The Lure of the Early Links
There is some controversy regarding golf’s true beginnings, but most believe that its earliest incarnation was played by 12th century shepherds who knocked stones into rabbit holes not far from where Turnberry’s courses stand today. Modern golf, too, was born nearby—in 1751 in Girvan, less than 10 miles away. Along Scotland’s Sunshine Coast, the links between land and sea were nature’s own courses and the pastime was well loved. However, a lack of formal transportation made travel difficult and contests informal, local affairs. Without any permanent settlement to support the game at Turnberry, golf would remain absent in those parts for another 150 years.
Archibald Kennedy, the Third Marquess of Ailsa (Lord Ailsa), owned Turnberry’s 76,000 acres and denied two attempts to establish a formal club on his land. It wasn’t until 1896 that Lord Ailsa, a keen golfer and an active member of the South-Western Railway board, saw the financial opportunity of building a course at Turnberry and a train line from Ayr to Maidens, Turnberry and Girvan.
On 6 July 1901, the first man-made links course, designed by Willie Fernie, was opened for play at Turnberry. The clubhouse followed soon after, with a match between two teams headed by the club captain and vice captain to mark the occasion.
Though the course opened four years before the railway came to be, it was an immediate success. As the longest course in the west of Scotland at 6,248 yards, Turnberry was so well regarded that after just seven years, it held its first professional tournament and attracted a strong field that included the reigning Open Champion, Arnaud Massey. Several other significant tournaments were held at Turnberry during that time, including the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship of 1912.