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London - Celebrity real estate developer Donald Trump has been given the go-ahead to build what he says will be "the world's greatest golf course" in Scotland.
Despite opposition to the project, Aberdeenshire Council has granted the American tycoon full planning permission for the construction of the championship links in the north-east of the country.
"My team will (now) finally get to work and build the world's greatest golf course for Scotland and for the great game of golf," Trump said in a news release.
"We are building on the finest piece of land I have ever seen and we will turn it into a national jewel," added Trump who possesses several championship courses around the world.
His organisation said that more than £40m had already been invested in the Scottish project during four years of development.
The group added that it had gone through nine planning applications and a lengthy public inquiry and it was "widely accepted this project is the most scrutinised application in recent UK history".
The course is due to be completed in 2012 and a spokeswoman said Trump was keen to host the British Open there in the future.
The building of the links is phase one of a £1bn development on the Menie estate, 10kms north of Aberdeen, that Trump hopes will eventually include a hotel, resort accommodation and leisure facilities.
This year's 150th anniversary British Open will be played at the 'home of golf' in St Andrews in two weeks' time.
