Each of golf’s four majors takes a slightly different approach when it comes to deciding which venue will host the tournament. The Masters, of course, is only ever held at the iconic Augusta National, which keeps things nice and simple. The US Open and the US PGA Championships, in contrast, have both been played at a huge number of different venues over the years. Whilst both have old favourites they return to reasonably frequently, the courses they can choose from are very wide-ranging, with almost 100 different venues used in total across these two majors.
The Open Championship uses a different system again, with a limited number of courses used in rotation. In the long history of the game’s oldest major, which dates back to 1860, just 14 different courses have ever been used. However, just 10 are on the current rotation, which is to say they have their name in the metaphorical hat.
However, one of those is not currently being considered for hosting duties, and it is believed to have been privately dropped as long ago as 2015. In 2014, a certain Donald Trump bought Turnberry – now, of course, known as Trump Turnberry – in South Ayrshire. It has been reported that behind the scenes, the tournament’s organising body, the R&A, took the decision a decade ago to remove the venue from consideration.
It last held the tournament in 2009, but there were concerns that there would be too much focus on the owner and not enough on the course and Championship if the UK’s major returned to Turnberry. There were also some concerns about the facilities and infrastructure, as well as logistics and the course’s ability to accommodate as many fans as the R&A would like.
2021 and Position Made Clear
Just a few days after the attack on the US Capitol early in 2021, the R&A made an official statement. Martin Slumbers, the body’s Chief Executive, stated that “We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future. We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.”
That announcement was made just hours after the US PGA had stripped the 2022 PGA Championship from the Trump-owned Bedminster Club. The US PGA stated that it was clear to do so would be “detrimental to the PGA of America brand”. The statement by the R&A was taken by some media outlets to mean that The Open would not be held at Turnberry whilst the course was owned by Trump.
Whether that was accurate or not, there have been increasing moves of late to try and return major golf to Turnberry. But just when might it host The Open again, if at all?
Current Position
In May 2025, it was announced that a Trump course would host an event on the DP World Tour. The Scottish Championship, or Nexo Championship, will take place at Aberdeen’s Trump International Golf Links in early August. This was taken as a softening of relations and came after Mark Darbon was appointed as the new CEO of the R&A in 2024.
Trump, a clear fan of British tradition, pomp and pageantry, and even more obviously a fan of the spotlight, is extremely keen – some might say desperate – to see The Open brought back to Turnberry. In addition to the attention it would bring to the course and its owner, it would also be a huge help financially, given Turnberry has posted substantial losses in recent years.
Eric Trump, the President’s son, recently told the BBC that the course deserved to host The Open again and that “my father’s been a guy who also deserves it. There’s no-one that’s been better for the game of golf.” There are many that would refute both of those points, but Eric Trump stated his belief that Turnberry would host the major again under his father’s ownership, but conceded it would probably be after he left politics.
We know where The Open will be played in 2026 and 2027, but in theory, 2028 could yet see President Trump host an Open. However, it is almost impossible to see that happening. There seemed to be some hope back in April, when the R&A confirmed that it had discussed with the government bringing The Open to the course in 2028.
The Guardian reported that the President had repeatedly called for help from Sir Keir Starmer in bringing The Open back to his course. The PM’s office stated that whilst there had been contact between golf’s governing body and Whitehall, any decision would be wholly independent of the government.
Once again, logistics were flagged as an issue. About 120,000 fans attended the 2009 Open at Turnberry, but it is believed that around 280,000 were at Portrush in 2025. Access to Turnberry and accommodation are major limiting issues, though we have little doubt that if the will was there, the venue could stage The Open again.
More recently, in July, Eric Trump and Darbon had a “really good discussion” about what changes would be needed for Turnberry to stage the game’s biggest tournament again. Whilst his predecessor had all-but ruled out a Trump Open, Darbon said “we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry. We love the golf course, but we’ve got some big logistical challenges”.
So What Now?
It is believed that the announcement of the 2028 host will be made within a year. It is generally accepted, therefore, that Turnberry will not be selected, with too much work needed, aside from any political considerations. Perhaps controversially, there is a chance that the event will be held at Portmarnock. That venue, in the Republic of Ireland, would see the tournament held outside the UK for the first time, but that is a whole other story.
As for Turnberry, it seems increasingly likely that it will once again stage a major. Trump’s profile will diminish significantly once he leaves office, and assuming some of the required improvements are made, we expect The Open to be staged at his course sometime in the 2030s.
It should be noted, however, that Turnberry is far from being a real Open fixture. It has held the tournament just four times, in 2009, 1994, 1986 and 1977. Of the 10 courses on the Open rotation, only Portrush has held it less often (three). So when or if the tournament does come to South Ayrshire, we suspect it may only do so once in the current President’s lifetime.