President Donald Trump has been warned that “big logistical issues” remain a barrier to his Turnberry resort course hosting the Open Championship.
The Scottish venue — widely rated as one of the finest in the world — last staged golf’s oldest major in 2009 when Stewart Cink famously defeated veteran U.S. star Tom Watson.
Trump purchased the five-star resort in 2014 and has regularly queried why it has not returned to the rota of courses used for the tournament.
A key consideration for the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A), which organises the Open, is infrastructure.
Turnberry is revered but also remote and with few transport links, which limits attendance. In 2009, around 123,000 spectators attended the tournament. This week, around 280,000 spectators are expected to descend on Royal Portrush for the 153rd edition of the competition.
Asked at a news conference on Wednesday about Turnberry’s chances of a return, R&A chief executive Mark Darbon revealed that he has been in dialogue with Trump’s son, Eric, but reiterated the problems posed by the course.
“I think we have been extremely clear on our position in regard to Turnberry,” Darbon said. “We love the golf course but we have some big logistical issues there.
“You’ve seen the scale of the set-up here (at Portrush) and there’s some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.
“We’ve explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues but we’d need to address those logistical challenges should we return.
“We need a venue that can accommodate a modern Open Championship from a logistical and commercial perspective and we want to be at venues that enable us to continue to tell the wonderful story that underpins the world’s oldest major championship.”
He added: “I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry. We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we’re coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we’ve got a good dialogue with them.”
Darbon took over from Martin Slumbers as chief executive of the R&A last year, so this was his first time addressing media ahead of an Open.
Slumbers had previously suggested Turnberry would not be a host venue while Trump was involved in American politics, as it would create unwanted coverage that would overshadow the tournament.
Asked whether that remains the case, Darbon replied: “It’s a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back.”
Darbon took questions from the media at Portrush on Wednesday (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
While golf fans would welcome a return to Turnberry as many enjoy the variety of Open Championship venues, the focus in more recent years has been on access, availability of tickets and the overall experience.
Getting to a major golfing event in the UK is difficult because the demand far outweighs the supply.
Venues across England and Scotland have also worked hard to improve public transport links, accommodation and hospitality offerings to cater for the large audience, so there is an expectation that everything is in place when spectators visit.
If Turnberry can guarantee all these factors have been improved then it should be a suitable host.
After a nearly decade-long absence, Trump National Doral Golf Club is expected to return to the PGA Tour circuit in 2026, according to the Sports Business Journal, so it will be interesting to see if the Scottish venue follows in the future.
Turnberry was not the only venue in discussion today, as another Scottish links, Muirfield, has been waiting for a recall since 2013.
Darbon added: “There’s some things that we need to evolve at Muirfield, the practice ground in particular is a challenge for us with a modern Open and there’s some work we need to do with the venue to facilitate some of the infrastructure that we require, some cabling to enable the scale of the production that we have these days. But it’s a good dialogue and we’d love to be back there in the future.”
(Top photo of Trump at Turnberry in 2023: Robert Perry/Getty Images)