Qualla: Trump Turnberry

Trump Turnberry: Introduction

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Humphrey Bolton, CC BY-SA 2.0. The 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry has its own name in golf history: the Duel in the Sun. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were paired in the final two rounds, posted identical scores for the first three, and were tied through the sixteenth hole of the fourth. Nicklaus missed a short birdie putt on the 17th. On the par-four 18th, he recovered from the rough and sank a long birdie, forcing Watson to hole his own short putt to win. Watson did. It was his second Open of an eventual five. The wind off the Firth of Clyde had not been particularly kind to either man, but the course had given them a stage.

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Image: Humphrey Bolton | CC BY-SA 2.0

Trump Turnberry: A Railway and a Course

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Terry Stewart, CC BY-SA 2.0. Turnberry began with a railway. In 1899, the Maidens and Dunure Light Railway was announced - a line that would follow the Ayrshire coast from Ayr down to Girvan. The 3rd Marquess of Ailsa, who owned 175 acres of infertile coastal land at Turnberry Green that was useless for agri...

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Image: Terry Stewart | CC BY-SA 2.0

Trump Turnberry: Two Wars on the Greens

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit sebastian.b., CC BY 2.0. Twice, the resort closed for military use. During the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps trained pilots in aerial gunnery on the course, and the hotel became a hospital. After the war, courses 1 and 2 were rebuilt and renamed Ailsa and Arran, and a memorial to the lost airme...

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Image: sebastian.b. | CC BY 2.0

Trump Turnberry: Owners

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Billy McCrorie, CC BY-SA 2.0. Turnberry has changed hands repeatedly. Starwood acquired the hotel in 1997 and ran it under the Westin and then The Luxury Collection brands. In 2008, Leisurecorp - the sport and leisure subsidiary of Dubai World - bought the resort. In 2014, the Trump Organization purchased it;...

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Image: Billy McCrorie | CC BY-SA 2.0

Trump Turnberry: Open Questions

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Fielding, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Open Championship has been played at Turnberry four times: in 1977, 1986 (Greg Norman, by five strokes), 1994 (Nick Price, by one stroke over Jesper Parnevik), and 2009. The 2009 Open is remembered for 59-year-old Watson coming within a single ball-bounce of winning his sixth...

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Image: John Fielding | CC BY-SA 2.0

Trump Turnberry: The View From the Cliff

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mary and Angus Hogg, CC BY-SA 2.0. Stand on the Ailsa Course looking out to sea and you understand what makes Turnberry Turnberry. The volcanic dome of Ailsa Craig rises in the Firth of Clyde, ten miles offshore. Beyond it, on a clear day, you can see the mountains of Arran and the long low arm of the Kintyre peni...

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Image: Mary and Angus Hogg | CC BY-SA 2.0