The New Turnberry: What Has Changed?

Turnberry has a storied history as an Open Championship venue.

Surprisingly, its history is fairly recent dating back only to 1977 when Tom Watson outlasted Jack Nicklaus in the "Duel in the Sun."

Nicklaus matched Watson shot-for-shot during the first three rounds, but was outgunned in the final round by Watson's 65 and lost by one stroke.

That Open truly was a duel with the third-place finisher Hubert Green finishing 10 strokes behind Nicklaus.

Watson's winning score of 12-under par 268 was posted under benign conditions for an Open Championship. The weather was hot and sunny in 1977.

The 1986 Open started with some real Scottish Open weather: cold, wet, and windy for Thursday's first round.

The weather improved on Friday as Greg Norman shot 63, which included a three-putt bogey on the last hole from 30 feet.

Though Norman shot 74 in worse weather on Saturday, he closed with a 69 to win the Open by five strokes.

Most recently in 1994, Nick Price edged out Jesper Parnevik after making a long putt for eagle on the par-five 17th hole. His score matched Watson's 12-under par 268 in 1977.

Now, 15 years later, the Open is returning to Ayrshire to a newly renovated Ailsa Championship golf course.

In America, the USGA's Open doctor is Rees Jones. Here in the United Kingdom, the R&A relies on Martin Ebert, who has renovated a number of other Open venues in addition to the Turnberry jewel.

Peter Dawson, the Chief Executive of the R&A commented, speaks on the upgrades on the medium length Ailsa Course: "A very stiff par-70, which (at 7,204 yards) is 247 yards longer than at the last Open. It's not exactly revolutionary. But we think the golf course will be a great test for the players this year, and we look forward to seeing what they make of it."

The narrowing of fairways and the height of the rough would indicate the R&A wants a battle for par, no matter what the weather has in store for the championship.

Tee and hole locations will likely be modified as a function of how cold, wet, and windy the weather becomes over the four-day period.

So far this week, the weather has been mild with little wind, little rain, and warm temperatures.

However, the forecast calls for rain overnight and a 65 percent chance of precipitation on Thursday and Friday. For the weekend, there is a 25 percent chance of rain with the sun popping out late Sunday afternoon.

So if the wind comes up, Turnberry may well be the test of golf like the last two Opens at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale.

With sunrise at 4:57 a.m. and sunset coming at 9:51 p.m., the day is long enough for multiple weather delays as long as they are just passing through. The 156-golfer field is going out in threesomes off the first tee over a 10-hour period.

Most of the additional yardage has come on the final three holes with 45, 61, and 29 yards being added on the par-four 16th, par-five 17th, and par-four 18th holes, respectively.

In order to move the tees back on the 17th, the 16th hole was changed dramatically from a straight away to a dog leg right hole. The new angle to the green brings more of the fronting burn into play as a lateral water hazard. At 455 yards, it is an average length par-four by modern day standards.

The 17th now stretches to 559 yards. Depending on the wind, it may be easy to reach the green in two or difficult to reach the fairway in one swing.

The home hole is now 461 yards, with the green completely enclosed by large Open bleachers and yellow scoreboards.

Besides length, numerous fairway bunkers have been added to the course. The new hazards are evenly distributed with eight on the front nine and nine on the back nine. All are within the 280-325 range from the tee box.

The 17th has a new approach bunker on the right and a new green-side bunker on the left, making the risk-reward of going for the green in two more dramatic.

Though the two new approach bunkers on the par-four 18th mainly enhance the appearance of the hole, they may come into play on recovery shots from the rough.

The par-four 10th hole was lengthened four yards by adding a spectacular new tee on a rocky cliff near the iconic Turnberry lighthouse. Though the distance increase is not relevant, the angle of the tee shot over rocks, sea, and beach is much more challenging to the golfer.

The fairway has been extended closer to the beach. With three new bunkers—two of which are in the middle of the fairway—the strategic value of this hole has been increased tenfold.

Depending on wind direction, players can try to carry the two new bunkers down the left-hand side, or they can lay up on the right, in which case they've got to be careful about the third new bunker right.

This hole has already befuddled many in practice rounds. How to play the 10th hole wisely is the topic of many conversations on the practice range.

None of the par-threes have been touched as they are already brilliant in design with a nice assortment of length and shot value.

The 166-yard 3rd hole plays slightly uphill to the north. The 6th hole, also to the north, is the longest at 231 yards. The 11th is 175 yards to the east, while the 15th plays to the south at 206 yards.

Each day, the golfers will begin to the south with the short 354-yard par-4 first hole and immediately be confronted with a risk-reward decision to go for the green with driver.

The 2nd hole comes back to the north, while the 3rd hole goes back to the south.

The beauty of Turnberry is then revealed as the course turns north along the Irish Sea and the Firth of Clyde for the duration of holes four through 11.

After that, the links turn around and come back south inland from the sea to the difficult four finishing holes that will likely determine the champion come Sunday.

The newly renovated Ailsa Course is ready to take on all of the 156 comers to the Open.

Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Nick Price… who will the next champion of Turnberry be in 2009?

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]