Donald Trump’s ambition of staging golf’s prestigious Open Championship at his Turnberry resort has been dealt another blow after the new chief executive of the R&A described it as a “challenging” venue. The US president has long coveted the return of the sport’s oldest major to Turnberry ever since he purchased the South Ayrshire property in 2014, and has made significant investments in an attempt to entice the R&A, the organisers of the tourney, back to the Firth of Clyde. Only last year, Turnberry enlisted the renowned golf course architect, Martin Ebert, to oversee remodelling works at its Ailsa course, with planning documents making clear the development was designed in part to “facilitate the return” of The Open. But Mark Darbon, who took up his post as head of the R&A in November last year, has made clear there were significant challenges for Turnberry to overcome to welcome the hundreds of thousands of spectators who attend the annual event. In his first broadcast interview, Mr Darbon told Sky News: “The area where there's a bit of challenge is around the logistical and commercial side. The last time we were at Turnberry was back in 2009, we had, I think, about 120,000 people there. “These days, a modern Open Championship caters for around 250,000 people plus. So we need the road and rail infrastructure to get our fanbase there, we need hotel accommodation for the 60,000-bed nights that we need to stage our championship, and it’s challenging, that venue. “Those commercial considerations are one of the factors, as I’ve said, that we would build into our thinking.” The Scotsman’s daily newsletter brings the best stories straight to you - subscribe now Amid ongoing tensions between the UK and the US over the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs, Mr Darbon did not deny there was pressure on the R&A to consider Turnberry, and indicated Mr Trump, as the owner of the four-time Open host, was also a factor it had to consider. “We need to be confident that the focus will be on the sport and we need to ensure that the venue works for our requirement,” he said. Mr Darbon’s remarks echo the position set out by his predecessor Martin Slumbers, who repeatedly said the R&A had no plans to return to Turnberry for the foreseeable future, noting it would not do so until “we’re comfortable that the whole dialogue will be about golf”. The R&A draws Open venues from a rota of courses, with Royal Portrush staging this year's iteration following a sell-out return after almost 70 years in 2019. Mr Darbon also confirmed Portmarnock near Dublin was being actively considered for the first-ever Open outside the UK. Earlier in March, First Minister John Swinney hosted a meeting with Eric Trump, who oversees Trump Turnberry, and Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Mr Trump’s inaugural Scottish golf resort in Aberdeenshire. Eric said the meeting was “very positive and constructive”, and concentrated on golf, business, and investment. During Mr Trump’s first term in the White House, the-then US ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, reportedly said Mr Trump has asked him to see if the UK government could help secure the return of The Open to Turnberry.