Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club is an intrinsic part of golfing history. Founded in 1851 in a meeting at the Red Lion Inn (which still stands in the centre of Prestwick), the club hired Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews to lay out its first course and serve as Keeper of the Green, ball and club maker and professional. Morris returned to his beloved St. Andrews in 1864. To those who find the current course unusual if not a bit daft, one can point to the original design with only twelve holes and nearly every hole crisscrossing another. Questionable design features aside, Prestwick shall forever be known as the club that created The Open Championship in 1860 and hosted the first twelve tournaments. In those days, the Championship was three rounds over Morris's original twelve holes or thirty-six in total. Fully eight of those first twelve Opens were won by someone named either Morris (Old or Young Tom) or Parks (Willie Sr. or Jr.).

The course is not without memorable holes. After all, three of the holes and six of the greens remain virtually unchanged since Wille Park, Sr. won the first Open. The first hole begins hard by a rail line where more than one slice has beaned a trainman over the years. The par three second hole is one of the originals. The par five third hole, also an original, features the yawning Cardinal bunker. James Braid won the 1902 Open despite bouncing two shots off the sleepers (railroad ties) facing the Cardinal and into Pow Burn. The fifth is a blind par thee known as "the Himalayas". Ten is an uphill par four of impossible length. Fifteen features the narrowest fairway in Scotland. Sixteen has the original green but is now a short four instead of a long five. Seventeen, virtually an original, is a par four that finishes with a blind approach shot over a steep sand hill to a radically sloping green. Eighteen can be driven and must be played cautiously because out-of-bounds lurks behind the green.

Modern golfing equipment has rendered Prestwick sadly dated and hardly a great test of golf. While the Amateur has returned as recently as 1987, the last Open was contested here in 1925. Nonetheless, it is an opportunity to experience decidedly 19th century course design with all manner of dips, bumps and hillocks. Moreover, seven of the original greens are still in the same place as they were in 1860. Its history dictates that a round on "Old Prestwick" is a required golfing experience.

Independent travellers: From the A77, follow signs for Prestwick Airport (north of Prestwick). Pass the airport and turn right at traffic lights about 800 yards after the airport; the club is about 400 yards down the road on the right hand side. From the car park, walk around the clubhouse to the left and report to the well-stocked pro shop just behind the first tee. See Big Stan, the caddie master, just inside the clubhouse for your caddies. Note all the bag tags from various clubs affixed to the shop walls. Perhaps you should leave one from your club. Visitor's changing rooms are located in the clubhouse. Gentleman's lunch (coat and tie) is available in the dining room Tuesdays through Fridays from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Snack lunch (golf attire) is available in the Cardinal Room on the second floor weekdays from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM. The club chef makes soups that are actually rather tasty indeed.