Turnberry Hotel and Golf in Scotland

To the uninitiated, Turnberry is on the west coast of Scotland in Ayrshire and it boasts one of the best golf courses in the world. Not only is it a superb golf course it also has the most wonderful views including a hunk of rock out in the sea called Ailsa Craig.
Anyone with a passion for golf wants to play Turnberry, and to do that it is almost always necessary to stay there too. In fact even if you live reasonably close by you really do have to stay at the fabulous Turnberry Hotel which overlooks the course.


My wife gave me as a Christmas present, a round on the Ailsa course at Turnberry, which is the championship course where at regular intervals the Open Golf Championship is held.
I say Open, and not British Open, because there is only one Open Golf and it is held every year in July on the best seaside or links courses in Great Britain.
My round also included staying at the Turnberry Hotel, and it would be remiss of me not to describe it as well as the golf, because it is very much part of the experience.
To play Turnberry means you are walking in the footsteps of the Gods of golf like Tom Watson who won here in 1977. It is therefore a daunting, and very moving experience to play the course.
The hotel which towers over the course on a hill overlooking the sea, is a classical top end five star Scottish hotel, complete with a piper who walks up and down the front of the hotel in the evening playing his bagpipes quite hauntingly. You now know you are in Scotland, if you didn't before, and the wonderful Ayrshire bacon and black pudding at breakfast which you cannot really get anywhere else in the world but Scotland confirms this.
Comfort, great food, good rooms, and great hospitality, combined with the most wonderful views make the Turnberry Hotel a great base for your golf.


What is there to say about the golf except that it is everything a golfer dreams about. The Ailsa course is in perfect condition, and as you might expect busy, but not slow to play. The greens are magnificent and the bunkers deep and unforgiving.
If you play golf, then Turnberry is a must do. One word of warning, and that is if you go as a couple they will try to pair you up with other people. My advice is to get to the tee early, and do not be put under pressure to do this if you don't want to.