Turnberry, Ailsa Course
Encyclopedia
The Turnberry Ailsa Course is a well-known golf course in Turnberry
, Ayrshire
. it has played host to The Open Championship
many times. The most famous of the 3 championships this course has hosted, (1977,1986 and 1994) was the infamous 'duel in the sun' by Tom Watson
and Jack Nicklaus
. The second course, the Kintyre, hasn't hosted any main tournaments, but is still considered one of the best in Scotland.
The Most famous feature of the Ailsa course is the functional lighthouse which looks out over the sea. The course runs along the Firth of Clyde
and is often compared to Pebble Beach Golf Links
in the United State.
was the next to be hosted at Turnberry, with Greg Norman
winning by five shots. The 1994 Open championship
was won by Nick Price
from Zimbabwe
. The winning margin this time was by a single stroke. The course is set to host the 2009 Open Championship
.
Turnberry
Turnberry is a golf resort on the coast of the outer Firth of Clyde in southwestern Scotland. Located in South Ayrshire on the rugged coast, it comprises three links golf courses, a golf academy, a five-star hotel, designed by James Miller and completed in 1906, as well as lodge and cottage...
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
. it has played host to The Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
many times. The most famous of the 3 championships this course has hosted, (1977,1986 and 1994) was the infamous 'duel in the sun' by Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
and Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
. The second course, the Kintyre, hasn't hosted any main tournaments, but is still considered one of the best in Scotland.
The Most famous feature of the Ailsa course is the functional lighthouse which looks out over the sea. The course runs along the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
and is often compared to Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...
in the United State.
History
In 1902 golf course designer Willie Fernie was commissioned by the Marquess of Ailsa to lay out a championship course. In 1906, a hotel was built, and the course began to take its modern structure. However, during the Second World War, Fernie's layout was paved over to make concrete runways. Phillip Mackenzie Ross was the man given the task of returning the course to its old glory after the war, after two years of painstaking rebuilding, the course was reopened in 1951. The first of its three opens was the aforementioned 'duel in the sun' by Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. Watson was victorious, despite Nicklaus holing a monster birdie putt on the 18th. The 18th hole was renamed the duel in the sun not long after. The 1986 Open Championship1986 Open Championship
The 1986 Open Championship was the 115th Open Championship held from 17-20 July at the Turnberry Golf Resort at The Westin Turnberry Resort, Scotland. Greg Norman won his first major championship by five strokes over Gordon J. Brand...
was the next to be hosted at Turnberry, with Greg Norman
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
winning by five shots. The 1994 Open championship
1994 Open Championship
The 1994 Open Championship was the 123rd Open Championship held from 14-17 July at Turnberry Golf Resort, Scotland. Nick Price won his second major championship by one stroke over Jesper Parnevik.-First round:-Second round:...
was won by Nick Price
Nick Price
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...
from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. The winning margin this time was by a single stroke. The course is set to host the 2009 Open Championship
2009 Open Championship
The 2009 Open Championship was the 138th Open Championship, one of the four major golf championships, and was played from 16–19 July at the Turnberry Resort, in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was the fourth time The Open Championship had been played at Turnberry...
.