Douglas Lowe on Tuesday: Turnberry is poised to become a regular home for the European Open after the South Ayrshire course stages next year�s Open Championship.

Turnberry is poised to become a regular home for the European Open after the South Ayrshire course stages next year's Open Championship.

The development would bring the total of men's European Tour events in Scotland to four, and five when the Open is here. It became clear after the Race to Dubai, which replaces the order of merit, was launched yesterday at Turnberry. The course has been bought by Dubai company Leisurecorp, the new partners of the European Tour.

The European Open went to the Grove, near London, this year after a lengthy spell in Ireland. Arrangements for next year are not finalised, but indications are that it will return to the Grove some two months earlier than usual in May, with Turnberry out of bounds as it prepares to host its fourth Open.

After that, there is every chance that the tournament regarded as a key event on an ever more cosmopolitan schedule will be held regularly at Turnberry.

David Spencer, the chief executive of Leisurecorp's golf division, was hedging his bets as he talked after the launch, but he made it clear that he wants to see big-time golf held regularly, if not annually, at Turnberry, which will close on November 1 and not reopen before the Open except for special events.

"From our point of view the more often Turnberry can be exposed to the wider golfing public - in Europe, the US, Asia, the Middle East, Africa - the better for golf in Scotland," said Spencer, who noted that the Ailsa Course had been voted No.1 course in Britain and Ireland in a golf magazine. He regards the resort as an under-used asset.

"Of course you have St Andrews here, but Turnberry has that amazing view that everyone wants to see. In my opinion, which is probably biased, I think it's the prettiest seaside links in the world and we would like to have a regular tournament here. We also think, like our friends in the R&A, that the more you test the course, the more it develops as a championship venue.

"The European Open is a transportable event, but I also think it could have a home and Turnberry would be a likely candidate. Players love coming to Turnberry and the decision of whether to bring the European Open in future would be largely player-driven."

Spencer said there were concerns about over-golfing and over-stretching sponsorship in Scotland, and any developments would be fully discussed with the European Tour and the R&A, who are looking to have the Open at Turnberry once every decade. He added, however, that Leisurecorp had more than £20m to support tournaments in need over the next five years.

The Race to Dubai was launched as a 53-tournament schedule (details below) spanning Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as Europe, taking the total prize-money over the £100m mark for the first time to almost £110m.

It will begin on November 6 with the HSBC Champions Tournament in China and end with the Dubai World Championship on November 19 to 22 next year at the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course. The 2010 schedule is intended to be tidied up and contained within a calendar year.

There will be four stops in Scotland next year, the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on July 9 to 12, followed by the Open at Turnberry the following week, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October.

When you add to that lot a notional European Open at Turnberry in May, then there is little doubt that Scotland is becoming ever more a thriving hub of international golf in the run-up to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.

Much of the increase in the upcoming season's prize-money is down to the $10m Dubai World Championship that will be restricted to the top 60 ranked European Tour players, and a further $10m bonus pool.

It is that new-found wealth which is attracting interest from leading PGA Tour players such as Phil Mickelson and Camilo Villegas and could conceivably move the balance of power away from the US.

The influence of Leisurecorp, the Dubai World company that specialises in developments and investments in the sport and leisure sector, is ever increasing. They are providing international headquarters for the European Tour in Dubai on their Jumeirah Golf Estates, and own Pearl Valley Golf Estates, which will host the South African Open that will mark the start of the 2010 Race to Dubai. George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, said: "The Race to Dubai will bring a new dimension to the European Tour and the partnership with Leisurecorp is central to our plans.

"The 2009 schedule confirms how the European Tour has become ever more global in its outlook with 26 destinations now featured, with the Czech Open returning for the first time in 12 years."

In the meantime, Spencer said only 800 rounds would be allowed over the Ailsa Course before the Open, during which time the hotel will be closed for refurbishment, and these would be primarily for R&A sponsors and for members.