Trump Turnberry – Syndication Server

Amid court action and a potential presidential run, Donald Trump to visit Scotland next week — to play golf

He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK in 2018.

Donald Trump is expected to visit Scotland next week, and is expected to spend time at his golf resort Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire, according to reports.

The 76-year-old will also stop off in Ireland, where he is understood to be landing at Shannon Airport on May 3.

He is expected to stay at his Trump International Hotel & Golf Links on the outskirts of Doonbeg in Co Clare.

The visit comes as Trump faces court action in the United States and amid speculation he could be planning to run for president again in 2024.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to hide damaging information ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

More: Take a look at the golf courses owned by Donald Trump

Trump previously visited Scotland in July 2018 while in office.

He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK, during which he met then-prime minister Theresa May and the Queen.

He faced widespread protests and was heckled as he played golf at Turnberry with his son Eric.

During his campaign for the White House in 2016, he visited Scotland the day after the EU referendum and praised the UK for voting to leave.

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British Open 2022: Golfweek’s Best ranking of the rota of host courses

How does St. Andrews, site of this week’s Open Championship, stack up against the rest of the course rota?

Each of the 10 layouts on the modern British Open course rota score highly in Golfweek’s Best ranking of top classic golf courses built before 1960 in Great Britain and Ireland, as would be expected. But that doesn’t mean they all are equals.

Check out the rankings of each course on the modern rota below. The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings, and they are included for each course below.

10 best golf courses in Scotland

St. Andrews is spectacular, but there’s more magic at the home of golf than just The Old Course.

The golf world returns home as the 150th Open Championship will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

The fans are excited, the Tour pros are excited, even the LIV golfers are allowed in on the action.

We know that most golf fans will spend the next week and more dreaming of hitting the Scottish links, so we here at Golfweek are doing everything within our power to make that dream a bit more real.

Last week we gave you some of the best U.K. golf vacations out there, but this week our focus narrows to Scotland and the 10 best courses that the home of golf has to offer.

These rankings come directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluated courses and rated them based on our 10 criteria. They also filed a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course.

For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

R&A has no plans for British Open at Trump Turnberry in Scotland

The ruling body has conducted four Open Championships at Turnberry, but none since Donald Trump purchased the resort in 2014.

The R&A, which governs golf in much of the world outside the United States and operates the British Open, has had no plans to take its men’s major championship back to the Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry in Scotland. That is unlikely to change so long as President Donald Trump owns the seaside property.

The R&A on Monday released a statement from Chief Executive Officer Martin Slumbers declaring such after the PGA of America on Sunday night announced plans to remove the 2022 PGA Championship from Trump Bedminster in New Jersey. The PGA’s announcement came in the wake of a pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol last week, leaving five dead, including a Capitol police officer.

“We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future,” Slumbers said in the statement. “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.”

Trump bought the iconic resort in 2014, added his name to the title and pumped millions of dollars into renovations, partly in hopes of the Ailsa Course again hosting the oldest professional major championship.

The Ailsa Course ranks No. 8 in Golfweek’s Best 2021 list of top Classic Courses built before 1960 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson plays Turnberry in 2009, an event in which the 59-year-old lost a playoff to Stewart Cink. (AP/Jon Super)

Turnberry has been the site of four British Opens, starting with 1977’s Duel in the Sun between winner Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. Greg Norman won the 1986 Open there, followed in 1994 by Nick Price and in 2009 by Stewart Cink, who defeated a 59-year-old Watson in a playoff.

The British Open sites are scheduled through 2024: this year at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England; 2022 at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland; 2023 at Royal Liverpool in England; and 2024 at Royal Troon in Scotland.

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Report: Travel restrictions present an issue if Donald Trump headed to Scotland on Inauguration Day

A report in Scotland’s Sunday Post indicated that travel bans could be an issue if Donald Trump is headed to Scotland for Inauguration Day.

Just over two weeks remain in Donald Trump’s term as the president of the United States, but what’s next for Trump? A report in Scotland’s Sunday Post indicated that Scotland, where he owns a major golf resort, could be a possibility.

Except that a travel ban could prevent him from entering that country.

The Sunday Post reported that Prestwick Airport in Scotland has been told to plan for the arrival of a U.S. military Boeing 757 aircraft on Jan. 19 – a day before President-elect Joe Biden is to be inaugurated.

In reporting the booking for the Boeing 757 on Jan. 19, the Sunday Post’s source, who remained anonymous, said of the aircraft: “That’s one that’s normally used by the Vice-President but often used by the First Lady. Presidential flights tend to get booked far in advance, because of the work that has to be done around it.”

Trump has used that aircraft previously, and the Sunday Post further cited sources at Prestwick that said two U.S. military surveillance aircraft were circling Trump’s Turnberry Resort in November.

Airport sources also described surveillance planes landing at Prestwick on Nov. 12. The survey aircraft reportedly was at Prestwick for a week, which generally signals that Trump “is going to be somewhere for an extended period.”

The issue would lie in COVID travel restrictions. According to the Independent, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said travel in and out of the country is not permitted without a valid reason and “coming to play golf is not what I would consider to be an essential purpose.”

NBC News reported last month that Trump is not expected to attend Biden’s inauguration and that a Trump announcement of a 2024 presidential campaign is a possibility.

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President Trump denies asking Jets co-owner, UK ambassador Woody Johnson to help steer British Open to Turnberry

President Trump denied asking New York Jets co-owner and UK ambassador Woody Johnson to help steer the British Open to Turnberry.

On Tuesday a report from the New York Times alleged President Donald Trump asked Woody Johnson, New York Jets co-owner and American ambassador to the United Kingdom, to help steer the British Open to Trump Turnberry in Scotland.

It didn’t take long for President Trump to refute the story, saying the following on Wednesday during an afternoon White House briefing: “No, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about that, about Turnberry. Turnberry is a highly respected course, as you know, one of the best in the world, and I read a story about it today … I never spoke to Woody Johnson about doing that, no.”

Johnson, a co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson empire, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that Trump asked if the British government could help direct the Open to Turnberry.

The story insisted that Lewis Lukens, a deputy to Johnson, advised against any interference, saying the move would violate ethics policies. Yet Johnson did so anyway, asking the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell, if he could help.

According to the report by the Times, Mundell said it was inappropriate to go into detail about his discussions with Johnson, but Lukens was apparently so concerned about the issue that he emailed officials at the State Department to tell them. Lukens was relieved of his duties a few months later.

The U.K. government said in a statement: “Mr. Johnson made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event.”

Turnberry was listed as a possible site when discussions arose in 2018, but then-R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers seemed to suggest the four-time Open Championship course was never a viable option as an upcoming venue with Trump sitting in the White House.

“We have criteria for which courses we want to go to, and part of that is macroeconomics,” Slumber said. “Clearly part of that macroeconomics is about politics.”

Contributing: Tim Schmitt

Report: President Trump asked Jets co-owner Woody Johnson to help steer British Open to his property

According to a new report, President Trump asked New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson to help steer the Open to Trump Turnberry.

According to a new report from the New York Times, President Trump asked New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson — now the American ambassador to the United Kingdom — to help steer the British Open to one of the president’s resort properties. And although Johnson did reach out to a dignitary, nothing came from the interaction.

Johnson, a co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson empire, told “multiple colleagues in February 2018” that Trump asked him to see if the British government could help direct the tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort, according to the article published on Tuesday.

The story insisted that Lewis Lukens, a deputy to Johnson, advised against any interference, saying the move would violate ethics policies, yet Johnson did so anyway, asking the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell, if he could help.

Host sites for the tournament are decided by the R&A, and have already been locked in through 2024. Royal St George’s Golf Club will host in 2021, followed by the Old Course at St Andrews in 2022, Royal Liverpool Golf Club in 2023 and Royal Troon Golf Club in 2024. These dates were all pushed back after the 2020 Open Championship was canceled due to the coronavirus.

Turnberry had previously hosted four Open Championships, seven Senior Open Championships, a Women’s British Open and a Walker Cup before the Trump Organization acquired Turnberry in April 2014 for a reported $63 million from Dubai-based Leisurecorp. At the time, Trump, pre-presidential run, said, “Our aim is to make it the finest golf hotel in the world.”

Turnberry closed in March due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic but reopened the golf course July 3, and the hotel is reopening this week.

In April, the Trump Organization applied for bailout money from Ireland and Scotland to help cover salaries for employees at its three golf resorts in Europe because of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Lukens was relieved of his duties a few months later.

“We have criteria for which courses we want to go to, and part of that is macroeconomics,” Slumber said. “Clearly part of that macroeconomics is about politics.”

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Report: Trump Organization planning expensive development project at Turnberry

The Trump Organization has commissioned a plan for the development of 225 properties next to Turnberry, according to The Scotsman.

The Trump Organization has commissioned a detailed plan for the development of 225 properties on land next to Trump Turnberry in Scotland, according to a story in The Scotsman.

The report calls it “the most ambitious and expensive foreign projects undertaken by Donald Trump’s family business since he assumed the presidency.”

No formal announcement of the plans has been made because the Trump Organization hasn’t submitted a necessary planning application, according to the report.

The Scotsman report also states:

“Scotland on Sunday has obtained a series of documents prepared on its behalf by an architectural practice and one of the nation’s leading planning lawyers. Together, they spell out the company’s grand ambitions for the 114-year-old resort, arguably the most prestigious of all Trump’s properties. …

A key selling point put forward by the Trump Organisation’s architects is the creation of “high-end private residential homes for retirement living,” which it says would offer “permanent tranquility and respite” and help address a “social need” amongst an ageing population.”

“The idea of a retirement village is very much a U.S. idea, but it’s not part of the culture here,” Frances Brown, who lives a mile north of Turnberry, told the Scotsman.

Trump Turnberry — A view of Trump Hotel on June 14, 2020 in Turnberry, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Trump Organization acquired Turnberry in April 2014 for a reported $63 million from Dubai-based Leisurecorp. At the time, Donald Trump, pre-presidential run, said, “Our aim is to make it the finest golf hotel in the world.”

Turnberry closed in March due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic but reopened the golf course July 3, and the hotel is reopening this week.

In April the Trump Organization applied for bailout money from Ireland and Scotland to help cover salaries for employees at its three golf resorts in Europe because of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a report by Bloomberg.

All three Trump golf resorts in Europe – in Doonbeg, Ireland; Aberdeen, Scotland; and Turnberry, Scotland – are loss-making businesses, according to official company accounts.

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