How to Play Turnberry: Tee Times and Fees

The short answer

The headline visitor green fee on the Ailsa Course reached an indicative 1,000 pounds per round in 2026, but that number only applies in one narrow case: a golfer who is not staying at the resort, playing in peak season, at a peak time before 1pm. Play the same links after 1pm in the season and the fee drops to around 545 pounds, and outside the peak season it falls to about 315 pounds. The single best move is to stay at the hotel, because resort guests pay a lower indicative peak rate of around 425 pounds and get priority on the tee sheet.

So the famous four figure fee is the exception, not the rule, and there are several ways to play one of the world's great links for a fraction of it. All figures here are indicative 2026 rates verified in June 2026 from recognized golf sources; they change, so always confirm current fees directly with Trump Turnberry before booking. Tee times are arranged through the resort by email at [email protected] or by phone, and prime summer slots go months ahead.

How booking works at Turnberry

Turnberry handles golf reservations through the resort directly rather than a public tee sheet, which is part of how it protects times for hotel residents and members. The route in is the golf reservations team, reachable by email at [email protected] or by phone on 01655 333991. You can book as a day visitor, but the resort prices and prioritizes that access deliberately, which is why the peak visitor rate climbed to four figures.

The far better play for most golfers is a stay and play. As a hotel guest you pay the lower indicative peak rate of around 425 pounds rather than the visitor rate, you get priority on the tee sheet, and you can pair the Ailsa with the resort's second links, the King Robert the Bruce, over a couple of nights. For the firmest turf and the long Ayrshire evenings, summer is the time to come, and that is also when the sheet fills first, so reserve as soon as your dates are set.

A handicap is expected and pace and etiquette are taken seriously on a course that hosts championship golf. The Ailsa is walkable in the traditional links manner, and a caddie, arranged through the golf shop, earns the fee for reading the coastal greens and the lines along the shore. For the wider picture of what Scottish golf costs, see our guide to green fees in Scotland, and the full Turnberry Ailsa course profile for the hole by hole detail.

Is the Ailsa worth it

For the experience, few rounds in golf compete. The Ailsa is a par 71 of about 7,448 yards, rebuilt by Mackenzie Ross in 1951 from wartime airfield ground and restored by Martin Ebert in 2016, whose reworking of holes nine to eleven around the lighthouse gave the course one of the most dramatic stretches anywhere. It has hosted four Open Championships, and the ninth tee shot over the rocks to the lighthouse is among the most thrilling in the game.

Whether the four figure peak fee is worth it is a personal call, but you rarely need to pay it. Book an afternoon time, travel in the shoulder season, or stay at the hotel, and you can play the same links for a third to a half of the headline number. Build it into a wider Ayrshire and Scotland trip and the round becomes the centerpiece of a week rather than a single splurge; our roundup of the best golf courses in Scotland sets out the company it keeps.