Irvine played host to 300 international golfers and VIP guests ahead of Dundonald Links' grand reopening.
The revamped luxury resort, which has seen a whopping £25 million spent on improvements, is set to open to the public tomorrow.
Gone is the club's temporary unit at Gailes and has been replaced by a two-storey clubhouse which includes a 200-cover restaurant.
The Ayr Road course in Irvine has had a supercharged cash injection from UK holiday company Darwin Escapes to allow them to carry out the complete overhaul.
The club has become almost unrecognisable since it hosted the prestigious Scottish Open in 2017; boasting 22 hotel rooms — individual one-room cabins — and 18 lodges.
The new lodge accommodation has been fitted with a modern kitchen, living and dining area, and bar space, and the bathroom features a rainfall shower.
And the larger six-bedroom lodges feature a pool table and utility room.
The plush interior was designed with players in mind; golf club art, thick tartan curtains, creamy leather chairs, no-frills corner sofa, and spacious kingsize beds.
But the improved Dundonald Links is not exclusively for golfers, the Canny Crow restaurant will take reservations and pop-ins from the public and staff hope this will fast become a place for celebrations and romantic date nights.
The huge restaurant offers sweeping panoramic views of the revamped course and the rugged Ayrshire coastline.
Award-winning head chef Ian Conway serves up contemporary Scottish cuisine from fresh Ayrshire produce.
Chefs whipped up this inventive 'golf ball' dessert filled with ice cream to finish the evening for guests on Thursday.
The welcome addition to Ayrshire's thriving golfing community has brought 30 jobs to the area and general manager Ian Ferguson is hopeful more jobs will be available in the future.
Ian, who has worked for Dundonald Links for six years, said: "The ambition was to have a clubhouse and a few iterations came and went over the years but now I'm glad they didn't work out because we wouldn't have this stunning clubhouse.
"This first floor is just spectacular, when we were designing this space we wanted a prominent bar area that stands out.
"I used to play golf here before I had any involvement with Dundonald Links and it's great to be involved with the transformation and see the course get the facilities it deserves.
"We can't wait to open and welcome our Ayrshire guests and bring more people to the area."
The Canny Crow can also accommodate up to 16 guests for private dining in the whisky room which boasts the rare 36-year-old Bunnahabhain Canasta.
Ian added: "The Bunnahabhain Canasta is a very rare whiskey and we bought the last of it. We teamed up with Bunnahabhain in Islay and it's really exciting to know we have such a rare malt.
"The whisky room is really important for us because those who come here for a holiday are looking for a bit of culture and history of Scottish heritage and we do our best to provide that for our guests.
"The sky's the limit in our whisky room, we offer fine dining and can arrange for a bespoke menu."
Dundonald Links isn't tied by membership and is open to all who want to stay, play or dine.
"We're open to the public, we're not stuffy golf club for members only, we're a golf and food and beverage destination", Ian said.
"You don't have to play golf to come here and enjoy the facilities. We offer an all-day menu and it's a place that accommodates those looking to just have a cup of tea and scone or something finer in the evening.
"You can see Troon harbour from here," said Ian sitting from a cosy booth in the Canny Crow.
"And that's where we get our seafood and we get our meat from a local butcher. It was important for us to offer the freshest ingredients and foster good relationships with Ayrshire suppliers.
"There's a range of pricing to suit everyone."
The new and improved Dundonald Links was a dream two years in the making and much of the building work was completed during the pandemic.
The 18-hole course was given a £1m makeover and took six months to complete.
The course was improved by world-renowned golf course architect Kyle Phillips who — due to the pandemic — revamped the course from his home in California.
Kyle said: "I tried to utilise the strongest and most interesting of the natural features and then create grander, more dramatic landforms and features over the remainder of the site."
Ian added: "The golfer's overall journey through the course has been improved and we've introduced irrigation walkways that are nicely mown and look very sharp.
"The tees have been made bigger and it gives a wider option for players to set up their positions."
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