Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course will not host world’s top championship

LONDON — Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course will not host the Open Championship in the near future because the course is not commercially viable, the game’s governing body said.

In a blow to the U.S. president’s hopes of holding a major tournament on his Ayrshire estate, which spans more than 13 kilometers and 800 acres, the chief executive of the R&A, which governs golf, said it would be logistically difficult.

Mark Darbon told Sky News that Turnberry was a “challenging” venue and there were no plans to schedule a championship at the venue.

Trump purchased the course in 2014 and his son Eric Trump has pushed for Turnberry to host its first Open Championship since 2009. Prior to that, Turnberry last hosted in 1994.

“The area where there’s a bit of challenge is around the logistical and commercial side. The last time we were at Turnbury in 2009 we had 120,000 people there,” Darbon said.

The Open is golf’s oldest major championship, and sits alongside the Masters, the PGA Championship and U.S. Open among the sport’s most prestigious tournaments.

Darbon added: “These days a modern Open caters for 250,000 people-plus, and so we need the road and rail infrastructure to get our fan base there. We need hotel accommodation for the 60,000 bed nights we need to stage our championship and it’s challenging at that venue.”

Darbon also implied Trump’s position as U.S. president may also overshadow any tournament: “We need to be confident that the focus will be on the sport and we need to ensure that the venue works for our requirement.”

His comments land as a 33-year-old man is due to appear in court Monday in connection with vandalism to Turnberry earlier this month. Red paint was sprayed on the clubhouse and damage was caused to the greens.

Trump wrote Monday that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer informed him “that they caught the terrorists who attacked the beautiful Turnberry” and he hoped they will “be treated harshly.”

Trump’s golf course at Bedminster in New Jersey was set to host the 2022 PGA Championship, before sporting authorities removed the tournament following the Jan. 6 insurrection.