By Stephen Hennessey
The Open has not returned to Turnberry since Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson in a playoff there in 2009. A return isn’t expected anytime soon, either. The R&A has named Open venues through 2024, and Turnberry—purchased by Donald Trump in 2014—is not on that list.

The R&A has reiterated its plans not to return to Turnberry—saying in a statement six days after the U.S. Capitol was stormed that it wouldn’t return for “the foreseeable future” until the ruling body “is 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.”

Trump doubled down on his stance that Turnberry—ranked 11th on Golf Digest’s most recent world rankings—should be awarded another Open Championship, releasing a statement on Saturday during the third round at Royal St. George’s.

Here’s the statement (in the below tweet):

This is an official statement from the former President’s taxpayer-funded office, which he is using to complain about the location and promoting his private golf club. pic.twitter.com/kkxuZGKAui

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) July 17, 2021

The PGA of America moved next year’s PGA Championship from Trump Bedminster in New Jersey to Southern Hills after January’s events in Washington, D.C.

Trump Turnberry hosted the Women’s British Open in 2015 when the Ladies Golf Union hosted the championship. The LGU has since merged with the R&A, so the women’s major is not expected to go back to Turnberry any time soon.

Turnberry is ranked as the fourth-best course in Scotland on Golf Digest’s rankings after a significant renovation in 2015 by noted architecture firm Mackenzie & Ebert.

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By John Huggan
Not since 2009 has the Open Championship been played over the Ailsa links at Turnberry on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast. And the prospects of golf’s oldest major returning anytime soon—long far-fetched given President Donald Trump’s controversial ownership of the resort—now appear even more distant. In the wake of the PGA of America’s decision to move next year’s PGA Championship away from Trump National Bedminster, the R&A has underlined its reluctance to grant what is now Trump Turnberry the opportunity to host the Open for a fifth time.

“We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future,” said Martin Slumbers, R&A chief executive, in a statement. “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.”

The sites of the Open Championship have already been announced through 2024, Royal St. George’s hosting this summer, followed by the Old Course at St. Andrews, Royal Liverpool and Royal Troon. The earliest then that Turnberry could have conceivably hosted was 2025, although the R&A typically returns to St. Andrews roughly every five years, which would squeeze out any other Scottish courses until closer to the end of the decade.

Trump purchased Turnberry from Leisurecorp in 2014. He attended the last major tournament played over the Ailsa, the 2015 Women’s British Open won by Inbee Park. At the time, that event was run by the Ladies Golf Union. But since 2017, when the LGU merged with the R&A, the championship has, like its male counterpart, fallen under the auspices of the St. Andrews-based organization. So it would seem equally unlikely that Turnberry will host the WBO.

Or that Trump will see Turnberry in the foreseeable future. Just last week, in the wake of rumours that the president was planning to fly to Scotland at the same time as his successor’s Jan. 20 inauguration, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was quick to warn against any such visit.

Sturgeon said that the lockdown travel restrictions currently in place applied to the president as much as anyone else. “We are not allowing people to come into Scotland without an essential purpose right now, and that would apply to him just as it applies to anybody else,” Sturgeon said. “Coming to play golf is not what I consider to be an essential purpose.”

Trump attended the Women’s British Open at Turnberry in 2015 before becoming the president. Getty Images

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of these latest developments is that the Ailsa course is much improved since Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson in a four-hole playoff for the claret jug 12 years ago. In particular, the revamping by architect Marin Ebert of the ninth, 10th and 11th holes along the shores of the Firth of Clyde and in the shadow of the iconic lighthouse has greatly enhanced what was already one of golf’s most dramatic settings.

Sadly, however, that view will be reserved only for those prepared to pay a green fee that varies between £100 and £500 depending on the time of year. Seemingly as long as the Trump name is attached—the soon-to-be former president also owns the Trump International Golf Links just north of Aberdeen—no one in authority appears willing to play his game.

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By Tod Leonard
The Royal & Ancient Golf Club is the purveyor of the Open Championship and has chosen the major golf tournament’s venues for more than 150 years.

Nevertheless, President Donald Trump asked the American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, to inquire with the British government about returning the Open Championship to his resort in Scotland, Trump Turnberry, according to a report in the New York Times.

Citing three people with knowledge of the circumstances, the Times reported that Johnson, who owns the NFL’s New York Jets, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 about Trump’s request. The sources said that Johnson’s deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, urged the ambassador not to follow through because the action could be an unethical use of the president’s position for private gain. But, the Times’ sources said, Johnson did eventually bring up the idea of Turnberry hosting the Open Championship with Scotland’s secretary of state, David Mundell.

The Times reported that when it contacted Mundell last week about the matter, he said it would be “inappropriate” to comment, and he cited a British government statement that said Johnson “made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event,” though the statement did not confirm or deny that the subject was broached.

The Times said the White House declined to comment on Trump’s instructions to Johnson, as did the ambassador and the State Department.

Jeff J Mitchell
Then a nominee for U.S. president in June 2016, Donald Trump officially reopens the Trump Turnberry resort.

Originally opened in 1901, Turnberry is a young host course by Open Championship standards, joining the tournament’s pool of 10 sites in 1977. The Open has been held there on four occasions, the last in 2009, when then-59-year-old Tom Watson stirred emotions and nearly claimed a sixth claret jug before falling to Stewart Cink in a playoff.

Since then, the R&A has not yet announced another Open Championship for Turnberry. Trump purchased the property in 2014, two years before being elected U.S. president, and there has been speculation that the facility’s chances to host future Opens have been damaged because of Trump’s involvement there.

At the time of Trump’s election in 2016, the R&A had chosen its sites through 2019. Since then, four more venues were identified—Royal St. George’s in England for 2020, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland for 2021, Royal Liverpool in England for 2023 and Royal Troon in Scotland for 2024. However, when the coronavirus forced the cancellation of this year’s Open, the R&A announced that St. George’s would host in 2021 and St. Andrews in 2022, but did not specify what would happen with Liverpool or Troon.

In a meeting with British reporters in early 2018, the R&A’s chief executive, Martin Slumbers, insisted that Turnberry remained in consideration for future Opens held in Scotland, though he noted, “It would be complex having an Open at Turnberry at the moment. You’ve got the ownership issue of the course and the staging there.”

In possibly seeking to have an ambassador lobby the British government to stage a golf tournament at his property, the president is exempt from federal conflict of interest laws regarding government matters and personal financial interest, the Times reported. However, experts on government ethics told the Times that one potential violation of the emoluments clause was that the British or Scottish governments would most likely have to pay for security at the tournament, an event that would be profitable to Trump.

The Trump family owns 16 golf courses, seven of which are outside America. The holdings include Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., which in 2014 was chosen by the PGA of America to host the 2022 PGA Championship,

After Trump purchased Turnberry, he made $150 million in investments and improvements there, including a complete renovation of the Alisa Course, which reopened to mostly positive reviews in 2016. But the resort has continued to bleed cash, with the most recent annual report in 2018 showing a loss of nearly $1 million on $19 million in sales.

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By John Strege

Trump Golf’s two Scotland properties, Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links, lost close to $25 million in 2016, according to financial reports released over the weekend.

Trump Turnberry on Scotland’s west coast bore the brunt of the losses, $23 million, the report says. “The company attributed the loss to currency fluctuations and the resort being closed for renovation for six months of the year,” Bloomberg’s Stephanie Baker wrote.

Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen on its east coast, meanwhile, lost $1.8 million. “The company said the drop in revenue was due to the fall in the price of oil, the subsequent downturn in the economy of northeast Scotland and a severe winter storm which damaged part of the site,” Baker wrote.

President Donald Trump resigned as director of the courses prior to his inauguration in January. They are being operated by his son Eric Trump. “In Friday’s report, Eric Trump, the president’s son and a director of the British subsidiary that owns the two resorts, included a letter expressing confidence that the resorts will attract plenty of golfers,” the Associated Press reported.

Trump purchased the Turnberry courses in 2014. Trump had the Aberdeen course constructed from scratch on land he purchased in 2006.

The Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry was 22nd on Golf Digest’s ranking of the World’s 100 Greatest Courses. Trump International Golf Links was ranked 54th.

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The winter (peak) season rack rate fee for weekday and weekend play on the 7229-yard, par 71Gil Hanse-designed layout has been set at AED 895 and AED 995 respectively.

Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) members will pay AED 715 weekday and AED 795 at weekends.

While not the cheapest green fees in the UAE, the Trump pricing is not the most expensive either and comes with the promise of “golf inspired by the game’s homeland, blended with culinary excellence, white-gloved service and exceptional leisure facilities to create an elegant lifestyle oasis within DAMAC Hills.”

The emirate’s first new course for seven years, Trump Dubai, is to be officially opened in a lavish ceremony headlined by the U.S. President’s sons, Donald Jnr and Eric Trump, on Saturday evening.

SEE ALSO
Top Trump – Our review of the U.S. President’s latest contribution to golf

The course, sculpted by acclaimed Rio Olympic Games course designer Hanse, has been in play for more than a month and is expected to create much interest, for its golf and food and beverage offering as much as for the controversial name on the gate.

The club features a soon to be opened nine-hole Par 3 academy course, double-ended and floodlit driving range and excellent short game facilities.

Trump Dubai’s Golf Academy, led by South African Sven Nielsen who was headhunted from Trump Turnberry for the role, is also now taking bookings and will employ technology such as SAM Puttlab and TrackMan Golf in its teaching.

SEE ALSO
Pro you didn’t know: Trump Dubai’s Sven Nielsen

General Manager Andrew Whitelaw, a 20-year veteran of the Dubai golf industry, is confident Trump Dubai “will reinvent golf and leisure in the region”.

“From it’s world-class golf course, white-gloved Trump Golf service to its exquisite Clubhouse and restaurants, Trump International Golf Club, Dubai brings an unforgettable, seven-star golfing and lifestyle experience to the Middle East,” he says.

Trump Dubai said it was still accepting a “limited number” of founding memberships.

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For more from Sven, get your February 2017 issue of Golf Digest Middle East today!

Sven. It’s not the most South African name?
I have certainly confused many people over the last few years. Add in my slightly Scottish accent from living on the West coast of Scotland over the last nine years and you have yourself a Scottish-South African hybrid. My parents are South African, but my grandparents were Dutch and German.

Home club?
The first club I joined at the age of six was Benoni Lake Golf Club, but I played most of my junior golf at ERPM, a parkland golf course close to my house.

Your favourite golfer?
Has to be Tiger Woods, from what he has achieved in the game to what he has done for the game of golf. I think every touring professional golfer knows they can thank Tiger for that extra couple of zeros in their bank accounts. But also how he strived to keep getting better, even when he was winning all the time, to change his swing completely to keep improving, more than once.

Tiger during the 1997 US Masters – Getty Images

Who’d make up your dream fourball ?
Tiger and Nicklaus, just so I can ask them, ‘so, who is the best ever? ‘ And Henrik Stenson – one of the nicest guys I’ve met, with a great sense of humour!

And your favourite course?
Apart from Trump International here in Dubai? The re-designed Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry is a favourite. It will certainly take a lot for any course worldwide to beat the new re-designed Ailsa! It has everything a golfer could ask for.

Bucket list golf experience?
Augusta, just because of The Masters, from the pristine fairways to the stimp 14 greens. It’s a course I’ve always wanted to play and it will remain on top of the bucket list until I get the honour to play it.

Best round?
I think the best feeling I have ever had after a round was the first time I broke 70 on my home course when I was 13. I shot 66 in a members tournament and I remember all the adult gathering around the 18^th as the word spread around the course that I was quite a few under par. It was the first time I could picture how it would feel coming down the stretch in a major tournament having to par it to win. The lowest was 64 a few times at my home course.

Nielsen spent nearly 10 years at The Open Championship venue – Image courtesy Trump Turnberry

Best win?
Representing South Africa as a Junior Springbok was a great honour, and being the only unbeaten player in the three days was a pretty good feeling too!

Favourite sport outside of golf?
Rugby. It’s a South African thing I guess. That with a braai and we are happy! But I do enjoy watching tennis too, Djokovic has been a favourite for years – another great athlete with a great sense of humour.

Which begs the question – what’s happened to South African rugby?
It’s painful to even answer this question, especially when the question is coming from an All Black (supporter). I just think we need to change structures from school levels all the way to the top and too many South Africans are playing abroad. We will be back, don’t you worry!

Which tournament do you dream of winning?
The Green Jacket! Everything about the Masters is magical…the course, the jacket, driving up Magnolia Lane. I’d like to copy Henrik Stenson and play ‘Ice Ice Baby’ from Vanilla ice on the radio while driving up…but I’m sure the members there would feel much different if it was me doing it.

What do you like to do on a day off?
I like to play golf. I know, you would think I would like time away from the game, but no, I love the game! Always trying new things! The friends I played with it Scotland always asked me ‘So Sven, what is your swing thought for today’ as they knew I always tinkered with my own swing and technique striving to improve and see what works and what doesn’t. But then again, if I don’t tinker, how would I know if it works or not? If not golf, family and friends are important to me, so I spend time with them.

How long where you at Turnberry and what was the standout highlight?
I was at Turnberry for nine years, almost 10. The history and being a part of the team in 2009 when we held the 138^th Open. The best experience ever, to have all the best players in the world there practicing weeks before and looking after them was an experience I will never forget. Walking with Tiger for two days inside the ropes was probably the single best golfing memory for me personally!

Nielsen prepares his approach to the par 4 8th hole at Trump Dubai – Image Kent Gray

Give us your early impressions of Gil Hanse’s creation, Trump Dubai?
I love the design and unique qualities of the course Mr Hanse created. He has achieved exactly what he wanted to, a course for all abilities, which will be fun to play. It’s rewarding and challenging at the same time. Some imagination can be used around the links styled greens, with undulations reminding me of the links in Scotland.

What can members and guests expect from a Trump golf experience?
A very high quality customer service experience from a golf and F&B element while playing golf on a challenging but fun course.

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What prompted the redevelopment of Turnberry, already one of the strongest courses on the Open rota?
When Mr Donald Trump bought the property in 2014 he loved the Ailsa course for what it was but fully believed that it could be improved. He thought that there was an even better golf course out there and that the incredible coastline could enhance both the golf holes and the golfer’s experience.

Specifically, what was done?
The Trump Organisation purchased the resort in July 2014, and the first work began in October 2014 with the upgrade of the clubhouse and the hotel meeting space. Mr Trump and Martin Ebert, the golf course architect, worked on the plans for the new golf course through the winter of 2014/15 and the final design was agreed with Mr Trump and unveiled in Spring 2015. Work began on the Ailsa Course in October 2015 and we re-opened the course on the June 1 this year.
Essentially the main changes were to holes 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17 and 18. All the changes are significant and have greatly improved the holes but the stretch from 9 through 11 is as dramatic a three-hole stretch you will find. It really is breathtaking. All of the 18 greens were lifted to allow a consistent root zone profile to be established throughout and then the existing greens turf was replaced. We introduced a new irrigation system throughout. New tees were built, both back and forward and every existing bunker was re-designed, with the fairway bunkers being restored to a more natural, rough edged appearance for which they were once famed and obviously new bunkers were added to a number of the holes. Along with the Ailsa work, the famed Turnberry Lighthouse was completely transformed to now house an incredible two-bedroom suite and also our Halfway House. With the work that has been done here, there can be no finer Halfway House in the world!

What do you think the Trump brand does for Turnberry, already one of the most recognisable golf names around?
Turnberry is a legendary destination, known throughout the golfing world for its four Open Championships on the great Ailsa course and also for its personalised service and attention to detail. The Trump name is known throughout the world for high standards of luxury, so the two combined create a truly memorable experience for our guests.

What were some of the challenges Turnberry faced through the course of the redevelopment, and how did you overcome it?
It was a major renovation program through a Scottish winter so the weather definitely played a part in the challenges that the team faced. The main contractor, SOL Golf, did an incredible job with a dedicated and talented team of people to complete the work on time. They employed a large number of greens staff through the winter, which has ensured continuity through the grow-in period.
One of the major issues was on the 14th hole, which is a beautiful new par 5. The original plan was to use a technique whereby we would grow the fairway from turf cores taken from existing Ailsa fairways. In theory this should have been fine but unfortunately the Scottish winter took its toll and it became apparent that within the required timescale the condition would not have been to the required standard in time. A decision was then taken to re-turf the whole 14th fairway, with existing fairway turf from our Kintyre Course, and that was a major job that wasn’t planned for so I would say that was ultimately one of the main challenges of the renovation.

What are some of the non-course features introduced at Turnberry with this redevelopment? How do you think this will add to the golf experience?
Working alongside Martin Ebert, the course architect, we’ve upgraded our pitch and putt course in front of the hotel from a 12-hole to an 18-hole course. Renamed “The Wee Links”, it’s designed to play like a mini Ailsa course. It’s really quite special and the resort guests and our members enjoy playing it. We also reopened The Golf Academy after a refurbishment. The putting studio and swing studio have been revamped and fitted with the latest technology. We also welcomed True Spec Golf as our custom fitting offering, the first of its kind in the UK.
As part of the Academy and focus on instruction, we also had a new short game area created. It truly is a fantastic addition to the golf offering that we have here.

I couldn’t help but notice what a wonderful job you did refurbishing the lighthouse and opening it to the golfers. Tell us what you did there and what it offers now.
The lighthouse had sat untouched for over 30 years so when The Trump Organization announced they were going to upgrade the building and create a two-bedroom suite, as well as putting in a new halfway house, we were thrilled. It makes perfect sense. The lighthouse is such an iconic and important symbol of Turnberry that it’s wonderful that guests now can actually experience it, either through staying overnight or just by stopping in for some lunch on their way from the 9th to the 10th.

What work was done to the hotel?
Ralph Porciani now manages the hotel and has done so since The Trump Organization took over in 2014. The main building of the hotel was built in 1906 and in September 2015 it closed to undergo probably the biggest renovation it has ever seen in over 100 years. All of its 103 bedrooms have been refurbished, as have all of the public areas, bars and restaurants.

What other development is planned, if any?
The renovations will complete in the summer of 2017, with The Spa at Turnberry and the Trump Villas also due to be refurbished. Work is currently underway on our second golf course, which is also benefitting from the magic touch of Martin Ebert.

Compiled by Ju K. Tan/Images courtesy Trump Turnberry

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