Open snub forTrump’s Turnberry is a shame, insists Hull
Charley Hull has called for the R&A to take The Open back to Turnberry despite Donald Trump’s ownership of the stunning Ayrshire links.
Martin Slumbers, the outgoing R&A chief executive, has made it clear that the British Major will not go back to the course that staged the Duel in the Sun, the legendary showdown between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in 1977, so long as the Trump name is above the clubhouse door.
“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,’ he said.
Slumbers’s replacement, Mark Darbon, has yet to make public his views on the issues, but Hull, the world No 11 and top-ranked British female, is adamant the ban should be lifted after playing at Turnberry on Monday.
“I thought it was a great golf course, great fun,” Hull said at Dundonald, where she is playing in this week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. “I love being out there, and the views are brilliant.” When pressed if she would like the R&A’s Turnberry policy to change, she replied: “A hundred per cent. I think it’s a shame. It is a really top track.”
She also believes women’s events should be hosted there as well. “Like honestly, it’s one of the best golf courses in the world,” she said. “It would be a shame to not be on there.”
Trump bought Turnberry for £60 million in 2014 and vowed to invest more than £100 million to update the links and the famous hotel. Celebrated course architect Martin Ebert revamped the layout in 2016 and his alterations have received overwhelmingly rave reviews.
Negative
If one negative has resulted from the overhaul it is that green fees have recently risen to as much as £1,000 for 18 holes, as the owners presumably seek to recoup some of the costs.
Hull is not alone in going in to bat for Turnberry. Open champions Gary Player and John Daly have also issued pleas to the R&A, while the course itself has declared that 2027, the next blank spot on the Open schedule, would be perfect.
Turnberry staged the Women’s Open in 2015 when Trump practically used the Major as a stop in his campaign trail for the following year’s US election in which he was voted in as president.
Officials watched with a mixture of amazement and disgust as Trump flew in on his helicopter during the second round, with the golfers playing in the tournament having to back off shots.
A huge corps of journalists, with no interest in the actual golf, turned up for a press conference at the course in which Trump spelt out his credentials. It was at that moment the R&A made up its mind. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd, 2024)