View of the lighthouse from 10th green of King Robert The Bruce course.
KING ROBERT THE BRUCE Turnberry has three courses, the Ailsa, King Robert The Bruce, and Arran, a 9-hole mix of par 3s and 4s. Ailsa is named after Lord Ailsa, the third marquess of Ailsa, whose family in the 19th century owned large tracts of Ayrshire, including the Lands of Turnberry. His influence and keen interest in golf saw the construction of the first course in 1901 (a second followed in 1909) and the hotel in 1906, which coincided with the opening of a railway line from Glasgow to a station at the hotel. The heyday of guests arriving by train only lasted until 1930 when the passenger service ceased. Robert the Bruce was thought to have been born at Turnberry Castle, now a ruin next to the lighthouse, in 1274. The castle was part of his mother’s earldom. Arran is the large island which can be seen across the sea on a clear day. Our first round began on the KRTB at 2pm on Thursday. Inland from the Ailsa, this was formerly known as the Kintyre Course, renamed when Trump took over ownership and too had it redone by Ebert. Far from being
a secondary experience, though, it is a brilliant layout I recommend playing, highlighted by four spectacular holes on the rugged coastline, Nos 8 to 11, adjacent to the Ailsa’s lighthouse holes. Golf Digest ranked KRTB at No 94 in their World’s Greatest 100 Courses, probably on the strength of those four linksland holes. This might be a generous ranking, yet it speaks to the quality of Ebert’s design work in creating an invigoratingly enjoyable 18 out of mainly gorse-lined terrain. A unique feature is that each hole from 1 to 17 changes direction, quite uncommon in links golf. The round concludes with a par 5 in front of the clubhouse, while the Ailsa’s 18th is to the side of the building. After leaving the seventh hole in a sheltered tree-lined environment we arrived on the elevated par-5 eighth tee, exposed to the ferocity of the wind on the coastline. The hole heads directly towards the lighthouse, and at the green you look down on Ailsa’s par-3 11th. The KRTB ninth is one of Turnberry’s best holes, a par 4 which reminded me of Royal Portrush, a green
This is a high-end resort which daily through the Scottish summer attracts an assembly line of American fourballs with their local caddies whose outfits had a reddish hue to them which coincidentally happen to be the colours of the Republican party. Each golfer was paying a £435 (R10 000) peak time green fee. That could be a bargain of sorts, as it has been reported that the peak fee (before 1pm) in 2025 will cost £1 000, or roughly R1 250 a hole, the highest green fee in the world. It will be £545 though if you tee off after 1pm. Hotel residents enjoy a lower fee. It’s testament to the quality of the Ailsa Course and the general experience at Turnberry that golfers continue to fill up the tee times at current prices. A golf tour to Scotland to play its most fabled links has become an expensive endeavour in recent years. Because tee times are at a premium in August, my golfing partner and I had a tight schedule; having to play 45 holes in less than 24 hours. Being a twoball, we were compelled to be dew-sweepers leading off the Ailsa field at 7.10am on a Friday.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 91
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
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