Turnberry revamp bid

PLANS to redevelop the famous Ailsa course at Turnberry have been lodged with council planning officials in the hope of strengthening the course’s case for a return to the Open Championship rota.

Proposals to alter the seventh and eighth holes at the course are currently under review with South Ayrshire Council.

They would see the existing seventh hole ‘Roon The Ben’ moved to the west, putting it right next to the coastline, with the tees for the eighth hole, ‘Goat Fell’, moved to the right of the planned new seventh hole.

A supporting statement lodged with the application states that the proposed alterations are intended to “enhance the overall golfing experience for all members and visitors and to facilitate the return of the Open Championship to Turnberry and South Ayrshire”.

The Open has been held on four occasions at the Ailsa Course, most recently in 2009, when Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson in a play-off.

But it was struck from the Open rota following the riots in the US Capitol two years ago, in which the resort’s owner, former US President Donald Trump, was widely implicated.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Turnberry had turned a profit for the first time since it was bought by Mr Trump in 2014, with a pretax profit of £571,000 reported in 2022, compared to a loss of £3.7m in 2021.

Ahead of the 2023 tournament at Royal Liverpool, Martin Slumbers, the outgoing chief executive of the Open’s organisers, the R&A, said the tournament would not return to Turnberry “until we’re confident that any coverage at Turnberry would be about golf, about the golf course and about the championship”.

A POPULAR Ayrshire bakery has picked up several top awards at the World Scotch Pie Championships.

Brownings the Bakers, who run a factory in Kilmarnock and have stores across the region, won ‘Best Steak Pie’ for its famous Kilmarnock Pie.

The pie also picked up the gold award in the football pie category, with the bakery’s Scotch Pie – a two-time world champion – taking home a gold award as well.

A Brownings spokesperson said: “A brilliant achievement for the whole Brownings team.

“What a fantastic afternoon and congratulations to all the winners.”

James Pirie & Son of Blairgowrie were announced as the winner of the competition, making them The World Scotch Pie Champion of 2024.