A World Class Golf Course Isn't Worth Dealing With Donald Trump

Donald Trump came to the small but affluent California town of Rancho Palos Verde six years ago with plans to build a world-class golf course that would host big-time PGA events at its glorious coastal location. The town ate it up. The course opened in 2003 to good review.

And now according to the Los Angeles Times, Trump is suing the town for $100 million, which is five times Rancho's annual budget. Why? Because the town wouldn't let Trump name a public street after himself and because it vetoed his proposal for a row of 12-foot-tall ficus trees. And you know what, Trump's right: the city is violating his civil rights.

"I've been looking forward for a long time to do this," Trump said of the lawsuit Friday in a phone interview from New York. "The town does everything possible to stymie everything I do."

Those ficus trees reportedly were meant to block the view of some less than glorious homes from the course. You don't Tiger Woods to have to look at beige tract homes, after all. And the whole street-naming thing wasn't a vainglorious attempt at self-gratification. No, it was all about strengthening the "brand" which further helps the course and, thus, the city.

My favorite basketball team needs an arena. If Trump waltzed into town and offered to build a gym today with no cost to the locals, I'd start looking for a new team to follow. This dude is a pox on America, and I really hope we can keep him as far away from sports as possible.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.