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The R&A says it has held a “really good discussion” with Donald Trump’s family over the thorny issue of when their Turnberry course might stage the Open again.
The governing body’s new chief executive, Martin Darbon, said he had met with the president’s son Eric and held positive talks about infrastructure improvements needed for Turnberry to host the event for the first time since 2009.
“I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry,” Darbon told reporters. “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.”
About 120,000 spectators watched the Open when it was last held in Turnberry. However, the event has grown to such an extent that 280,000 fans will be in Portrush.
Darbon, who is overseeing his first Open Championship, said there were 1.2 million applications for tickets for this week’s event and the R&A was “keen to service that demand where we can”. However, he left open the door to a return to Turnberry by promising to work collaboratively with national and local government to improve transport links and accommodation levels.
That was a notable shift in tone compared to his predecessor, Martin Slumbers, who had suggested that bringing the Open to Trump’s Turnberry course would be too toxic and take the focus away from the golf.
“I think we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry,” Darbon said. “We love the golf course but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of their setup here and we’ve got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure.”
In February, it was reported that White House officials had asked about Turnberry returning as a venue during the prime minister’s visit to Washington. King Charles also referenced the course in a letter inviting the president to a second state visit to the UK in September.
However, Darbon said the government had not put any pressure on them to accelerate a return to the Ayrshire course that Trump bought for £39m in 2014. “We’ve spoken to them specifically about Turnberry and I think they’ve made it clear that the decision around where we take our championship rests with us,” he said. “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 R&A expects to announce the venue for the 2028 Open before the middle of next year – a timescale that would come too soon for Turnberry. However, Portmarnock in the Republic of Ireland is also being considered as a venue in what would be a historic move that would see the Open held outside the United Kingdom for the first time.
Elsewhere, Darbon also confirmed the Guardian story last week that the R&A would be moving the tee times forward on Saturday to avoid a clash with a loyalist march by the Portrush Sons of Ulster.
More than 60 bands and 2,000 participants are expected to begin their march through the town streets shortly after thousands of spectators will be leaving the sold-out Royal Portrush, and Darbon said the tweak was needed to ensure “both events can run as seamlessly as possible”.
He said: “We’re making a slight tweak to tee times to try and finish – it’s not dramatic. It’ll be 15 minutes or so earlier. At the same time, this is an outdoor sport. The weather can play a big role. It’s very difficult to be precise on finishing times. But we’re looking at some marginal adjustments.”
Darbon also refused to deny reports that the R&A had offered the group £20,000 to stage their march on a different day. “We’re actually contributing some incremental costs to support what I just said, the seamless operation of both events. We try to be good citizens in the communities in which we operate when we come to town.”
