Turnberry’s famed Ailsa Course on Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast will play host to the Open Championship for only the fourth occasion when the event gets underway on July 16th. Bruce Young offers a glimpse into the course’s past, and highlights his picks for this year’s tournament.  

Turnberry first hosted the Open Championship in 1977 and there will be hardly a golf fan in the world - old enough to remember that is – who will not recall the magnificent duel between the eventual winner, Tom Watson, and Jack Nicklaus over the closing stages of that particular championship. Turnberry has since gone on to bear witness to victories by Greg Norman in 1986 and by Nick Price in 1994.

Turnberry also provided the venue for the British Senior Open in 2003 and 2006 and in 2002 Karrie Webb won the Women’s British Open over the Ailsa layout. 

Ailsa was originally created prior to the First World War, its original purpose to provide an additional attraction for those people wealthy enough to stay at the adjacent Turnberry Hotel which to this day still overlooks the three golf courses that make up the Turnberry Resort. Beyond the golf courses lies the North Channel, connecting the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The magnificent views from the hotel to the stunning and iconic Lighthouse alongside the 10th tee to the nearby exposed volcanic rock of Ailsa Craig and the Isle of Arran some 30 kilometres off the coast ensured Turnberry Hotel regular patronage in the early days of its existence.

The course was upgraded in the 1930’s but when WWII broke out the golf courses and the hotel would play their part in the defence of Great Britain. An airstrip was built on the golf courses, covering the land in sealed runways, the hotel doubling as a military command and hospital when required.

Immediately after the war, Philip McKenzie Ross was commissioned by British Railways, which owned the hotel and the golf courses, to restore the courses and upgrade them to a much higher standard. This involved not only resurrecting the layouts from the miles of concrete that was laid to form the base for the thousands of aircraft which landed there during the war but by relocating many of the holes closer to the ocean. As a result McKenzie Ross was able to utilise the seaside dunes which had been largely untouched by the military needs. 

As is the case with nearly every links venue for the Open Championship, Turnberry can be either the nicest place in the world to play golf or the worst dependant on the weather of the day. This writer had the good fortune to caddy in the 1973 John Player Classic at Turnberry during which a new all weather marquee was used for the first time. The creator of these marquees was singing their praises in the lead up to the event suggesting they would stand any weather the notorious Scottish coast could throw at them. Two days later the marquees were last seen heading out into the North Channel being blown merrily along by a gale force wind.

On the reverse side of that is the magnificent weather that was the feature of the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry. For weeks leading into the event and during the four days of the tournament itself the brilliant weather was almost impossible to believe and yet despite all of this only three players broke par for the week. Watson and Nicklaus were at 12 and 11 under par but there were another ten shots back to the third placed Hubert Green.

That year the layout measured 6875 yards. In 2009 it will play to a length of 7200. Close to 250 yards yards or 225 metres have been added since Nick Price defeated Jesper Parnevik in 1994 (or was it Parnevik defeating himself). As is so often the case the degree of difficulty Turnberry offers this month however will be as much dependant on the strength of the prevailing south westerly winds as it will on any additional length. Other changes, to a lesser or greater degree have been made to almost every hole.

When Norman won in inclement weather in 1986, his total was even par 280 while Watson and Price were both at 12 under in their respective victories at Turnberry in significantly better weather.
There is little doubt therefore that Turnberry will offer a fine and demanding test and most will be delighted to see this superb layout playing host once again.

Enough about the venue … what about the contenders?

Tiger Woods – well what else can we say? The three time Open winner is primed for his first win in the event since his emphatic win at the Royal Liverpool in 2006. Interestingly when Woods won the recent Memorial he drew comparisons to the fact that he had not hit the ball as well since the win at Hoylake which was likely one of the last occasions he had been able to practice at the level he is now. They are ominous thoughts for his fellow competitors.

Sergio Garcia has a great record at the Open Championship including when finishing runner up to Padraig Harrington in 2007. Garcia is not at the peak he was at this time last year but he is not all that far from it. If he can find form between now and the Open and continue getting over his breakup with Morgan Leigh Norman then he is a good chance to contend and break through for that all important major championship.

Garcia played the British Amateur Championship at Turnberry in 1996 as a 16 year old, two years before he won that title and although he did not qualify for the match play stages of that event, he knows what to expect.
Geoff Ogilvy’s record at the Open Championship is not great, missing four of six cuts but a very good 5th place at St Andrews in 2005 gave an indication of what he could possibly do. He is a much better player now than he was then and coming off a good finish at the recent Memorial he could well figure.

Paul Casey is, like Garcia, one of the few genuine contenders in this field players to have played a significant event at Turnberry, that coming in 1996 when he contended the British Amateur Championship, admittedly as an unheralded 19 year old. Casey has moved up to the elite of the game in the past few months with wins at the BMW PGA Championship, the Houston Open and in Abu Dhabi, further reflecting the growing versatility and quality of his game.

Padraig Harrington must be considered despite a loss of form of late. As the winner of the event in each of the last two years he deserves respect but he will need to show an improvement over the next few weeks. If he does then he could make this a three-peat, becoming the first player since Peter Thomson in 1956 to do so.
It is my belief that Ian Poulter can go close to winning his first major championship at Turnberry if he hasn’t already done so at the upcoming US Open. Poulter has a great self belief this year and eyesight improved by Lasik eye surgery to the point where it has made a significant difference to his game.

Poulter finished runner up at Royal Birkdale last year, a result that he will rely on to take it one step further in 2009.  “I think I learned more out of that runner up place finish and the good week at the Ryder Cup than in any wins I have had,” Poulter told me at the Johnnie Walker earlier this year.  

Henrik Stenson’s win at the recent Players Championship alerted us all to the fact that he is world class - if we weren’t already aware. He has not been so good his most recent events but, like Casey, he has developed into a truly successful international player and importantly finished third at the Open last year. Previously his record at the Open Championship was very ordinary but that great week at Royal Birkdale gave him and his fans hope.

Jim Furyk has played the Open Championship well in recent years and he has played very well in recent weeks. I rate him a good chance to do better than his previous best which has been 4th on three occasions.
Australia’s hopes rest with Geoff Ogilvy, its number five world ranked player, and perhaps Robert Allenby the latter of whom who has occasionally played well at the Open. Allenby has been remarkably consistent in his last eighteen months, missing only one cut in 42 events worldwide and does boast a 7th place finish at Royal Birkdale in 2008 as his best Open Championship effort.

As this goes to print there are now ten Australians in the field. The aforementioned Ogilvy and Allenby, Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby, Greg Norman, Richard Green, Michael Wright, Tim Wood, Terry Pilkadaris and Tim Stewart currently make up the list. There are further late opportunities for Australians to sneak in via last minute tournaments in Japan, the US or Europe.

Three New Zealanders, Michael Campbell, Mark Brown and Josh Geary have also earned starts.
These are but a few who have their chance to make the Open Championship’s return to Turnberry something very special for not only them as players but for the Championship itself.