Trump Turnberry Ailsa Golf Course Review: Time to get back on the Open rota?

Trump Turnberry Fact File: 

• Location: Turnberry is 50 miles south west of Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland – Troon sits 25 miles north of here
• Year Established: The course was opened in 1901 and Turnberry Golf Club was established the following year
• Par: 70
• Length (yards): 7,204
• Green Fees (weekdays): £1,000 for non-resort guests, £425 for those staying
• Signature Hole: The par-3 9th, designed by Martin Ebert, idea by President Donald Trump
• Website: turnberry.co.uk

The history of Turnberry, past and present, is a fascinating one. 

The idea of golf here came about because of the railway line and Willie Fernie, winner of the 1893 Open, designed 13 holes in 1901 before completing the routing and opening for business, along with a grand hotel, in 1906. 

Then came World War I when the course was used as an airbase and the hotel a hospital and the now two courses, Ailsa and Arran, were named after the war. 

The same happened in WWII and it is thought that as many as 200 died at the base. Mackenzie Ross was brought in to rebuild the deteriorating course and the Ailsa was re-opened in 1951 – 26 years later it would host its first Open and maybe still the most dramatic.

Then the Duel In The Sun took place with Tom Watson, who had edged out Jack Nicklaus for his first Green Jacket three months earlier, repeating the feat over a mesmeric weekend. Both players shot 65 in the third round and Watson repeated the five-under effort to beat the Golden Bear by one. Both birdied the 72nd hole, Nicklaus from a gorse bush and Watson the middle of the fairway, before departing the 18th green arm in arm. The hole has since been renamed to honour the head-to-head.

Since then we've had just three more Opens, with Greg Norman, Nick Price and Stewart Cink ruining everything with his playoff win over a 59-year-old Watson.

Turnberry Ailsa Course Review

In 2015 Mackenzie & Ebert returned to Turnberry to give the course a huge facelift, and one that we're yet to see at an Open. The previous year Donald Trump purchased the course for $60m and the resort was renamed Trump Turnberry, hence why the Championship hasn't been back to this corner of Ayrshire.

Every hole was changed in some description, greens were shifted and re-shaped, new tees added and the course was elevated to new levels. It was always something special but the changes a decade ago moved it into discussions of the best GB&I course.

Part of this was a new and spectacular par 3, played across the bay at Turnberry Point, to a green that sits to the right of the famous clubhouse which now operates as a halfway house grill. The next is now a par 5 and the 11th is another short hole which brings a very fitting conclusion to a brilliant eight-hole stretch of coastal golf. Otherwise, of great interest, the 18th tee now sits close to the 5th green to give a view of the hole and backdrop of the hotel.

Needless to say there are plenty of good tales about Trump's influence, whether apocryphal or not. Designer Martin Ebert wanted to keep the old 6th green where it was, President Trump thought otherwise.

“I was left looking at the options and when the course manager Allan Patterson returned to see how I was getting on, he found me lying down on the green surface, kissing it goodbye,” Ebert said. Patterson would tell Trump about the exchange and he rang Ebert to tell him to leave it where it was.

Trump did though want the 9th as a long par 3, given it would stay in visitors' memories more, while Ebert wanted it as a sporty par 4. On this one Trump got his way which Ebert has since agreed on.

Turnberry last hosted The Open in 2009. That year 120,000 attended, this year at Royal Portrush there will be close to 280,000 in Northern Ireland. Aside from the politics, Trump has supposedly made repeated requests to Sir Keir Starmer to help with getting Turnberry back on the roster, there are logistical challenges around having Turnberry as an Open venue. The road and rail access is limited, as are the local accommodation options.

The last word should go to Watson who, but for a gust of wind or a firm fast bounce (or both), would have become the oldest Major champion at 59 and given the game maybe its greatest tale.

"It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn't it? It wasn't to be. And yes, it's a great disappointment. It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my gut. In retrospect I probably would have hit a 9-iron rather than an 8-iron. I hit the 8-iron just the way I meant to and it went too far (from 187 yards). I chose to putt it from the short rough there. I just felt like I had better chance to get it close, and I looked at that upslope, looked like there was some grain, so I decided I was going to make sure I wasn't going to leave it short and sure, I gunned it on by and made a lousy putt. But I take just a lot of warmth, a lot of spirituality in the sense that, you know, there was something out there. I still believe that. It helped me along. It's Turnberry. Great memories here. This would have been a great memory."

Final Verdict

What's it like to play Turnberry? Well, it's certainly as thrilling as any of the Open courses to play. From a gentle start it catches fire from the 4th tee and, from there, it features that dazzling eight-hole stretch along the coast. Which plays and feels like you're beside the sea and elevates all your senses and, along with Royal County Down, probably boasts the greatest front nine anywhere.

I've played Turnberry five times, all before the changes, so I can only imagine how good the 9th now is. Previously it was a par 4 where you got your camera out purely for the tee shot before your ball was thrown off the fairway due to the hog's back nature of it. But, with the lighthouse and setting, that never really mattered. Then the 10th tee shot was something else and that has now been improved immeasurably, then comes the 11th which looks even more picturesque. The last time I was there I played the course with Ebert ahead of the changes and he took us to the new 18th tee to demonstrate the photographic opportunities as well as a more common-sense approach to the hole.

Analyst Brandel Chamblee recently played Turnberry and commented: 'It is arguably the best links course in the whole of the UK and inarguably one of the best courses in the world. Why does it seem that Turnberry is not on the Open rota anymore?'

We know the answer to the second part, as does he, but the first part is hard to question. 

Most Top 100 GB&I rankings will consist of a top three of Royal County Down, St Andrews and Turnberry which gives you some idea of quite how special the Ailsa is. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For more information, please visit the club's website here