Alan Rogers, group chief executive officer for Leisurecorp, says, “Turnberry absolutely fits the Leisurecorp image and portfolio” while David Spencer, chief executive officer for Leisurecorp Golf, adds, “This is a very special milestone in the history of Dubai as Dubai spreads its brand throughout the world, including the golf world.”
Both gentlemen were being questioned by golf’s international press corps at Wentworth earlier this week following the announcement that Leisurecorp had purchased Turnberry for £55 million.
Alan Rogers continued, “The opportunity exists for making certain that it becomes the most sought after golf resort not only in the U.K. but also in Europe. We were there this week meeting with architects and designers to start the refurbishment programme.
“Even as a non golfer, just looking out over the Ailsa Course to the lighthouse with Ailsa in the background and Arran and Kintyre, it’s just one of the most glorious, most beautiful spots in the world. It’s just magical and we‘re extremely delighted and proud to add it to our portfolio. We hope that we will be good and careful guardians of it and take it to the next stage.”
David Spencer explained, “Our first stage is that we will be undertaking a full redevelopment of the hotel, working closely with the South Ayrshire Council and, of course, Historic Scotland. This is a magnificent James Miller building that holds a very, very special part in the history of Scotland, and, of course, the history of golf.
“We‘ll be working with the various architects, who together with Starwood we‘ll be announcing shortly, and have the public spaces and the main building and the main rooms ready to welcome the world’s greatest golfers and great golf crowds to Turnberry at The Open in July 2009.
“One point actually I think I would add,” continued Alan Rogers “is that from our perspective Turnberry ticks almost every box and will actually be a difficult deal to replicate. It’s not only an icon in the golf world but it has, when you‘re asking about upside, the potential in terms of the hotel and other amenities, sports and things; which, as David said, obviously we‘ll do in conjunction with the South Ayrshire Council.
“There are a lot of opportunities I think to make it not only the premiere golf destination, but also a resort which has other activities which will encourage people to stay there.
“South Ayrshire Council is the only council that hosts two Open venues with Troon and Turnberry. They are very keen on promoting tourism in the area. So we are looking forward to working with them in developing a plan for Turnberry.”
The new owner’s foremost focus is on the Ailsa Course and preparing it to be a very worthy host venue for The Open Championship.
“There’s actually a challenge obviously,” said Alan Rogers, “in trying to get some work done by next year. So we will be very careful in our programming, only doing that which is achievable. It would obviously be nice to do more, but we want to make certain that what we do is done, done to a high standard and completed in plenty of time before The Open.”
“As we get past The Open Championship,” said David Spencer “We will look at further applications of some of the other areas in the portfolio that we have bought, the land portfolio that we have bought. It’s quite a sizable piece of land, and we look forward to Turnberry being seen as one of the greatest multi course destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, if not the world.
“One of the issues of bringing The Open Championship to Turnberry was the entry and exit to the region of where the course is. That has been addressed. There’s a new piece of road that allows easier and more timely access to Turnberry. That piece of road has been finished and is working, and the accommodation throughout the area is beginning to expand.
“In South Ayrshire we are seeing some interesting new developments taking place. So I think this is such a lovely area for tourism, golf, food experiences, etc., that with a refurbishment to the Turnberry Hotel, we‘ll see more tourism attracted to the area.”
Turnberry www.turnberry.co.uk
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