Trump Turnberry - A legend reborn

Posted: Tue 24th January 2017
By: Mark Alexander

The ambitious renovation of Trump Turnberry is starting from the ground up. But is it even possible to improve one of the world’s best golfing resorts? Mark Alexander finds out…

It’s sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction; the puff from the hard-nose truth. I don’t know about you, but these days I find the glitz and glamour can easily dazzle while the incessant razzmatazz can drown out what’s really important. Keeping sight of the essence of something can be a task in itself.    When it comes to Donald Trump, determining the man from the myth is almost impossible. You might have more success unravelling Trump from his golf properties, if only hypothetically. After all, he has amassed an impressive portfolio of resorts that are irrefutably impressive in their own right.    Trump International near Aberdeen has a remarkable layout with towering dunes and testing terrain, while Trump International at Doonbeg has all the romance of west Ireland as it overlooks the wild Atlantic Ocean. But the jewel in Trump’s golden golfing crown is undoubtedly Turnberry, perched on the west coast of Scotland.     This is, after all, a four-time Open Championship venue, where Stewart Cink ended Tom Watson’s unthinkable dream and where Nick Price triumphed with a blistering final round of 66. Before that, Greg Norman won his first major here in 1986 and nine years earlier, the then triumphant Watson overcame the gracious Jack Nicklaus in the fabled Duel in the Sun. All brilliant spectacles played on a remarkable course.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. Turnberry is special, but in typical Trump style, the American tycoon saw room for improvement and launched a bold £100 million development plan as soon as he acquired the Ayrshire resort for £36 million in 2014. The far-reaching proposals included digging up the fabled links turf, dispelling with a number of holes and re-routing a number of others. Perhaps understandably there was concern among Turnberry members.    That concern was reportedly quashed during the initial presentation by Trump and renowned international golf architect Martin Ebert, of Mackenzie & Ebert. During the meeting in which the far-reaching plans were officially unveiled, the room supposedly fell silent as the details were revealed. When the amassed crowd was asked for any questions, none were forthcoming.    Perhaps the members were in shock. Perhaps they realised they could do little about the grandiose scheme, but the impression I get is that most were simply blown away by what they saw. After all, it’s not every day you see a championship course like Turnberry, with all its heritage and glory, receive plans for a far-reaching nip and tuck.    The project was unashamedly ambitious and yet it was completed within just eight months. By the time I pitched up at the Ayrshire resort towards the end of September, the course had been ceremoniously opened a couple of months earlier. The reports emanating from those lucky enough to play it were conclusively and unanimously positive. Could it be true? Had the controversial Mr. Trump actually improved Turnberry?SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT. I had photographed the course on a number of occasions and knew only too well the beauty it held. To make it better would require daring and significant investment. As it turns out, Trump had both.    “The new layout of Ailsa respects the course’s original design and offers an incredible golfing experience for amateur and elite players alike. However, this is not change for the sake of it,” explains Ralph Porciani, Turnberry’s general manager.    “The potential to take the Ailsa to a new level was unexpectedly high. As a result, this bold transformation has created what must surely become the most exciting links course in the world, underpinned by an incredible eight-hole coastal sequence. Such a stunning stretch of seaside holes must be unmatched in the golfing world. The Ailsa course has been reborn and it has to be played to be believed.”    I took him at his word and teed it up with one of Turnberry’s most recently qualified golf professionals, and almost immediately the changes rolled in. On the opening hole, for example, the fairway has been lengthened to create more of a sweeping dogleg, which now incorporates a serious second shot into a beautiful new green complex. Turnberry’s easy opener was no more.    Almost all the fairway bunkers have been converted into natural, rough-edged hazards as per Ebert’s instructions, who used historical aerial photography to provide evidence of the course’s original erratic layout. More in keeping with the rugged Ayrshire coastline, these ragged traps present an organic test in accordance with Turnberry’s past. But these are only slight amends.

SMOOTH GREENS. As well as a rethink for almost all fairway bunkers, Turnberry’s greens have also had a makeover – not that you would notice. Each one is smooth and true, with no signs of their mass reconstruction. It is hard to believe the course has gone through such a dramatic change, but plays as if it had been in situ for decades. And yet, these are also merely precursors to the main event.    After playing the first five holes, each of which has been tweaked and adjusted to make the most of the landscape, the sixth hole is accessed by walking up through the dunes and behind the new 18th tee. The walk takes you from the protection of the course onto exposed headland which was previously unavailable. It shows you exactly how close you are to the Irish Sea and arching beach that runs alongside Turnberry. It provides you with a view that was always there but just out of reach.    The walk leads you to the now much shorter par three sixth, with a green perched on top of a natural dune. With the southerly gusts helping, it was little more than a pitching wedge for us, but when the winds blow in the opposite direction or straight off the sea, goodness knows what will be needed.    “This work will be carefully and studiously crafted, bringing this already great masterpiece to a level that even it has never attained,” Trump proclaimed when he first presented the changes. “There will be nothing better or more magnificent anywhere.”    In an effort to separate the grandstanding from the facts, let’s imagine what would be required to achieve these claims; to make Turnberry attain a stature that until now was beyond its reach. Firstly, the development would need to remove any weaknesses on a course regularly voted among the top 20 in the world. Secondly, those frailties would need to be replaced with elements that would be viewed as defining features on any other course. A tricky task in anyone’s book.

TURNBERRY TWEAKS. Until now, the changes at Turnberry had been justified and clear. They were the kind of tweaks one might expect to see on a championship course, although seeing them all at once was quite a shock. What came next, however, took the project to a whole new level.     The ninth was always a weak link on the front nine, apart from the iconic exposed tee and stunning lighthouse backdrop that is. Nevertheless, playing a blind shot on to a hog’s back fairway only to find a bland approach to a sedate green never set the heather alight, so Ebert and his team set about changing it to something that would.     “The new ninth hole will certainly capture the imagination of everyone and will really take the breath away in terms of the vista from the tee and the challenge of the carry across the bay,” his proposals announced. “The tee shot from the main tees will be very playable but the test from the championship tee will be to carry a minimum of 200 yards and to control the run out to the green.”    The new 235-yard par three ninth is nothing short of a golfing gem. The overriding feeling on the tee is a combination of anxiety and challenge with the merest glimmers of hope that you could nail it and use the contours of the green to get it close. First, however, you have to play over a craggy bay with all the indignation that could follow a topped drive bouncing off the rocks… pinball style. It is everything you could want from a one-shooter and it is a huge improvement.    What’s more, it sets a precedent for what follows. Turnberry’s active lighthouse and surrounding buildings have been renovated creating a phenomenal half-way house with probably the most impressive terraced area you are ever likely to wander into after nine holes. A stunning patio accompanies the bar and dining facilities, with views across the Irish Sea to the beautiful Isle of Arran. What’s more, you can stay there.

STAY AND PLAY. Situated in the heart of the lighthouse is a new, luxurious presidential suite featuring two double bedrooms each with a private bathroom and balcony. It is the ultimate getaway – at a price. With a night’s stay starting at £3,500 and nothing but the huge TVs and crashing waves outside to keep you company, it might require a certain kind of guest with deep pockets and a love of isolation to enjoy this bolt hole.    The lighthouse takes its styling notes from the revamped hotel, which has seen 103 guest rooms refurbished with plenty of chic tartans and king-sized mahogany beds topped with comfy, luxurious mattresses. My room was ample in size with a generous bathroom edged in gold and a huge, 65-inch TV that made you feel that the news presenters were in the room with you. Impressive and perturbing all at the same time.    The rebirth of Turnberry is long overdue, but it is not without its frustrations. Despite the hotel being open for a number of weeks, the smell of newly applied paint still lingers as if the place isn’t quite ready yet. Chandeliers light up the reception areas, only to reveal the hotel is relatively empty for such a big property, save for the obligatory group of golfers enjoying a post-round debrief.    There have been mixed reviews and there are certainly improvements still to be made, but Turnberry is a work in progress. For instance, the spa will be sprucing up over the winter period.    It is a huge undertaking to create, as Trump puts it, “the finest golf resort of its kind anywhere in the world”, and it will take time. However, from solely a golfing perspective, Turnberry may well be on the way to making the improbable, entirely possible.

Good to know

 

Book your Great Golf Holiday to Turnberry at greatgolfholiday.com


Turnberry is an iconic golf resort on the west coast of Scotland. To find out more, visit www.trumpturnberry.com

Where else to play:

The Ayrshire coast is blessed with a number of championship courses making it a golfer’s dream destination. Check out www.ayrshiregolfscotland.com for more details.

Image of Camilla Kaas-Stock
By Mark Alexander

Journalist

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