Eric Trump makes bid to host Open at family’s Scottish golf course

Son of former US president says Turnberry venue deserves to stage the major

Eric Trump has urged organisers to reconsider hosting The Open at his family's golf estate. Getty Images

Donald Trump's son Eric has made a plea for his family's Scottish golf course to host The Open Championship.

As executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, Eric has pledged to "safeguard and treasure" Turnberry, which was ruled out from hosting the tournament in 2021.

Organisers R&A, which runs the British Open – the only golf major played outside the US – had said taking the championship back to Turnberry would distract from events on the course due to issues surrounding former US president Mr Trump.

There are also security concerns over potential protests.

However, merely a few hours after Eric's renewed bid on Thursday to host the competition, it was announced his father faces seven federal charges stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House.

The charges relate to the treatment of sensitive government materials he took with him when he left in January 2021.

Despite his father's woes, Eric has urged organisers to reconsider the venue.

"In a family so deeply dedicated to the birthplace of golf, never could we have imagined that politics could potentially jeopardise Turnberry’s ability to host another Open," he wrote in UK newspaper The Telegraph.

"This should not be about politics; it should be about the game of golf and showcasing the most spectacular venue in the United Kingdom and the world.

"I love Scotland. My whole family does. At a time when companies are not exactly flocking to do business in Scotland, we are an American family investing a fortune and working hard to preserve one of the most iconic assets in the country.

"Today, Turnberry is considered by all to be the best golf facility in the world – the players, the writers, the spectators and the entire golfing community. It deserves all of the hype, and it deserves to be cherished. Most importantly, however, it deserves to be in the rota for The Open Championship.

"If we get the call, and I sincerely hope we do, I promise the R&A that we will be the best hosts The Open Championship has ever seen. Turnberry’s best days, and most memorable moments, lie ahead.

"I hope we are given the opportunity. Turnberry deserves to host The Open. Until then, she is in great hands, and we will always safeguard this national treasure."

The Open switches venues every year and Turnberry was one of 10 courses on the rotation.

However, the championship has not been played there since 2009, five years before the Trump Organisation purchased the course and renamed it "Trump Turnberry".

Situated in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland, Turnberry has played hosts to several notable moments in Open history, including the 1977 "Duel in the Sun" when America's Tom Watson overcame compatriot Jack Nicklaus, golf's most successful major champion and a Trump supporter, in a dramatic final round.

Turnberry was also the venue where Stewart Cink thwarted the then 59-year-old Watson's bid to become golf's oldest male major championship winner when he won the 2009 Open in a play-off.

The family bought the five-star, 323-hectare Turnberry resort in 2014.

But with the unpreceded indictment of a former US president on federal charges and with Mr Trump being a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination next year, it could be a struggle to convince the R&A that his personal life will not detract from the sport.

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers had said he did not think it would be achievable.

"The R&A had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future," he previously said.

"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."

Following the latest legal news on Thursday, Mr Trump took to social media to plead his innocence.

"This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!” he wrote.

“We are a failing nation … I am an innocent man."

The new indictment is the second against Mr Trump. He pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges in a New York state case over hush money payments he allegedly made during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Department of Justice has been investigating Mr Trump's handling of classified documents he still had in his possession after his presidency ended in January 2020.

Investigators seized around 13,000 documents from Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, nearly a year ago.

One hundred were marked as classified, even though one of Mr Trump's lawyers had previously said all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.

Mr Trump has previously said he declassified those documents while president, but his attorneys have declined to make that argument in court filings.