Courtesy of Turnberry
Golf course architect Martin Ebert has detailed plans to make Turnberry’s majestic Ailsa course — a four-time host of the Open Championship — even greater when it closes for a £1million refurbishment.
The iconic layout will reopen for play in April following significant changes to two key holes on the front nine, which will be complemented with other enhancements across the course and venue’s facilities.
Few figures can match Ebert’s transformative impact on Turnberry’s storied history. The mastermind of an extensive 2015 renovation, Ebert was also commissioned to oversee the former Kintyre course’s rebirth into the acclaimed King Robert the Bruce.
Building up to the famous ninth hole — heavily modified by Ebert in 2015, switching from a par-4 to a show-stopping par-3 played on the cliff edge and over a cavernous drop — the seventh and eighth will be at the heart of the redesign this winter.
The par-5 seventh will perhaps see the most significant changes, with the fairway sweeping left, playing toward a green that will move from its current location 50 yards inland to sit on the coastline with the Firth of Clyde lapping below.
Meanwhile, the par-4 eighth’s tee boxes will be moved to the right of the new seventh green, straightening the hole to give players a full view from tee to green, and boosting its visual appeal on approach to the iconic Turnberry Lighthouse at the turn. The hole’s bunkering will also be reworked, with an existing sand trap on the right side of the fairway filled in and replaced by a new hazard on the left.
“When we first went to work on the original redesign of Turnberry,” Ebert said, “I believe we were able to improve and build on what was already a masterpiece — in terms of its layout — and transform it into a course that has received unanimously positive assessments from those who have played it.”
On the forthcoming changes, Ebert added: “On the new seventh hole, we wanted to utilize the area to the left of the existing green, and to make the most of that by moving the green so it will be right on the coastal edge. I think the excitement of playing toward the beach, especially when the golfers reach that green, will be outstanding.
“Everybody loves the setting of Turnberry’s greens and there aren’t many links courses where you have greens right on the cliff edge — so that is very special in its own right.
“As far as hole eight is concerned, there was always probably a bit of a misgiving about the tee shot, in that when you wanted to have the tee right over on the coastline to give people that experience, the fairway camber didn’t really suit it. So, it made a lot of sense to take advantage of the seventh green, where those eighth tees currently are, and to move them over to the right and produce a much better hole. The tee shot will be far improved with the new alignment, making the hole visually stunning from your first shot to your last.”
Ebert was quick to give credit to the venue’s owners, Donald Trump and his son Eric, who he acknowledged had identified the new positioning of the seventh green as an area to build on.
“The Trumps have a huge passion for golf,” Ebert said. “They have a huge passion for Turnberry and are full of ideas. I must give credit where it is due, because they have always loved that area to the left of the existing seventh green and the landscape there.
“They are passionate about it, full of ideas, and that is when we come into play to assess those ideas, and to decide which ones make sense. That can be tricky sometimes when you don’t necessarily agree. Mr. Trump has called me the most stubborn man he has ever met — and he’s said that in public.
“I will say if I think an idea makes sense and I will say if I think it doesn’t. But I think a lot of what they say does make sense and I believe the results will be clear with these changes as Turnberry will be greater than ever, in my opinion.”
Adding to the detail of the changes, Allan Patterson, director of golf courses and estates at Trump Turnberry, said: “The seventh hole is going to move to the left to play right along the coast, with another fantastic green site up on the coastal edge, looking over the bay. It is going to be an absolute stunner.
“Where the seventh green is now will become part of the eighth hole, which will get a full range of new tees. (The current) eighth is a phenomenal hole, you just do not see an awful lot of it. These changes will make the eighth play straighter and make it so much better visually.”
The Ailsa’s latest enhancements could boost Trump Turnberry’s chances of welcoming the Open Championship back to the venue after more than 15 years away, with hopes that golf’s oldest tournament could once again be staged on the Ailsa in the coming years. The four Open Championships to grace Turnberry’s fairways were 1977’s famous ‘Duel in the Sun’ between winner Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman’s victory in 1986, Nick Price’s 1994 triumph and Stewart Cink’s win in 2009.
