Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club will not be hosting The Open Championship in the near term after the R&A announced that Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club will stage the 156th Open in 2028. The current edition of the championship is set for Royal Birkdale, and the historic links at St Andrews will welcome the tournament in 2027.
Turnberry, which has long campaigned for a place on the Open rotation, remains sidelined because of a series of logistical and financial hurdles that the governing body 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 on Monday.
"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." The R&A’s decision also leaves Muirfield out of the immediate schedule. The Scottish club last hosted The Open in 2013, when Phil Mickelson claimed the Claret Jug by three strokes. Former R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers explained in 2016 that Muirfield would not return until it lifted its ban on female members.
Although the club voted in 2017 to admit women, it still has not been placed back into the Open rota, despite a high‑profile appeal from Rory McIlroy in early 2024. The next realistic window for Muirfield appears to be 2031, after the neighbouring Renaissance Club has secured the Genesis Scottish Open through 2030.
Royal Lytham & St Annes will host the 2028 Open from August 3‑6, marking its first appearance since 2012, when Ernie Els lifted the Claret Jug for the second time. The course boasts a distinguished roll of champions that includes Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval. Darbon praised the venue, saying, "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, added, "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 is moving the tournament back to August in 2028 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 be staged at Royal Birkdale from July 16‑19, while Lytham & St Annes will also host the AIG Women’s Open from July 29‑August 2, broadcast live on Sky Sports. Turnberry’s owner, former U.S. President Donald Trump, purchased the resort in April 2014 and has repeatedly lobbied for the course to re‑enter the Open rota.
The Ailsa Course has hosted the championship four times, most recently when Stewart Cink won in 2009. That edition attracted roughly 120,000 spectators over four days.
Despite its reputation as a premier links venue, the R&A argues that Turnberry’s remote Ayrshire location creates significant infrastructure challenges. In a 2021 statement the R&A expressed concern that a Turnberry Open would risk shifting focus away from the sport and onto political headlines surrounding the U.S.
president. The same year, the PGA of America stripped Trump National Golf Club Bedminster of its right to host the 2022 PGA Championship, underscoring the broader tension between Trump‑owned courses and governing bodies. An official R&A release read, "We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future.
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 constructive, the core issue – logistics – remained unresolved. Darbon said he would "love" to see the Open return to Turnberry but reiterated that the course is not currently viable from a road, rail and accommodation standpoint. He recalled, "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 reached out to the R&A in 2025, urging consideration of Turnberry for the 2028 Open.
The R&A clarified that venue decisions are independent of political pressure, noting, "We regularly engage with government and local government regarding venues. We have explained the logistical challenges around Turnberry to the government, and they are aware of the position." Ticket demand for upcoming Opens remains massive.
Over one million applications were received for the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale, while the 2025 event at Royal Portrush set a record with 278,000 patrons attending across the four days – the highest attendance outside of 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." Meanwhile, the PGA Tour will travel to Trump National Doral in Miami for the inaugural Cadillac Championship, the fourth Signature Event of the 2026 season, broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Golf fans can watch all four rounds of the Cadillac Championship from Thursday at 4 pm on Sky Sports Golf, or stream without a contract. In summary, while Turnberry remains a dream venue for many supporters of Donald Trump, the R&A’s priority is to ensure that The Open Championship is staged in locations that can support the massive logistical demands of a modern major tournament.
Royal Lytham & St Annes, with its proven infrastructure and storied history, will host the 2028 edition, delivering another chapter in the championship’s illustrious legacy.