R&A’s Martin Slumbers: Trump Turnberry not in immediate plans for Open

Outgoing R&A CEO Martin Slumbers reiterated Wednesday that the organization has no immediate plans to bring any of its major championships to Trump Turnberry.

Slumbers, in an interview on Golf Channel’s “Golf Today,” said that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House next year would not change the R&A’s continued stance on Turnberry.

The famed Scottish links last hosted the Open Championship in 2009, with the club also staging the 2015 AIG Women’s Open. Trump bought Turnberry in 2014.

“We will not be taking any events there until we are comfortable that the whole dialogue will be about golf,” Slumbers said Wednesday. “That situation is something we’re still not comfortable with at the moment, but that could evolve in the coming years.”

The next two Opens are slated for Royal Portrush and Royal Birkdale, respectively, with the Old Course at St. Andrews a likely hosting site in 2027.

“When you look at the major championships, we want the whole thing to be purely about the golf course and to be purely about the players that are competing on it,” Slumbers said, “and to make sure that there’s no sort of media noise that detracts away from the fact that this is a golf championship, the oldest and original golf championship, and that should be the single source of the media coverage. I think that’s really important if we’re going to preserve the strength of our events.”