undefined (Image: Robert Perry/Getty Images)
Outgoing RandA chief executive Martin Slumbers has made it clear that ‘s potential return to the presidency will not influence The Open Championship’s prospects of revisiting Turnberry. The Ayrshire course, which last welcomed The Open in 2009, has been off the radar for the prestigious tournament since Trump’s acquisition in 2014.
The most recent significant competition at Turnberry was the Women’s Open in 2015, shortly after Trump took over. Since then, the renowned Scottish venue has been overlooked by the RandA, and Slumbers confirmed there are no imminent plans for a comeback.
“We will not be taking any events there until we are comfortable that the whole dialogue will be about golf,” Slumbers stated to Golf Channel this week. He emphasised the importance of keeping the championship free from political distractions: “When you look at the major championships, we want the whole thing to be purely about the golf course and to be purely about the players that are competing on it,” he further explained.
Martin Slumbers has made it clear that Donald Trump’s potential return to the presidency will not influence The Open (Image: Getty)
“And to ensure that there’s no sort of media noise that detracts away from the fact that this is a golf championship, the oldest and original golf championship, and that should be the single source of the media coverage. I think that’s really important if we’re going to preserve the strength of our events.”
Despite Slumbers’ update, it seems some of golf’s biggest names believe the Trump course has what it takes to host The Open once more. Speaking to last month, Trump Turnberry general manager Nic Oldham said: “We had Sir Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, John Daly, Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, all play it pre or post The Open.”
“And every single one of them said it was set up for an Open and could have played it in the condition it was that week. That was our intention – we had a huge number of people playing that week. The members have said they’ve never seen it play as well. And that’s our intention, week in, week out, from May until September, every year from now on.”
More than happy to accommodate Open bosses, he added: “We are always looking to get The Open and we will do anything the RandA want us to do. If they said they were in a position to award us The Open again then we sit down with them, as what would normally happen, and look at what needs to be changed for the modern game of golf.”