Trump Turnberry course to have the world’s most expensive green fee in 2025
An 18-hole green fee on Trump Turnberry’s Ailsa course has been raised to £1,000 per person for peak periods next year. That makes it about $1,276 US or almost $1,750 CDN.
The £1,000 price tag for a round at Turnberry will make it the priciest on the planet, jumping ahead of the $1,250 US that visitors pay to play Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, which previously was alleged to be the most expensive green fee.
The four-figure fee will only apply to those not staying at the Turnberry Resort and only for peak season rounds at peak times (before 1pm). For visitor rounds played on the Ailsa after 1pm the green fee drops to £545, while for rounds played outside of peak season, the fee is £315. The peak period green fee for hotel guests is £425 per person.
Speaking to golf media brand bunkered.co.uk, Turnberry’s general manager Nic Oldham said that the £1,000 green fee is designed to protect tee times for hotel residents and Turnberry members.
“We were finding that a lot of people were booking up tee times during the peak times of the year, but only came to play golf and then left,” said Oldham. “In many instances, people were choosing to play the Ailsa but stay somewhere else nearby. That meant our hotel guests were able to stay in the hotel but couldn’t get access to the course. By blocking out these peak tee times, we are able to offer greater playing opportunities to our best customers.”
He added: “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.”
In 2023, former president Donald Trump famously said that “everybody wants to see the (British) Open Championship” held at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
Turnberry has hosted The Open Championship on four different occasions, but it last hosted in 2009. Trump purchased the property five years later and the R&A has looked elsewhere to host its major championship since with outgoing chief executive Martin Slumbers saying in 2022 that the organization “had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future. We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.”
