Trump Turnberry's History, Renovations and Bridges Cup Role

Trump Turnberry's Ailsa Course, a four-time Open Championship host on Scotland's west coast, will add the Bridges Cup to its resume next month when the mid-amateur team event makes its first trip to Scotland in its fourth edition.

How has the Ailsa Course changed over time?

The course dates to 1901 and was pressed into military use during both World Wars, including as an airstrip in World War II. Architect Mackenzie Ross rebuilt it essentially from scratch in the early 1950s, establishing the routing that still anchors the layout today. Martin Ebert renovated the course in 2016, replacing the semi-blind fairway behind the 9th tee with a new cliffside par 3 and lengthening the 10th from a par 4 to a par 5. In 2025, Ebert reworked the par-4 7th, lowering its fairway and rebuilding its green closer to the coast.

What is the Ailsa's Open Championship history?

Turnberry has hosted the Open four times, most memorably in 1977, when Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus by a stroke in the final round in a match known as the Duel in the Sun. The clubhouse restaurant is named for the two players. Watson returned to Turnberry in 2009 and, at age 59, lost a playoff to Stewart Cink after nearly winning a sixth Claret Jug.

The lighthouse's ground floor now serves as a halfway house between the 9th green and 10th tee rather than a guide for ships.

What else is on the property?

The hotel opened in 1906 as a railway hotel, served as a military hospital during both World Wars, and has hosted U.S. presidential visits dating to the Eisenhower administration. The Trump Organization bought the property in 2014 and renovated its 103 rooms and added new dining and event space. The lighthouse, built in 1873 by Thomas Stevenson, sits on the ruins of Turnberry Castle and now houses a two-bedroom suite above a halfway house for golfers. The resort's second 18-hole course, formerly known as Kintyre, reopened in 2017 as King Robert the Bruce after an Ebert-led renovation that added four holes along Bain's Hill, including par 5s at the 8th and 11th and a cliff-edge par-4 9th.

What short-game and practice options does the resort offer?

Trump's Twelve, a 12-hole par-3 course opened in August 2026, ranges from 70 to 206 yards across multiple tee positions. Golfers can also work on their short game at the Caingorms putting green and the Wee Links pitch-and-putt near the hotel. The Trump Turnberry Golf Academy runs an 11-bay covered Trackman range with simulators and grass tees overlooking the lighthouse.