Want more from Front Office Sports
in your search results?
The Open Championship returning to the Trump Turnberry golf club in Scotland is still not off the table, the major’s top executive said Monday, but the earliest it would happen is 2029.
The R&A, which organizes golf’s oldest major championship, officially announced Monday that Royal Lytham & St Annes in northern England will host the 2028 Open Championship, marking the tournament’s first playing at the course since 2012. The next available date is the 2029 championship.
“Turnberry is still in our thinking,” R&A CEO Mark Darbon said Monday at Royal Birkdale Golf Club during media day for this year’s Open Championship in July.
Turnberry has not hosted an Open since 2009, five years before it was purchased in 2014 for $60 million by the Trump Organization, which is the parent company of President Donald Trump’s worldwide real estate portfolio, including golf courses, hotels, commercial buildings, and more. Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., who are both EVPs, took over day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization from their father in 2017 after he took office in his first term.
The Trump Organization said its total investment in Turnberry since 2009, including renovations and upgrades, is more than $200 million. R&A officials in recent years have said that concerns about attendance limitations and other operations have kept the Open away from Turnberry, not any political issues with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We really like the golf course,” Darbon said Monday. “We know that there are some logistical challenges that relate to staging a modern Open Championship there primarily off the course—road, rail, and accommodation infrastructure. We’ve got a really good dialogue with the club and its ownership, pretty transparent discussion there.”
Turnberry has hosted four Open Championships—in 1977, 1986, 1994, and 2009—and was at one time considered the favorite to host the 2020 edition, but Darbon’s predecessor Martin Slumbers was not keen on taking the Open back to Turnberry after Trump assumed ownership. Darbon became CEO of the R&A in 2024.
Last year, Darbon met with Eric Trump, as well as other executives from the Trump Organization and Turnberry after Donald Trump reportedly asked U.K. government officials about whether his course will be able to host another major championship. On Monday, Darbon said “that dialogue will continue” but did not reveal any specific target year for another Open at Turnberry.
In 2009, roughly 123,000 fans attended the Open at Turnberry, which is well below the 200,000-plus that is common at many other venues the major visits. And while Darbon said the R&A generally doesn’t “have a target in mind” for attendance, he admitted there is “probably a lower limit for us these days” due to high demand.
Ireland Still Eyeing The Open
Momentum continues to build for the Open Championship being played in Ireland for the first time, as the R&A continues to explore hosting an edition at Portmarnock Golf Club just outside Dublin.
“We remain excited by the potential to stage both an AIG Women’s Open and an Open Championship at Portmarnock,” Darbon said. As you know, it’s a wonderful golf course and it would be a first for us.”
Playing in Ireland would also mark the first time any nation outside of the U.K. hosts the Open.
“It’s taken us slightly longer than we originally envisaged, but good progress is being made, and I would say we’re cautiously optimistic about the ability to stage major championships at that venue,” Darbon said.
The R&A has had support from the Irish government around a potential Open at Portmarnock, Darbon said, and officials hope to “bring some clarity” to the situation by the end of this summer.”
Download the FOS App
The business of sports, in your pocket.
Scan the QR code to get the app now.
