Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club will not be the venue for the next Open Championship, as the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club has been appointed to host the 156th Open in 2028. This decision means the 2024 Open will be staged at Royal Birkdale, while the historic links at St Andrews are slated to welcome the championship in 2027.
Turnberry, which has long campaigned for a place on the Open rota, remains out of the picture for the foreseeable future because of a series of logistical and financial hurdles that the R&A says must be resolved before the course can be reconsidered. "The challenge at Turnberry is a logistical challenge," said Mark Darbon, the R&A’s chief executive, in an interview with Sky Sports.
"You see the scale of a modern Open – the road, rail and accommodation network around that venue is challenging to deliver what we now deliver. We have a good dialogue with the venue, we’re open‑minded, we’ll maintain that dialogue and see where we get." Muirfield, another storied Scottish club, was also omitted from the R&A’s short‑term plans. The course last hosted the Open in 2013 when Phil Mickelson secured a three‑stroke victory. Former R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers explained back in 2016 that Muirfield would not be considered again until it lifted its ban on female members.
Although the club voted in 2017 to admit women, the venue has yet to re‑enter the rotation, even after Rory McIlroy publicly urged the governing body to bring it back in early 2024. A realistic return for Muirfield is unlikely before 2031, especially now that the neighboring Renaissance Club will host the Genesis Scottish Open through 2030. The 2028 Open will return to Royal Lytham & St Annes for the first time since 2012, when Ernie Els claimed his second Claret Jug on those links.
Lytham has a distinguished roll of champions that includes legends such as Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval. Darbon praised the course, noting, "Royal Lytham & St Annes is widely renowned as one of the world’s finest links courses and has witnessed many great championship moments since the Open was first played there in 1926 when the legendary Bobby Jones won.
This is one of golf’s most cherished and historic venues and the Open’s return will spark huge interest among fans to be part of one of the world’s great sporting events and celebrate the rich traditions of golf’s original Championship." Tim Walker, chairman of the council at Royal Lytham & St Annes, echoed that sentiment: "We are honoured to be chosen as the host venue for the 156th Open in 2028. The club has a long and successful association with the Open, and we take great pride in our place within the Championship’s history. It is fitting that this announcement comes as we mark 100 years since Bobby Jones’ victory here in 1926 and the granting of our Royal status.
We look forward to welcoming the world’s leading players, together with spectators and audiences from across the globe, to our links on England’s golf coast." The R&A’s schedule shift back to August for the 2028 Open is intended to avoid a clash with the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 2025 Open was won by Scottie Scheffler at Royal Portrush, giving him his fourth major and first Claret Jug. This year’s Open will run at Royal Birkdale from July 16‑19, while Lytham will also stage the AIG Women’s Open from July 29 to August 2, broadcast live on Sky Sports. Trump, who purchased Turnberry in April 2014, has repeatedly lobbied for the course to re‑join the Open rotation.
He reportedly made appeals to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to have the south‑Ayrshire venue selected. Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has hosted the Open four times, most recently in 2009 when Stewart Cink triumphed. That tournament attracted roughly 120,000 spectators across four days, underscoring the course’s capacity to handle large crowds when logistics are properly managed. Nevertheless, the R&A maintains that Turnberry’s remote coastal location presents significant challenges.
In a 2021 statement the organization warned that a Turnberry Open could become more about the political profile of the U.S. president than about the sport itself.
The comment followed the PGA of America’s decision to strip Trump National Golf Club Bedminster of its right to host the 2022 PGA Championship. "We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future," the R&A said at the time. "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." In 2025, Eric Trump met with R&A officials to discuss the venue.
While the talks were described as positive, the core issue—logistical viability—remained unresolved. Darbon later remarked, "I would love to see the event return to Turnberry, but the golf course is not logistically and financially viable.
Unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back. I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation from Turnberry.
We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we are coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have, so we have a good dialogue with them." The Guardian reported that a government spokesperson had also contacted the R&A in 2025, urging the body to consider Turnberry for the 2028 Open.
The R&A clarified that its venue decisions are independent of political influence, although it does maintain regular communication with national and local authorities about infrastructure concerns. Ticket demand for recent Opens has been extraordinary. Over one million applications were received for the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale, and the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush set a record with 278,000 attendees across the four days—the highest attendance for an Open outside St Andrews.
Darbon summed up the R&A’s stance: "I think 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 there. You see the scale of their set‑up here and we’ve got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure." Despite the setbacks for Turnberry, the PGA Tour will head to Trump National Doral in Miami later this week for the inaugural Cadillac Championship, the fourth Signature Event of the 2026 season, with live coverage on Sky Sports.
Golf fans can still enjoy world‑class competition at Trump‑owned venues, even as the Open remains firmly anchored at traditional links like Royal Lytham, Royal Birkdale and St Andrews for the coming years. In summary, while Donald Trump’s Turnberry continues to aspire to re‑join the Open rota, the R&A’s current logistical assessments and commitment to preserving the integrity of the championship mean that Royal Lytham & St Annes will host the 2028 Open, with Turnberry likely remaining on the sidelines until substantial infrastructure improvements are made and the focus can return solely to the sport itself.