Turnberry – Open venue of the people

After a week of walking the Ailsa course and following prospective Open champions the Ailsa Course has to be one of the most spectator friendly venues on the Open rota.

There might be only one single lane road in and out of the course but once you arrive here it is a great place to watch golf. While Royal Birkdale and Royal St George’s are fantastic spectator venues, because of the huge dunes that provide natural amphitheatres, there are a number of different things that make Turnberry so special.

The design makes it extremely easy to get out to any part of the course. The huge expanse of land that consists of the Kintyre and Arran courses means that there aren't too many bottlenecks and spectators can walk around without too much traffic. Despite this there are also a number of excellent vantage points, which give a great view of more than one hole. This is particularly the case in various areas between the 3rd green and 7th tee where there are very few restrictive viewing areas.

The tight fairways and sloping dunes mean that spectators can get extremely close to the action on most holes. This is in contrast to the comparatively small piece of land at St Anderews where the majority of watching is done around the perimeter of the course.

While we are extremely lucky to be given inside the ropes passes for Open week, the viewing is so good outside the ropes around the Ailsa course that they aren’t really necessary. It may be further away from the beaten track than most Open venues but the stunning backdrop and the excellent viewing areas make it an incredible place to visit.

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