Trump Turnberry Ailsa Course Review: A true triumph of links golf, now even better

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

The true story of Turnberry as we know it today starts in 2014, when Donald Trump, then a business magnate with just a flicker of presidential ambitions in his eye, bought the course for a cool $60 million. The following year he enlisted famed architects Mackenzie & Ebert to give the signature Ailsa course a huge facelift – a partnership that has endured over the following decade and reportedly cost its new owner more than £150 million in remodelling costs.

Since then, every hole has more or less changed in some description, moving the Ailsa back into most discussions of the best GB&I courses. Greens have been shifted and re-shaped, new tees added and some holes completely remodelled. Perhaps most notable of these early changes 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 one of golf's great halfway houses). 

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 the now president's influence, whether apocryphal or not. Designer Martin Ebert wanted to keep the old 6th green where it was, 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, however want the 9th as a long par 3, given it would stay in visitors' memories more (Ebert wanted it as a sporty par 4). On this one, Trump got his way – something that Ebert has since come to agree on.

Trump's personal imprint on the course has become progressively more prominent in the decade since it was taken over. At the time of our latest visit, in late August 2025, Turnberry has just put the finishing touches on yet another fairly extensive, Martin Ebert-led remodelling. The project most closely took a look at holes 7 and 8, making them an even more spectacular run-up to the iconic 9th.  

The green on the 7th has been moved 50 yards closer to the coastline, creating one of Britain's most stunning ocean vistas on which to putt, while the tees on eight have been raised and moved further right, eliminating a blind tee shot and improving the hole's sense of natural flow. Ebert credits Trump with thinking up both changes, and liaises with the President through his son Eric. "I have to give credit to Mr. Trump and Eric Trump for just continuing to have that quest to improve it further and further," Ebert tells us on our visit. "Even after all that work was done, the question is always, ‘how can we make things better?’"

All of this goes begs one important question: just how Trump-y is Trump Turnberry? The answer, as you might imagine, is quite – but thankfully in a way that really hinders the golfing experience. The iconic hotel is, along with most resorts owned by the magnate, a true five-star property, decorated with a sense of old British grandeur infused with heritage American glamour. The president's daughter, Ivanka, famously gave her name to the $250,000 chandeliers that hang from the ceilings of the hotel's ballroom.

There are, of course, regular reminders that remind you not-at-all subtly of person behind your visit. You'll likely see more than one MAGA-hatted player out on the course (around half of Turnberry's clientele is now American), while portraits of the POTUS adorn both the boardroom and the reception. Both the pro shop and gift shops sell hats, American flag head covers and a bevy of distinctly Trumpian merchandise (including, fantastically a Trump-branded gold bar). 

Outside the decor, however, Turnberry has done a good job of working its new owner's name into its branding without completely stripping it of its original identity, and it's entirely possible to come away from a visit to Turnberry laiden with mementos that wouldn't betray having visited a Trump-owned course at all. The service, meanwhile, remains world-class and distinctly Scottish, and the food in both the hotel's main restaurants and the clubhouse are outstanding.

Final Verdict

How, then does one view Turnberry in 2025? Let's get to the point right away: as a golf course, it's as thrilling as any of the Open courses to play. The start is admittedly a little gentle, however it catches fire from the 4th tee and. From there, the dazzling eight-hole stretch towards the turn at the lighthouse, which plays beside the sea the entire way, is one of the great sensory experiences in all of golf.

There's no doubt that the Ailsa has re-emerged into a genuine masterpiece over the last 10 years, and rightly sits back within the conversation of Great Britains (if not the world's) finest courses. There's no doubt that from a golfing perspective, it's fit to host an Open – something it hasn't done since 2009 when 120,000 descended on the small village for the British major (this year at Royal Portrush there were close to 280,000 in Northern Ireland). 

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?'

Aside from the politics – Trump has supposedly made repeated requests to Sir Keir Starmer to help with getting Turnberry back on the roster – there remain logistical challenges around having Turnberry as an Open venue. The road and rail access is limited, as are the local accommodation options.

Even so, it's beginning to feel as if the question of The Open's eventual return to Turnberry is a matter of when, not if. The body was said to be in talks with the UK government about awarding the 2028 Open to Turnberry in April, marking a distinct softening of the R&A's stance towards its owner. "Mr. Trump's been clear all along that he would love to have the Open Championship here," says Turnberry director of golf Ricky Hall. "And he doesn't want to do anything that derails that.'

Opinions around Turnberry – along with its suitability to host The Open – will always boil down to something of an informal referendum on Trump himself. From a sporting standpoint, however, there's no doubt that this remains one of the finest examples of links golf anywhere, and an experience that you should seek out whenever you're given the chance.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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