The Ayrshire Course may be in limbo at the moment as far as staging the Open Championship is concerned but it is still rated extremely highly by people in the golf world.

Colin Montgomerie, for instance, describes it as "the finest links course in the world", a fact emphasised when he was happy to put his name to a Golf Academy at the resort. The course commands stunning views of both Ailsa Craig and Arran and the ninth hole, the 'Lighthouse' is one of the most photographed holes in the world. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus have a special memory of the Ailsa Course, the pair having their famous 'duel in the sun' there in the 1977 Open Championship.