History is at the center of this week’s major championship venue.

The game as it's known today grew up just ten miles from Turnberry in Scotland, the site of this week’s RICOH Women’s British Open. And it was there in the ladies’ last trip to Turnberry’s famed Ailsa Course that Karrie Webb became the only woman in the history of the game to achieve the Super Slam by clinching her fifth different major championship. History will again be made this week in what will be the final playing on the course as it stands now. In September the course will be shut down for what is expected to be 10 months of renovations.

Since the first links style courses were opened at Turnberry in 1901, the Ailsa Craig sitting just 11 miles off the coast has witnessed some of the most iconic moments in the history of the game. Four Open Championships including the famed Duel in the Sun and Tom Watson’s defiance of time in 2009 played out on the Ailsa Course.

As with most links style courses, the wind plays a major factor in determining a champion. The opening stretch is particularly tough with wind coming in from off the sea and the Ailsa Craig. A trip around Turnberry is quite a sightseeing tour with beautiful views greeting players on the outward nine, the iconic lighthouse and ruins of Bruce's Castle at the turn. But don't be deceived by its beauty, there are plenty of challenges that await players, with sandy hills protecting the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th holes with rocky terrain protecting the 10th and 11th holes.

The only par 5 on the course is the 17th, playing around 479 yards. The approach is the critical shot for players in order to avoid the three pot bunkers that guard the green. Named for the famous championship hosted in 1977, the par 4, 18th hole also called the Duel in the Sun requires a good drive down the right side of the fairway to avoid the fairway bunkers along the left. As Watson discovered on the 72nd hole in 2009, there are many undulations along this final green to be taken into account.

Turnberry isn’t the only course on the Open rota undergoing renovations, with St. Andrews recently undergoing changes ahead of this year’s Open Championship. Golf course architects Mackenzie & Ebert will oversee the course renovations at Turnberry, which include the creation of five new holes along the coastline that will increase the course length by 150 yards to over 7,350 yards. The new course is expected to open in June 2016.

Tour Returns to Historic Turnberry for Final Playing of Course Before Renovations Begin

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