He said it was an ‘honour and privilege to own one of golf’s greatest and most exciting properties’ after announcing he had bought Turnberry in 2014.

But now President Trump’s hopes of hosting the Open Championship at his Ayrshire resort, for which he reportedly paid 60 million dollars, have been dealt a blow by golf’s governing body.

Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, said the venue, which last hosted the tournament in 2009, would be stretched to cater for the modern-day demands of the tournament.

Mr Trump bought the resort in 2014 and his son Eric, executive vice president at the Trump Organization which also owns a course in Menie, Aberdeenshire, has actively been championing for the Open to return to the resort.

But Mr Darbon, who was appointed to his role in November, said the dream would not be realised any time soon.

Speaking to Sky News, he said Turnberry had a number of issues which went against it adding: ‘The area where there’s a bit of challenge is around the logistical and commercial side.

‘The last time we were at Turnberry in 2009 we had 120,000 people there.’

He went on: ‘These days a modern Open caters for 250,000 people-plus, and so we need the road and rail infrastructure to get our fan base there.

‘We need hotel accommodation for the 60,000 bed nights we need to stage our championship and it’s challenging at that venue.’

The venue, on the Ayrshire coast, is accessible mainly via single carriageways from north and south. Its hotel has 204 rooms and, during the last Open in 2009, hundreds of homeowners within a 20-mile radius rented out their properties for small fortunes.

Among them was Scots TV presenter Carol Smillie, who was asking £20,000 for her holiday home for the week.

There are 10 venues on the R&A roster for the tournament.

Turnberry was first included in 1970 and has hosted the Open four times before falling out of favour in 2021. The R&A said it would not host the tournament at Trump’s Turnberry resort in the wake of the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill that year.

At the time the then chief executive Martin Slumbers, said: ‘We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future.

‘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 current circumstances.’

There have been suggestions of ‘diplomatic pressure’ from both sides of the Atlantic to bring the event back to Ayrshire, which Mr Darbon did not deny.

Mr Trump’s team even raised the topic with Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, during his visit to the White House in February.

Mr Darbon told the broadcaster: ‘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.’

His comments came just weeks after police were called to the Trump Turnberry course after red paint was sprayed on the clubhouse at the resort and damage also caused to the greens.

In total, three people – including two pensioners – have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The premises were defaced with expletives and insults at the US President.

Last week a man, 75, and a 66-year-old woman were held in connection with the incident on March 8 and freed pending further enquiries.

Yesterday (Mon), Kieran Robson appeared in private at Ayr Sheriff Court accused of maliciously damaging property at Turnberry golf course.

The 33-year-old, from Galashiels, Selkirkshire, made no plea during the brief hearing and was committed for further examination and released on bail pending a further court appearance.

The day before the hearing, Mr Trump, whose mother hailed from the Isle of Lewis, posted on his Truth Social account that he hoped any ‘terrorist’ involved in attacking his course would be ‘treated harshly’.

He said: ‘I was just informed by Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom, that they caught the terrorists who attacked the beautiful Turnberry, in Scotland.

‘They did serious damage, and will hopefully be treated harshly.’

Mr Trump claimed ‘three people who did this are in prison’, adding: ‘You cannot let things like this attack happen, and I greatly appreciate the work of Prime Minister Starmer, and UK Law Enforcement.’