Overview of Turnberry Ailsa Course

The best known of the Turnberry championship golf links, the Ailsa course was designed by Willie Fernie (1857 - 1924) and opened in 1901. Known as the No. 1 or Old Course, it was the longest in the west of Scotland at 6248 yards (5713m). Parts of the course were lost to an air force station - RAF Turnberry - during both the First and Second World Wars but it was re-established 1949-51 to a design by Mackenzie Ross (1890 - 1974). The course is now a par 70 and extends to 7211 yards (6594m).

Operated alongside the Arran and Kintyre courses by the Turnberry Resort, the Ailsa course has staged The Open Championship in 1977, 1986, 1994 and 2009. It has also hosted other important golf tournaments, beginning with the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship of 1912, followed by the Walker Cup in 1963, the Women's British Open in 2002 and six Senior Open Championship (1987-90, 2003 and 2006).