A year after buying Turnberry Resort in Scotland, Donald Trump has announced plans to invest over $300m in a major renovation of the famed Ailsa Course.
The historic links course will close in September – after it hosts the Women’s British Open this summer – and then undergo works that will include building or rebuilding five holes and nine greens, and resurfacing the other nine greens.
The most controversial change will be to the par-4 ninth hole (pictured above), which will be converted to a long par 3 that eliminates its hog’s-back fairway and relocates the entire hole closer to the iconic lighthouse. The new par 3 will measure 235 yards – and call for a 200-yard carry from the championship tees, while the lighthouse will be renovated and turned into a halfway house.
Several other seaside holes will be pushed more into the dunes and closer to the water, and the course’s maximum length will be stretched to 7,450 yards. Par will remain 70, with the renovated layout including three par 3s and three par 5s.
All the changes are being made in consultation with the R&A, with the hopes of being awarded The Open Championship again. The Ailsa Course last hosted the Open in 2009, when Stewart Cink famously edged Tom Watson in a playoff. The soonest slot likely to be available for Turnberry, which also hosted the Open is 2021.
Architects Mackenzie and Ebert have been chosen to carry out the renovations, and the firm has released a 7-minute animated video that shows how the course looks now, and how it will look after the work is completed. Watch it here.