$200 Million Worth of Upgrades and Trump Turnberry Still Can't Get the 2028 Open

Scotland's Trump Turnberry just got passed over, and it stings. The R&A announced Monday that England's Royal Lytham & St Annes will host the 2028 Open Championship instead, leaving the Scottish course to wait until at least 2029 for another shot at golf's most prestigious major.

This is a big deal because Turnberry has invested serious cash into making itself championship-ready. The property, which the Trump Organization purchased for $60 million back in 2014, has undergone a reported $200 million in renovations and upgrades since then. That's not chump change. You don't spend that kind of money and then shrug off getting skipped for a major championship slot.

The Infrastructure Problem Nobody Can Fix

So what's the holdup? Mark Darbon, the R&A CEO, didn't mince words during media day at Royal Birkdale on Monday. "We really like the golf course," he said, which sounds nice. But then came the real issue: "We know that there are some logistical challenges that relate to staging a modern Open Championship there primarily off the course, road, rail, and accommodation infrastructure."

Translation: great course, terrible access. Those infrastructure problems aren't something you fix by throwing another $200 million at the place. You can renovate the fairways all you want, but if fans and players can't get there easily, the R&A isn't going to pick you.

Darbon added that they've got "a really good dialogue with the club and its ownership" and are having a "pretty transparent discussion," which at least suggests Turnberry isn't totally dead as a future option. But for 2028? It's Royal Lytham & St Annes, which has hosted the Open 11 times since 1926 and most recently in 2012.

History and Numbers Don't Always Add Up

Here's the thing that probably stung even more: when Turnberry last hosted in 2009, attendance was only around 123,000 fans. That's way below the 200,000-plus you typically see at other venues in rotation. Stewart Cink won that year, beating 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff. But those numbers? They tell you something about why the R&A might be hesitant to come back.

Turnberry has history: it hosted the Open in 1977, 1986, and 1994 before 2009. That's an impressive resume. But you need modern infrastructure to go with that pedigree. For now, the wait continues.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.