Trump-owned golf course in Scotland to host event on European tour

By Canadian Press on May 6, 2025.

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — A Scottish golf course owned by U.S. President Donald Trump will host a tournament on the European tour in August.

Trump International Golf Links Scotland will stage the Scottish Championship from Aug. 7-10 after being added to the 2025 schedule by the tour on Tuesday.

The course in Aberdeen is one of two owned by Trump in Scotland. The other is Trump Turnberry, which is one of 10 courses on the rotation to host the British Open — the oldest of the four major championships in men’s golf — but hasn’t staged that event since 2009.

It will be the first time Trump International has staged an event on the European tour, though the course has been used for a tournament on the seniors’ tour in 2023 and 2024 and will do so again this year, the week before the Scottish Championship.

Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said hosting back-to-back events at Trump International marked a “significant milestone.”

The Scottish Championship was last played on the European tour in October 2020.

Trump’s courses also host events on the breakaway LIV Golf circuit.

The R&A, which organizes British Opens, has pointed to logistical and infrastructure issues as the main factor behind Turnberry’s failure to be awarded the major since 2009, when Stewart Cink beat 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff.

In 2021, the R&A’s then-CEO, Martin Slumbers, said the Open would not be returning to Turnberry “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” — perhaps a nod to Trump’s ownership of the course.

The R&A’s stance appears to have softened, though, under recently hired CEO Mark Darbon, who said last month that his organization was “doing some feasibility work” regarding a potential return to Turnberry.

Trump International, in northern Scotland, has a panoramic view of offshore wind turbines not far from Aberdeen beach.

The Scottish government’s approval of the wind farm drew the ire of Trump because he regarded the turbines as “unsightly” and spoiling the views at his luxury golf resort nearby.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The Associated Press

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