Overview:

Turnberry King Robert de Bruce features undulating greens and fairways, splendid ocean holes and views, coupled with all the highlights of a links course, including pot bunkers, elevated tees and thick Scottish rough. In Steel’s redesign, he used land formerly part of the Arran Course as well as a new stretch of land known as Bains Hill.

The old Arran Course, originally created in 1909, had already been rebuilt on two occasions, after both World Wars. And this time the rebuilding job was so comprehensive Turnberry decided to rename it Kintyre, replacing Arran, to maintain the geographic link with the nearby Mull of Kintyre it was later renamed Kind Robert de Bruce.

Bains Hill, a stretch of land that extends along the Ayrshire coastline, includes seven new golf holes that didn’t exist before in the original Arran Course. These holes are on the elevated sections of ground along the coast.

The last three holes of the King Robert de Bruce layout are new. The 18th includes parts of the Arran’s 17th and 18th, curving to the left towards an elevated green that is contoured below the clubhouse. This par 5 has bunkers to catch the drive and other traps flanking the rest of the hole to magnify the slightest error.

Elsewhere on the course, greens have been reshaped and bunkered, tees have been enlarged, elevated and moved back, gorse has been cleared to allow for the regeneration of heather and an irrigation system has been installed.

“To be given the opportunity of opening a new course at Turnberry to match the quality and popularity of the Ailsa was an enviable challenge,” said Steel. “Taking the best features from the Arran and combining them with the natural splendor and dramatic scope for change that Bains Hill offered, has resulted in a golf course of the highest standards.”

Course review content courtesy of Golf Publisher Syndications