Turnberry is a real gem and it’s sad it’s off The Open rota ..but R&A are right to patch it while stink of Trump remains
IT was the guiltiest of pleasures. Teeing it up at Trump International on the outskirts of Aberdeen was a bit like my golf game.
A complete rollercoaster of emotions. There was the sheer joy of playing a course that’s like a theme park to middle-aged fat dudes like yours truly.
But at the back of the mind there was always a sense of something grubby going on.
This was Donald Trump’s gaff. It was like rattling a shot on a night out. First you get the bitter taste, then comes the boak.
Those feelings fade away and are replaced by a warm glow then the joy of being mildly blootered.
The place is so much damn fun. You almost forget the fact the departing US President bulldozed the locals off the land to build it. Almost.
This is the problem with Trump and golf. There are a heck of a lot of people – and organisations – that don’t want to pinch their noses when it comes to his venues.
The PGA of America have now decided to give his Bedminster course a body swerve when it was earmarked for the US PGA next year.
Apparently inciting a riot in Washington last week was the final straw. They’ve caught up with the rest of us.
The R&A have been patching the big man since he dragged his lardy backside into the White House and yesterday just confirmed what we all knew.
The Open won’t be going near Turnberry while the big orange halfwit’s name is still above the door.
They didn’t even call it by it’s full name in their statement, which is a tremendous bit of shade.
Mind you, Trump Turnberry. It still doesn’t sound right putting those two words together.
The sad thing is the course is an absolute jewel. It always was but the changes made since Trump snapped it up in 2014 have elevated it to another level again.
It’s arguably one of the top 10 courses on the planet.
We all know it’s got issues in terms of the fact it’s in the middle of blooming nowhere and the road down is a nightmare.
But the actual set-up itself is made for The Open.
Think Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus and the Duel in the Sun of 1977, old Tom a whisker away from winning it four decades later in 2009.
It’s a magical place. Or at least it was until Don got his grubby mitts on it.
The R&A’s call yesterday was hardly a surprise. There was a feeling Turnberry would be left off the rota until Trump was out of power.
But now the big man is on his way it actually looks like the prospect p of going back to Turnberry T is even further away.
The stench from Trump’s got even worse during his bonkers four years at the US wheel.
Chances are he’ll turn up in a few weeks to hide out as well, the place will feel like it’s haunted. He’d love nothing more than an Open on its CV to help drive more tourists to stick more dollars in his back pocket.
There’s no harm in that in general – but not when it’s him.
For all we know he could be in the jail in the next few years.
The whole thing is a shame. The Scottish Open would be brilliant at Aberdeen just as the big one would be at Turnberry. But the R&A are right to steer clear while Trump remains.
We’re not daft enough to think The Open is beyond making a few quid but it’s a whole new level of grift when it comes to this and it just makes the thing look cheap and nasty.
The world is a bin fire at the moment but we can only hope Trump will be forced to flog his fantastic courses to pay for his bail money and legal fees.