Presidential Address

At 7,453-yards from the championship tees to a more manageable 6,250-yards for men and 5,800-yards for women, there can be few more exhilarating, if challenging links golf experiences on Planet Earth; Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne, Royal County Down, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, the Links at Fancourt all spring to mind, but the new Ailsa Course at Turnberry, which, despite all the history and heritage of St Andrews, makes the Old Course look – and play – like a pitch-and-putt course.

The five-star hotel was beginning the show signs of wear-and-tear when Trump took over in 2014, and, under the guidance of his son Eric, whether a fusion of bling and art deco is your cup of tea or not, it’s certainly impressive, like its owner, loud and larger than life.

With a wide variety of F&B choices, from the haute cuisine of Il Tramonto at 1906, a nod towards the year the hotel first opened, to the elegant surroundings of the Grand Tea Lounge and Bar and the less formal Duel in the Sun restaurant, like most American-owned establishments, food is never too far away, whilst the excellent ESPA Spa makes for the ideal place to work it off.

But, for this correspondent at least, Trump’s Turnberry pièce de résistance is, without question, his treatment of the famous 1878 lighthouse, creating not only a world-class halfway house for golfers, but also, appropriately enough, the appositely-named, ‘Presidential Suite,’ an exclusive, secluded luxury retreat, a snip at US$4,250.00 per person, per night.