Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club will not be the venue for the next Open Championship, as the R&A has confirmed that Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club will host the 156th Open in 2028. The decision follows the 2027 Open’s return to the historic links at St Andrews and the 2026 edition at Royal Birkdale, which is scheduled for mid‑July. While Turnberry has long campaigned for a place in the Open rotation, the club faces a series of logistical and financial hurdles that the governing body says must be resolved before it can be considered again.
The R&A’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, explained to Sky Sports that the scale of a modern Open is immense. "The challenge at Turnberry is a logistical challenge," he said. "You see the scale of a modern Open championship – the road, rail and accommodation network around that venue is challenging to deliver what we now deliver." He added that the R&A maintains an open dialogue with the Turnberry owners and hopes to revisit the issue if the infrastructure problems can be mitigated. Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has a respectable Open pedigree, having hosted the championship four times, most recently in 2009 when Stewart Cink claimed the Claret Jug.
Over those four tournaments, roughly 120,000 spectators walked the course. Yet the remote location on the Ayrshire coast, combined with limited transport links and a relatively small local hotel base, makes it difficult for the R&A to guarantee the smooth operation of a major event that now attracts hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world.
The situation at Turnberry mirrors another historic club that has been left out of the immediate rotation: Muirfield. The Scottish venue last staged the Open in 2013, when Phil Mickelson won by three strokes. Former R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers noted in 2016 that Muirfield would not be reconsidered until it lifted its ban on female members. After the club voted in 2017 to admit women, the venue still has not secured a place in the Open schedule, despite vocal support from players such as Rory McIlroy.
The R&A has indicated that Muirfield will not be back on the rota until at least 2031, partly because the neighboring Renaissance Club will host the Genesis Scottish Open through 2030. Royal Lytham & St Annes, meanwhile, celebrates a return to the Open after a 16‑year hiatus.
The 2028 championship, set for August 3‑6, will be the first Open at Lytham since Ernie Els lifted the Claret Jug in 2012. The club’s storied history includes victories by 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, describing it as "one of the world’s finest links courses" and emphasizing the deep emotional connection fans have with the venue since its inaugural Open in 1926.
Tim Walker, chairman of the council at Royal Lytham & St Annes, expressed pride in the selection, noting that the announcement coincides with the centenary of Bobby Jones’s 1926 triumph and the club’s receipt of Royal status. He highlighted the club’s commitment to welcoming the world’s top players and a global audience to England’s celebrated golf coast. The R&A’s decision to move the Open back to August in 2028 also reflects a strategic scheduling shift aimed at avoiding a clash with the Los Angeles Olympic Games. This calendar adjustment ensures that the Open remains the final major of the golf season without competing for television and sponsorship attention.
In the broader context of major championships, the 2025 Open was won by Scottie Scheffler at Royal Portrush, giving him his fourth major and first Claret Jug. The 2026 Open will be staged at Royal Birkdale from July 16‑19, while the AIG Women’s Open will be held at Royal Lytham & St Annes from July 29 to August 2, both events broadcast live on Sky Sports.
President Trump has long hoped that Turnberry could re‑enter the Open rotation. After purchasing the resort in April 2014, he reportedly appealed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to have the venue selected. However, the R&A’s 2021 statement warned that a Turnberry Open would likely shift focus away from the sport and onto the political profile of the U.S.
president, a concern that resurfaced after the PGA of America stripped Trump National Golf Club Bedminster of its 2022 PGA Championship hosting rights. In 2025, Eric Trump met with R&A officials to discuss the venue. While the talks were described as “really good,” the core issue remained the same: Turnberry’s logistical constraints.
Darbon said he would love to see the championship return, but emphasized that without significant improvements to road, rail and accommodation infrastructure, the R&A could not justify the move. The British government has also been briefed on the matter. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s office confirmed that officials had contacted the R&A to encourage a Turnberry bid for 2028, but the governing body stressed that its decisions are independent of governmental influence.
"We regularly engage with government and local authorities regarding venues," an R&A representative told Sky Sports in 2025, "and we have explained the logistical challenges around Turnberry to them." Ticket demand for the Open remains robust. Over one million applications were received for the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale, and the 2025 event at Royal Portrush set a record with 278,000 spectators across four days – the highest attendance outside of St Andrews. These figures underline the importance of ensuring that any future venue can accommodate massive crowds safely and efficiently. Despite the setbacks for Turnberry, Trump’s golf portfolio continues to host high‑profile tournaments.
The PGA Tour’s inaugural Cadillac Championship will be played at Trump National Doral in Miami later this week, marking the fourth Signature Event of the 2026 season and broadcasting live on Sky Sports. In summary, while Turnberry remains a world‑class links course with a rich Open heritage, the R&A has decided that logistical and financial realities prevent its inclusion in the near‑term schedule. Royal Lytham & St Annes will take centre stage in 2028, offering fans a historic venue with proven capacity to host the sport’s premier championship. The decision reflects a broader commitment by the R&A to balance tradition, accessibility, and the practical demands of staging a global sporting event.