Facelift Planned for Turnberry

A major development programme at Turnberry Hotel, Golf Courses & Spa over the next 12 months will result in a complete redesign of the Arran links and the creation of a new nine-hole academy course.

Turnberry's owners, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, have commissioned Donald Steel to redesign the Arran, a sister layout to the Ailsa course which has staged three Open championships.

The nine-hole course will be part of the Colin Montgomerie Links Golf Academy, which opened last year and includes large indoor and outdoor teaching areas with all the latest tuition gadgetry plus 16 covered bays, an extensive short game pitching area and Cairngorms putting green.

In addition to the golf developments, Turnberry is to undergo extensive renovations and improvements, transforming it from a 132-bedroom hotel into a 221-bedroom resort. Additional resort facilities proposed for 2001 include trout fishing, falconry, shooting, archery and off-road driving.