Golfing regions don’t come any more iconic than Ayrshire. The birthplace of the British Open Championship boasts some of the most famous names in the game – Turnberry, Royal Troon and Prestwick. The land of the legendary ‘Duel in the Sun’, though, also offers options to suit all skill levels across more than 45 courses, which range from windblown championship links through to some spectacular, but a little more forgiving, island courses on Arran and Cumbrae.
Championship Golf Courses in Ayrshire
Golf in Ayrshire and the Ilse of Arran has come a long way since the 17th of October 1860, when Willie Park from Musselburgh beat ‘Old’ Tom Morris, Prestwick Golf Club’s very own greenkeeper, on his home course by two strokes with a score of 174 for 36 holes to become the winner of the first ever British Open Championship. In doing so he secured what is still surely the most famous golfing tournament of them all. Over the years Ayrshire’s golfing pedigree has just mushroomed. Prestwick Golf Club has now staged the Open 24 times, with Royal Troon home to Arnold Palmer’s famous second straight Open win in 1962, along with seven other Opens. Turnberry Golf Club has also been the setting for four dramatic Open championships, including that infamous ‘Duel in the Sun’ between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in 1977.
British Open Golf Venues in Ayrshire
Each of the trio of stellar global Ayrshire names has its own charms. Purists love Old Tom Morris’ Prestwick, but often find themselves cursing the great man as they struggle with the tight fairways and rugged dunes of this testing 6,544yds par 71 course. It is nearby Royal Troon that now holds the British Open when it comes to this corner of Ayrshire, though, with the notoriously difficult inward nine here a match for anything in championship golf when a decent northwesterly wind is blowing.
Turnberry’s iconic Ailsa course last hosted the Open in 2009 and is spectacular with sweeping views of Arran and, of course, that lighthouse, backed up another tough challenge in the shape of the par-72 Kintyre and the nine-hole Arran courses. Turnberry is also home to the Colin Montgomerie Links Golf Academy, the first of its kind in the world.
Open Championship Final Qualifying Golf Courses
Pushing beyond the British Open venues themselves several other courses in Ayrshire stage Open Championship Final Qualifying events. Kilmarnock (Barassie) is a testing links that sits on the edge of Troon. Irvine Bogside meanwhile was perfected by the legendary James Braid, an Open winner in Ayrshire himself who turned course designer. Prestwick St Nicholas is another Ayrshire links gem, with the club itself one of the world’s oldest, dating back to 1851. The quarry that lies between the 7th and 8th holes is not only the course’s main irrigation system, but also home to swans, ducks, oystercatchers, herons and grebe.
As well as hosting Open qualifying Irvine’s Western Gailes staged the 1972 Curtis Cup and regularly features in round-up lists of the world’s finest courses. A relative upstart qualifying course is Dundonald Links, something of a modern classic that is not yet ten years old. Designer Kyle Phillips’s intention was ‘To create a championship Ayrshire links that felt and played as though it was an old, rediscovered course’. He succeeded quite brilliantly.
The same can be said about Colin Montgomerie, who designed the remarkable parkland course at the Rowallan Castle Golf Club, which opened in 2009. Framed by a brace of castles it spreads its tentacles across 600 acres of country estate, with views out towards Arran and Ailsa Craig. A unique touch is The Decider, a par-three 19th hole designed as a bit of fun where golfers can place their bets or settle scores at the end of their round.
Great Island Golf Courses in Ayrshire
The golfing action in this corner of Scotland is, of course, not limited to the mainland. Nip over on the ferry from Largs (itself home to Routenburn Golf Club, where Sam Torrance cut his golfing teeth) on to the Isle of Cumbrae and Millport Golf Club awaits. In 1913 James Braid re-designed this 18-hole gem and he must have enjoyed the views as he worked, with the Firth of Clyde bursting out all around and Ailsa Craig and Arran blinking back in the distance.
Arran itself is remarkably home to no fewer than seven golf courses. They range from the nine-hole efforts at Lochranza, Corrie and Machrie Bay through to the 18-hole courses at Brodick, Whiting Bay and Lamlash. Then there is there highly unusual 12-hole Shiskine Golf Club at Blackwaterfoot. One of the most spectacular courses anywhere in Scotland golfers may well need the inspiration of Robert the Bruce (who is said to have seen the famous spider try and try again in a nearby cave) when tackling the mighty Crow’s Nest and then playing off The Shelf.
Ayrshire Golf Passes
Arran is just a short and scenic ferry ride from the mainland and there has never been a better time to visit with the Arran Golf Pass making golf on the island that bit easier and eminently affordable. Golf passes are not unique to Arran as in Ayrshire these days a number of pass options are available that make organising a golfing holiday much easier. The Ayrshire Open Qualifier Card allows you to tackle the region’s superb Open Championship Final Qualifying courses and save 40% on green fees. The Prestwick Golf Pass meanwhile is a new initiative that opens up Prestwick, Prestwick St Nicholas and Prestwick St Cuthbert with huge discounts. The ‘3 Rounds 3 Different Courses’ pass is also on hand with the chance to play three South Ayrshire courses in a week, including the James Braid designed Girvan.
Golfing regions don’t come any more illustrious than Ayrshire. This world class golfing destination has it all, from easily accessible nine-hole courses more suited to beginners, right through to world famous links courses that have tested and often broken the best in the game. Ayrshire’s long golfing lineage is not just a piece of history. In 2016 the British Open not only returns to the Home of Golf in Scotland, but also to its actual home in Ayrshire when the world’s best golfers return to pit their wits against mighty Royal Troon.
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