Looking at Twitter this morning, I saw a link posted with a message wondering if Turnberry would be ready to host the Open Championship in July.  Last I had paid attention to Peter Dawson was when he had the press conference to announced the 250 yards or so of added length at Turnberry for the tournament last held at the site in 1994.

What I failed to notice was that there is a nasty rumor going around that Leisurecorp - owner of Turnberry Resort - may not be making enough progress on their five star Westin hotel to finish it by the time the Open rolls into town.  And, further more, if they don't finish the hotel and clean up nice in time, that Royal Troon is ready, willing, and able to host the Open.

Turnberry Hotel under renovation

The CBC caught this as well and mentioned it in their report.

Organizers dismissed speculation that nearby Royal Troon, which also hosts Open championships, is on standby to stage this year's tournament because of delayed renovation of the five-star Turnberry Hotel, which overlooks the links.

"We are quite satisfied that the hotel will be ready to serve as the headquarters for competitors," said David Hill, the Royal & Ancient's director of championships. "We are in constant touch with [Turnberry owners] Leisurecorp and are assured it will be ready in time."

According to the Turnberry Resort website, Leisurecorp is taking reservations for public use of the hotel starting the week after the Open Championship.

Now, my day job is as a project manager.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that projects rarely finish on time or ahead of time.  Often, they are either or both late and cost more than your customer expects.  There are a lot of factors involved, but I wonder how close Leisurecorp is cutting their deadline against the Open Championship.  I hope they have plenty of wiggle (not waggle) room!