courses, and all of them have
been highly praised and very successful. Each course came with
its own set of challenges, but after tackling my first course, I

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