Turnberry, the historic Scottish golf resort that will host next year's Open Championship, is to become the latest high-profile asset to be bought by one of the Middle East's biggest sovereign wealth funds.

Dubai World, the state-controlled investment firm that owns the QE2 and Tilbury and Southampton docks, announced yesterday that it had agreed to acquire the Ayrshire venue from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the American hotel operator, for £55 million.

It is buying Turnberry through Leisurecorp, formerly Istithmar Leisure, which was set up two years ago as an offshoot of Dubai World to acquire and develop a portfolio of investments in the sports and leisure sector.

Leisurecorp expects to complete the deal by the end of October and plans to close the hotel for an upgrade costing between £20 million and £30 million. The reopening is scheduled for next May, in time for the Open Championship in July.

Turnberry, which Starwood bought more than ten years ago for about £32 million, was put up for sale in November through Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels with an initial asking price of up to £100 million. CB Richard Ellis Hotels acted for Leisurecorp in the negotiations.

Under the terms of the sale, Starwood will continue to run the resort under a 30-year-plus management contract, although the investment programme will lead the hotel to be rebranded from Westin to Starwood's Luxury Collection.

Alan Rogers, Leisurecorp's chief executive, said that he saw an opportunity to “create something really special and extraordinary” and to transform Turnberry into “the ultimate golf resort”.

He said that there was an opportunity to profit from the “huge untapped potential of Scotland as a tourist destination” and to broaden the site's facilities so that it is not reliant solely on golf. “Gleneagles is a good model,” he said.

Mr Rogers said that the refurbishment of the main 130-room hotel - it has a further 79 rooms in cottages and lodges - would be the first phase of a five-year redevelopment of the 800-acre resort.

Starwood has previously highlighted the potential of 300 acres of undeveloped land, which could be used for construction of exclusive villas.

Dubai World has been casting its net ever wider as it seeks to invest the Emirate's oil-based riches. Recent investments include stakes in MGM Mirage, the Las Vegas gaming operator, and London-based Standard Chartered Bank. It has purchased two office blocks in Park Avenue, New York, and admitted this month that it was considering bidding for Minerva, the London property developer.

Dubai World's developments back home include The World, consisting of more than 300 man-made islands strategically positioned to form a world map, and the Palm Jumeirah development, where the QE2 will be moored and transformed into a floating hotel and leisure attraction.

Leisurecorp's $7 billion (£3.5 billion) of developments include Jumeirah Golf Estates, an exclusive residential project in Dubai set around four championship golf courses. The first, a Greg Norman signature course, will host the Dubai World Championship, a new $10 million championship that will from next year bring down the curtain on the European Tour.

Mr Rogers said that he was actively looking for further golf acquisitions in Britain, adding: “We see a lot of opportunities as a result of the economic climate and the credit crunch, although we're moving very cautiously.”

Tee-off in Scotland

— Castle Course, St Andrews — June 2008

— Rowallan Castle, Kilmarnock — September 2008

— Machrihanish Dunes, Kintyre — September 2008

— Castle Stuart, Inverness — May 2009

— Trump International, Aberdeen — not yet approved

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