Tam's Tall Tales

- The Donald Returns


Turnberry Hotel, South Ayrshire





How does "Trump Turnberry" sound to you? The Donald has returned to Scotland after clinching a multi million pound deal to buy the Turnberry Hotel complex which includes the stunning Ailsa golf course.

No decision has been made on renaming the place and Mr T says that the changes to the golf course will be "tweaking" by which I suppose he meant that he might fiddle a bit here and there as opposed to Trumpifying the classic links course. (Graphic of Donald Trump via Wikimedia)



The Ailsa course at Turnberry is a true Scottish classic. The 7211 yard long course was designed by Philip Mackenzie Ross and completed in 1951 and makes use of the challenges presented by the Scottish coastline. However windswept the golfers might be on their rounds, on a sunny they will be rewarded with stunning views over the Firth of Clyde.

Although the Turnberry resort has two smaller courses, it is the Ailsa one which has played host to the British Open. The 1977 contest -"the Duel in the Sun " - was a particular thriller, with Tom Watson beating Jack Nicklaus by a whisker on the last hole.

The dedication speech on the opening of the hotel in 17 May 1906 included the words:
"Where could they find such a glorious combination of picturesque grandeur by land and sea? Every mile, there was some hallowed spot, immortalised by the heroism of Bruce or the genius of Burns."



The course was a favourite with many famous golfing aficionados such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (graphic via Wikimedia). The pro at Turnberry once told me that he saw one of former President Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Service team surreptitiously kick Ike's ball out from a nasty lie. Hopefully the NSA won't come after me for saying that...





Please give me whatever feedback comes to mind via tamfromrampant@gmail.com.

Tam O'Ranter
May 2014

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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








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