Is Turnberry Ready for the Modern Open

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

In this week’s View from the Fairway, Derek Clements explores whether the iconic Turnberry links can keep pace with the ever-expanding scale of The Open Championship. As record-breaking crowds and economic impact shape the future of golf’s oldest major, Clements reflects on Turnberry’s legacy and the logistical hurdles that stand in the way of its return to the rota.

THE 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry was one of the greatest majors in golf’s long and storied history. The Duel in the Sun bright together Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, going at it hammer and tongs for 72 holes before Watson prevailed.

The Championship did not return to Turnberry until 2009 and once again it was Watson who took centre stage. This time he was trying to become the oldest winner of any major at the age of 59. And oh how close he came. A par on the 72nd hole would have seen him lift the Claret Jug. Instead, fuelled by adrenaline, he hit his approach too far and failed to get up and down for his par. It meant he headed into a playoff with Stewart Cink where, inevitably, the younger man prevailed to become probably the most unpopular champion in living memory.

I attended both tournaments. The first thing I have to say is that the actual course was spectacular. It still is. All the more so since Donald Trump, who owns it, has spent a small fortune making improvements.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

And now it has emerged that the R&A has been in talks with Trump’s son, Eric, about bringing The Open back to Turnberry. No matter what your political views may be it is certain to cause a huge public outcry should they decide to put th course back on The Open rota.

The PGA Tour removed his Doral Resort from their schedule and his Bedminster course was stripped of the 2022 US PGA Championship. There have now been reports that the tour has plans to return to Doral in 2026. The course has held several LIV Golf events and it will be interesting to see what the reaction of the players will be should they decide to go back.

Turnberry is a different kettle of fish altogether. I have two abiding memories of 2009 - one was of the gut-wrenching disappointment I felt at the manner of Watson’s loss. Like almost every other person who attended that week, I was routing for one of golf’s most popular players to defy the years and produce the most unlikely major victory we have ever seen.

And the other? Getting in and out of the venue. The traffic jams were simply horrendous. The local roads were like car parks. Myself and a colleague missed our flight back to London on the final day because of a massive tailback of traffic - and we did not hit the road until one hour after Cink had given his press interviews.

I have attended many Open Championships and heavy traffic is part and parcel of the experience but this was easily the worst.

That Turnberry is fit to host this great championship is beyond question but since 2009 The Open has continued to grow. Back then, 120,000 attended. Crowds of around 280,000 flocked to this week’s tournament at Royal Portrush with an astonishing 1.2million applications for tickets.

I am here to tell you that the roads around Turnberry simply could not come close to coping with such numbers, even when taking into account the superb park-and-ride system that operates around all majors.

It is estimated that the 2025 Open generated at least £200m for the local economy - and that is not to be sniffed at. That it would boost the local Ayrshire economy is beyond question but there is insufficient accommodation in the area to cope with the huge numbers of people who would want to attend.

R&A chief executive Mark Dabon said: “We love the course - we’ve not taken it out of our pool of venues - but he have some big logistical issues there.”

This is interesting because four years ago Martin Slumbers, his predecessor, made it abundantly clear that Turnberry had indeed been removed from the rota and would not return while owned by Trump.

With a sense of classic British understatement, he added: “There’s some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.” And the big question is: who is going to pay for that and how long would it take for it all to happen?

Darbon also admitted that the R&A had spoken to the Government about Turnberry hosting the tournament because it seems pretty obvious that public funding would be called for to improve that infrastructure. And that’s before we even consider the political implications of a Trump-owned course hosting the sport’s oldest major.

Do you imagine for one moment that he would be able to stay away? If you watched the final of the Club World Cup between Chelsea and PSG you will know what I am talking about. Trump was meant to present the trophy to the winning captain and then clear off. Let’s just say that he had other ideas. And the security implications of Trump being at an Open for four days don’t bear thinking about.

Don’t get me wrong. I would love to see this fabulous golf course hosting The Open again but I just don’t see how it can happen anytime soon.