The Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry will require “logistical” changes before U.S. President Donald Trump’s dream of hosting a British Open comes true.
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry will require “logistical” changes before U.S. President Donald Trump’s dream of hosting a British Open there comes true.
That was the verdict from Mark Darbon, the R&A’s new chief executive, who hosted his first press conference on Wednesday at the British Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
“We love the golf course but we've got some big logistical challenges there,” Darbon said when asked about the chances of Turnberry returning to the Open rota. “You see the scale of their setup here and we've got 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.”
The Ailsa Course has played host to the Open four times, but none since 2009 when Stewart Cink edged Tom Watson in a four-hole playoff. Trump purchased Turnberry, located in Ayrshire, Scotland, for $60 million in April 2014. Asked specifically if Trump’s ownership impacted the decision, Darbon said, “It's a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it's difficult for us to go back."
But he did disclose that he met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump, who heads up the family's golf business, and other members of the leadership from the Trump golf organization.
"We had a really good discussion," Darbon said. "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.”
The R&A has already announced venues for next year at Royal Birkdale in England and in 2027 for St. Andrews in Scotland. Darbon confirmed that an announcement on the host site for 2028 should be made public before the middle of next year.
Trump Turnberry won’t be the only Scottish venue in the running. It’s been 12 years and counting since Muirfield has hosted the Open.
“We're in a discussion with the venue right now. 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,” he said. Asked if the practice facility at neighboring Renaissance Club, which hosted last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned event on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, could be used, Darbon said, “We're open-minded to solutions. We love the golf course, and we'd love to be back there in the future.”
There’s also continued dialogue between the R&A and Portmarnock Golf Club, which is based in Dublin and has never hosted the Open.
“We think it's a wonderful links golf course and we've been really encouraged by the support that we've had in principle from the Irish government to work with us to understand whether we could stage an Open Championship there in the future. We're knee deep in feasibility work to help us answer that question fully. We expect to have a clearer picture by the back end of this year,” Darbon said.
This week’s 153rd Open attracted 1.2 million ticket applications and is expected to welcome 280,000 spectators through the gates. It is estimated to generate $210 million of economic impact for the region. What exactly is the R&A looking for in an Open venue? Darbon did his best to spell that out.
“We look at a number of factors when making those choices. We want a great links course that tests the best golfers in the world. 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. So we'll stay true to those principles,” he said. “It's not about just being bigger, it's about being better. So it's not about just simply the volume of people.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Donald Trump waiting for British Open at Turnberry, but it's possible
Category: General Sports
