SOUTHPORT, England — Seventeen years after Turnberry hosted the Open Championship, there’s no timetable for when it might have the privilege again.
R&A CEO Mark Darbon told Front Office Sports after his pre-tournament press conference Wednesday ahead of this week’s Open at Royal Birkdale, that there has been “good discussion” with Turnberry officials, but it’s still undecided whether or when the Scottish club could host another Open.
“Our teams have actually been up there recently to do some feasibility work—that’s not unusual, we do that at a lot of our venues,” Darbon said. “Getting good dialogue, but nothing substantial to report.”
The next available date is the 2029 Open. Next year, the Open will be played at St Andrews, and in 2028 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Turnberry hosted the Open in 2009—five years before it was purchased for $60 million by the Trump Organization, which is the parent company of U.S. President Donald Trump’s worldwide real estate portfolio.
The club was Trump’s most lucrative golf property outside the U.S. in 2025, according to his annual financial disclosure report released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Turnberry, which has two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole course, brought in about $31.4 million (£23.6 million) in “golf & hotel related revenue” last year.
Trump did not divest from his businesses when he took office in 2025 (or when he began his first term in 2016), but he has said he handed day-to-day operations to his sons and Trump Organization executives.
Darbon has previously cited “logistical challenges” as the primary reason for not yet awarding Turnberry another Open. Attendance at the 2012 Open at Turnberry was 130,000—well below the record 300,000 fans that are expected this week at Birkdale—but that wouldn’t limit Turnberry or any other course’s ability to host.
“We are delighted by the demand we have for The Open Championship,” Darbon said during his press conference Wednesday. “It’s an event that’s clearly resonating with people all around the world, including those who want to attend and watch this wonderful championship live. So if we’re able to facilitate spectator volumes onsite, we’ll always consider that, but it’s not the primary driver for us.”
Ireland Update
The R&A is “getting pretty close” to a deal for Portmarnock Golf Club just outside Dublin to host a future Open, Darbon said, which would be the first time Ireland—or any nation outside of the U.K.—hosts the Open.
Last year, the Open was played for the third time at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland—the only club and country outside Scotland or England to host an Open.
While Darbon said the R&A is “optimistic that those discussions are heading in the right direction” with Portmarnock, he admitted the process has “taken a bit longer than we thought it may.” Darbon hopes to “have a pretty clear view by the end of the year.”
