Getty ImagesA Scottish golf course owned by former US president Donald Trump is set to become the most expensive in the UK by charging up to £1,000 for a round.
Trump Turnberry plans to introduce the green fee at specific peak times from next June.
It will apply to golfers not staying at the South Ayrshire resort’s five-star hotel and spa who want to tee-off before 13:00.
The resort says the move is aimed at protecting tee times for its members and hotel guests.
Getty ImagesTrump Turnberry general manager Nic Oldham told golf magazine Bunkered: “Staying in the hotel and playing the Ailsa will come in some way under £1,000, so it’s better value to do it that way.
“That’s better for the golfer, because they’re getting a full five-star experience, but it’s also better for Turnberry.
“We are unique amongst venues that have hosted The Open in that we are a complete resort and, therefore, we need to make sure all parts of our business are viable. Simply selling rounds of golf isn’t a sustainable business model.”
Turnberry is widely rated as one of the top five golf courses in the world.
It has hosted The Open Championship four times, including in 1977 when Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus in what famously became known as the “Duel In The Sun”.
But it has not been included on the Open schedule since Donald Trump bought the resort in 2014.
Prior to its reopening in 2016, golfers could play the world-famous Ailsa course for around £150.
From 1 June to mid-July next year, that fee for non-hotel residents will rise to £1,000 before 13:00 and about £550 at other times.
Getty ImagesAccording to Golf Monthly magazine, the other most expensive green fees at UK golf courses include:
Kingsbarns, Fife – £374
Muirfield, East Lothian – £325
Royal Troon, North Ayrshire – £315
Royal Lytham and St Anne’s, Lancashire – £305
Sunningdale, Berkshire – £300
Royal Birkdale, Merseyside £300
Royal County Down – £300
Some golf fans have taken to social media to accuse Trump Turnberry of pricing ordinary golfers out of the game.
But Bunkered magazine’s deputy editor Michael McEwan told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that was “simply not true”.
He said: “I’m not going to defend having to pay a £1,000 green fee – it is a huge amount of money for anybody to pay.
“It is the most expensive in the UK and it is up there with the most expensive in the world. But even Turnberry themselves aren’t expecting people to pay that.
“Rather, what they are doing is protecting those key and most desired tee times for their members and would-be hotel residents who otherwise won’t be able to play the course because people are paying to access the course at that time and then just simply leaving.”
The Turnberry resort underwent a massive refurbishment after Donald Trump bought it from a Dubai-based company in 2014.
It attracts thousands of amateur golfers from around the world every year – particularly from the USA and Japan.
Mr McEwan added: “Turnberry is a five-star resort, it’s a five-star experience. The golf course is quite exceptional. It’s beautifully designed, phenomenally maintained, it has exceptional views.
“The majority of golf course rankings around the world have it in the top five, and in some cases within the top one or two. So we are talking about the absolute best of the best here.”
Donald Trump also built a golf resort at the Menie Estate in the Balmedie area of Aberdeenshire – which opened in 2012.
He handed over control of both courses to his sons shortly before he became president in 2017 but retained a financial interest.
Trump International Golf Club Scotland operates the club Mr Trump built north of Aberdeen.
It opened amid opposition over potential environmental damage.
It has has come under fire for damage to what was a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) prior to the development of the golf course.