PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The R&A expects to announce the venue for the 2028 Open Championship sometime in the next 12 months.
As usual, there appear to be plenty of options – and just as many questions.
In his first State of the R&A press conference since taking over the CEO role late last year, Mark Darbon fielded questions about the viability of at least three highly regarded courses – Turnberry, Muirfield and Portmarneck – with an open date on the calendar looming.
But, once again, it was Turnberry that was the most talked-about venue in the R&A’s annual presser.
Lauded as possibly the best course in the Open rota, Turnberry hasn’t hosted the game’s oldest championship since 2009. It underwent a significant renovation as well as a change in ownership, with President Donald Trump now at the helm.
During his tenure, Darbon’s predecessor, Martin Slumbers, was insistent that he would not bring an Open back to Turnberry because he was not confident that the focus would be on the competition.
Darbon on Wednesday pointed more to the logistical challenges that the site presents, including the rail system and accommodations nearby.
“I think we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect to Turnberry,” Darbon said. “We love the golf course, but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of the setup here, and we’ve got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.
“We’ve explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues, but we’d need to address those logistical challenges should we return.”
When asked specifically about Trump, Darbon said that he met a few months ago with Trump’s son, Eric, and other leaders from the organization to discuss some of the challenges that remained.
Of how Trump’s ownership affected the decision, Darbon said, “It’s a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back.”
Darbon was also pressed about Muirfield, which last hosted an Open in 2013. He said the R&A continues to work with the club on some of its outstanding issues around staging a modern Open, such as the practice grounds and the production cabling. Darbon said he was “open minded to solutions,” such as using the practice area of neighboring Renaissance Club, site of last week’s Scottish Open.
“It’s a good dialogue,” he said, “and we’d love to be back there in the future.”
With the Open’s return to Royal Portrush for the second time in six years – after a 68-year absence – Darbon said that the organization is also seriously exploring the possibility of taking the event outside the borders of the United Kingdom for the first time, at Portmarnock in Ireland.
It isn’t just the venue for the 2028 Open that remains unclear. The dates for the event are also not confirmed, with the Los Angeles Olympics in mid-July complicating the timing. Darbon said he expects an announcement on the dates in the next few months.
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