Turnberry still in running for Open says R&A
● Turnberry under consideration as Open venue despite controversial owner
Despite Donald Trump’s presidency Turnberry will still be considered for the Open Championship, the chief executive of the R&A has said.
Golf ’s most influential organisations had previously distanced itself from Mr Trump in the wake of his views on Mexican immigrants and his vow to build a wall on the Us-mexico border.
But boss Martin Hardy said it would be “foolhardy” not to work with Trump’s Ayrshire course if it secured the sport’s oldest major.
Donald Trump has put the R&A in “uncharted territory” since becoming US President but that will not stop Turnberry being considered for the Open Championship, the organisation’s chief executive has said.
Martin Slumbers said it would be “foolhardy” for the St Andrews-based organisation not to work with Mr Trump if the Ayrshire venue, which is owned by the American’s family, is selected to stage golf’s oldest major during his spell in the White House.
That would probably need to involve Mr Trump serving a second term as the Open Championship venues through until 2021 have now been largely finalised following an announcement that the 2020 event, the next one that was up for grabs, will be staged at Royal St George’s in Kent.
While still to be confirmed, it means the event’s 150th anniversary in 2021 will almost certainly be staged at St Andrews, meaning that 2022 is the earliest available opportunity for Turnberry to welcome it back for the first time since 2009.
“I was very clear last year when I said that we were focused on Turnberry as a golf course, and there has been nothing that’s happened in the last year to change that,” said Mr Slumbers.
“Turnberry remains one of our nine golf courses (for the Open Championship). I also said last year that Turnberry wasn’t involved in the discussion for ’20 and ’21, and we will not be thinking about ’22 for at least another year.
“We are clearly now in uncharted territory as we’ve never had this in our game. Sitting presidents have attended US Opens, but we have not had a sitting President of the United States at an Open Championship. We’ve had royalty, but for all of us in the game, we are in uncharted territory here with the president’s family owning golf courses. We’re all learning as we go through this.
“But we are talking about the President of the United States, and, with all senior people in the world, I think it’s polite and respectful to listen to them and work with them. It’s very important that we work with the president if Turnberry did come back on. That would just be foolhardy not to.”
Golf’smostinfluentialorganisations had previously distanced itself from Mr Trump in the wake of his views on Mexican immigrants and his vow to build a wall on the Usmexico border.
With less than six weeks to go before the new rateable values of Scotland’s businesses come into effect, there is still time for the Scottish Government to listen to the growing chorus of opposition. Misgivings over the increases in non-domestic rates have been voiced for several weeks now, with small companies in particular warning that they could go out of business.
But in recent days, the argument against the rises has intensified and gained momentum. Most damagingly for the SNP, they have emanated from the party’s supposed allies.
At the weekend, former first minister Alex Salmond conceded that some companies have a “very legitimate” case against the hikes, particularly in the north-east of the country.
Now, the pro-independence group, Business for Scotland, has joined the fray, with its chief executive, Gordon Macintyre-kemp, urging the government to intervene with a “robust set of rates relief measures” that will protect those firms hardest hit by the rate rises.
Such a step, he reasons, would be the best way of protecting jobs and promoting economic growth. It is an alluring argument by itself, but given it comes from a organisation that has traditionally shown nothing but support for the government, it becomes even more difficult for those in power to ignore.
Until yesterday, finance secretary Derek Mackay has repeatedly said he will not intervene to ease the impact of the increases, insisting any such scheme should be provided by local authorities. He of all people must have known that advocating such a measure was a cop out, given the straitened finances of Scotland’s councils, but some in local government called his bluff, with Aberdeenshire Council announcing a consultation on how to structure a relief scheme, while warning that any reductions will directly impact on the budget for frontline services.
This flurry of activity has perhaps inspired Mr Mackay to change tack. Today, we are told, he intends to outline a further package of support to help certain businesses “better deal with the impact of the forthcoming revaluation”.
The devil will be in the detail and the business community will no doubt wait and see what he has to propose before declaring victory. At the start of this month, it seemed inconceivable that the Scottish Government would consider a rethink, but if it cannot convince its own supporters that the new scheme is appropriate, it seems change or amendment is necessary.
It is encouraging that Mr Mackay at least appears to have taken notice of the criticism. He and the Scottish Government must surely realise that ploughing ahead in the face of such opposition would be an error.
To some extent, the government’s record on the Scottish economy can be explained by austerity and the general economic climate beyond these shores. But with the prospect of a devolved policy having a direct, negative effect on the country, there can be no excuses.