What can a golfer expect to learn at an 'academy' bearing the name of Europe's leading player, Colin Montgomerie? Perhaps it might be Monty's greatest strength, a languid easy-over swing that propels the ball vast distances. Or might it be his greatest weakness, a tendency to appear distracted by the vicissitudes of the game?

A strange thing happened to me last week at the Colin Montgomerie Links Academy at Turnberry, as manager Guy Redford explained the master's philosophy. The professionals following Monty's system don't try to rebuild your swing but rather focus on simpler areas like grip and stance. Guy took me into an indoor net equipped with state-of-the-art computerised digital videos for swing analysis. He flicked a switch to roll back the nets and a steel door wound up to reveal a stunning view of Turnberry's famous lighthouse and the mountains of Arran beyond. We'd moved from virtual golf to the real world in 60 noisy seconds.

Guy demonstrated Monty's relaxed grip on the club and a 'low and slow' backswing which help give him his trademark fade - a very slight movement of the ball in the air from left to right. I have always done the opposite, in golfing parlance 'drawing' the ball from right to left, or worse hooking it wildly. But when Guy gave me 'The Monty Warm-Up' - a bag of 26 balls to allow golfers to practise a shot with each club from the sand wedge to the driver and back again - the oddest thing happened.

I loosened my grip and swung back low and slow. Almost every one of my 26 shots went high and straight before fading gently to the right. Fortunately, I have been around long enough to know that such moments are no preparation for actually playing on a golf course. And true to form, my game returned to its normal erratic state when we played the new Kintyre course, which runs alongside the Ailsa championship links.

This is another aspect of a £14 million invest ment at Turnberry by the Westin group which includes 12 new lodges beside the course and renovation of rooms and the spa at the hotel on the hillside above. Scottish links architect Donald Steel has redesigned the old Arran course, which was built for the 'lady' members after the Second World War. He has created a challenging course, reshaping the early and late holes which are carved through thick gorse. Seven new holes have been built on farming land by the Ayrshire coast at Bain's Hill including the new eighth, a gem of a hole with a drive from an elevated tee towards the sea. There is an unforgettable blind second shot to the green set in a gully by the rocks. There is only one fault in the project: the late decision by the marketing men to drop the Arran name and rebrand the course as Kintyre.

I confess that my best moment came when I slipped out with a friend an hour before dusk to play six holes on the famous Ailsa course, host to three Open Championships. Golf allows the ordinary player to share the experience of the most gifted: that evening we were like village cricketers given the freedom of Lord's. As we stood on the windswept fourth tee a massive rainbow settled over the academy building. I was happier than happy when I drove the green with my five-wood. Perhaps some Monty magic had rubbed off after all.

· Prices at the Colin Montgomerie Academy of Golf (01655 334190) start at £20 for a 20-minute Fundamentals Review. A two-night Great Golf break at Turnberry (01655 331000) costs from £245 per person including dinner, B&B and a round on the Ailsa course.