In pictures: Stunning Turnberry's triumphant return

Published on Sunday 19 July 2009 23:30

IF absence does make the heart grow fonder, then the 15-year interlude between major championships on the Ailsa has succeeded only in stirring the passions of players, spectators and television viewers alike for the bonnie links at Turnberry.

Click here to view images of the championship highlights

Always regarded as the most beautiful course on the Open rota, or anywhere else on the planet for that matter, the Ailsa delivered an outstanding staging of the Open which ensured it won't take another 15 years for the tournament's return.

Now both testing and rewarding, the revisions made to the links – the strategic placement of bunkers, the added length and new tees on the tenth and 17th as well as the re-drafting of the 16th hole – combined successfully to present a model course.

Bearing in mind how Turnberry was burdened with a reputation as a bit of a soft touch, the fact only a handful of players were under par going into yesterday's final round and Tiger Woods, the world No1, missed the cut in the oldest major for the first time, said all that was required about the severity of the examination.

Any championship which features a 59-year-old master of the links, Tom Watson, a 16-year-old amateur rookie, Matteo Manassero, and a young Englishman, Ross Fisher, trying to win his first major, on the same leaderboard, must be doing something right.

As Colin Montgomerie observed: "Turnberry is a shot-maker's golf course. It's tremendous. It's got the most character of any links course in Britain, especially on the Open rota. Just a fantastic place to be. When you stand on the eighth tee and look out to the sea there, it's breathtaking. The stretch of holes from the eighth to the 11th are incredible."

With attendances also showing a healthy increase on 1994 in spite of the economic downturn, it's little wonder the Royal and Ancient, the organisers of the championship, are thrilled with Turnberry's return to the centre stage of world golf. "It's a fabulous venue," said David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, "and must be kept on the Open rota."

Mark Calcavecchia, the champion golfer at Troon 20 years ago, paid tribute to the organisers of the championship for allowing nature to take its course and not burdening the Open with the baggage of a preferred 72 hole score. In benign weather conditions, there were birdies galore during Thursday's opening round and Miguel Angel Jimenez showed the way with 64. And when the cross-winds blew on Friday and Saturday, the links was far more demanding, as Tiger discovered when he lost a ball on the tenth. Yesterday, the wind changed and again there were more birdies available.

Looking back to the gentle conditions of the opening day, Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, admitted he wouldn't have been surprised if the world's best golfers had shot even lower than six under par. "I actually thought someone might do better than 64," he recalled. "But, at the end, of the day there are disasters lurking out there. One errant tee shot and you are going to drop a couple of shots. I think perhaps that's what held them back."

With the attendance for the championship rising to 123,000 compared to 114,500 in 1994, Dawson was delighted this Open had surpassed expectations at the box-office. "To be ahead of where we were at Turnberry last time is pleasing in recessionary times," he added.

While Turnberry's remote location in south Ayrshire means the R&A lose around 1 million in spectator revenue compared to other venues in Scotland, the organisers know how popular the links is with TV viewers around the world. "The bottom line is the attendance is never as good at Turnberry as it would be at certain other venues," added Hill, "but we take a ten to 15 year view on this."

Traffic problems were the main reason the Open stayed away from Turnberry for so long. Although traffic was heavy, a spokesperson for Strathclyde police said there were no lengthy delays. As Dawson remarked: "All the reports I've had about the traffic management system were pretty positive."

One experiment at Turnberry which won't be repeated by the R&A at St Andrews next summer, though, is the policy of not re-admitting spectators once they've left the golf course. This was introduced to protect the on-course hospitality packages at Turnberry. "We felt we could put that policy in here without affecting the local businesses too much," added the chief executive. "But St Andrews is completely different. It's just impractical there."