PRESTWICK GOLF CLUB - 17 POINTS
The Sahara bunker on the 17 hole at Prestwick is a golfing wonder!
Prestwick is simply a classic Scottish links golf course and one which is a must play for any fan of the genre. There are few courses in Scotland with more quirks, but it is also a very strong test of your game. Those quirks mean that it is definitely a course that would benefit from repeat play and frankly, once you’ve played it once, you’ll already be planning a trip back!
This is a course soaked in history. It was founded in 1851 and Old Tom Morris laid out a 12 hole course. It was over this course that the first 10 Open Championships were played. The course was extended to 18 holes in 1882 and has evolved hugely over the years, but 6 of the original greens are still used today as well as some of the most famous bunkers.
You can tell when you play it that Prestwick is a course that has grown up organically - it can be a pretty disorienting course to play the first time. Several tees, fairways and greens are in close proximity to each other and you need to have to have your wits about you - watch out for flying balls!
The first hole is one of the most famous openers in Scottish golf. Basically, you are hard up against the railway line on the right hand side and there is barely room between the fairway and the line - best to wait for trains to pass before hitting. You can’t really hit a driver either as the hole narrows the further down the fairway you go - instead a long iron will leave a short/mid iron in. But again, the railway line is in play to the right. Hitting a 4 iron off the tee cold, with an audience behind and the threat of hitting a rail track, is a unique kind of pressure for sure!
Note the railway track hard up against the right hand side of the 1st hole!
Once you get through that first test, the delights keep coming. The second is a very well protected par 3 and the first truly head-scratching hole is the par 5 third hole. Here there is a cross bunker at the corner of a dogleg, with a burn all the way down the right. I wish I had looked at this video before taking the hole on!
The fifth then brings the famed par 3 Himalayas hole. You simply need to hit a blind shot over the railway sleepers matching the colour of the tee you are hitting from, avoid the five bunkers on the left and, as long as you have clubbed it right, you’ll be fine. Simple?! You can see how I got on here:
The quirkiness takes a rest for the next few holes. These are not bad holes by any standard. Indeed, there are some really testing par 4s - just look at the yardages from the 7th to 10th from the middle tees - 430, 432, 444 and 453.
The rest of the back 9 is pure joy. The land is, in parts, more rumpled than anything you will ever have seen a golf course built on. There are hidden bunkers, huge swales on greens and some of the most interesting holes on a golf course. This is a back 9 which rewards skill and guile rather than brawn. You could play these holes a dozen times and find a dozen different ways to get the ball to the green.
The 14th brings you back to the clubhouse before heading out again for the closing run of 4 holes – 2 out and 2 in. The first three of these are classic holes. The 15th ‘Narrows’ is the toughest tee shot on the course. As the name implies, the landing zone isn’t wide and you then need to find a shallow and sloping green.
The 16th brings great fun too, you can open the shoulders and go for this green, but that massive Cardinal bunker from the third is in play for anything right.
The 16th is just one of the great fun holes on the closing stretch
I managed to screw up the 17th hole (Alps) pretty well! It’s the original 2nd hole and is an iconic golf hole. You need a good length drive down a narrow fairway before hitting a long uphill blind second shot over a mound and the Sahara bunker the other side. It’s a really tough hole which demands precision that was beyond me. I pushed it off the tee into the rough and I have no idea why I thought I could reach the green in two! This is probably the one hole of them all I would like to play again…
The tee shot on the 17th hole - ‘Alps’
The last then is similar to many Scottish 18th holes – it just feels like a means to get you back to the clubhouse! It’s an open sub-300 yard par 4 which definitely gives a good chance of birdie to finish things up.
Prestwick isn’t a long course – a 6,500 yard par 71 from the white tees and the ball runs pretty well so it doesn’t play any longer. It was a pretty generous course from the tee – the fairways were wide enough and there weren’t too many opportunities to lose a ball.
However, the nuances are everywhere – whether it’s planning which side of a fairway to put it from the tee, which side of a green to play to or how to get the ball in the intricately sloped greens.
This was a joyous place to play golf. I can’t believe it took me so long to play here, but I will definitely be back before long!
BOOKING THE COURSE
Booking at tee time at Prestwick is pretty straightforward. You can see availability on the website - https://www.prestwickgc.co.uk/visitors/general-information/ and book directly there. The good news is they have availability most days, competitions depending, so you can fit it into your trip pretty well. However, this isn’t a cheap tee time. A peak summer weekend tee time will set you back up to £270. However, keep your eye out on the website for special deals. For example, Ayrshire residents could play in summer 2023 for the reduced price of £85. Like at most British links courses the green fee drops dramatically in the winter and there are also package deals to be found with other west of Scotland courses.
Prices correct as of August 2023.
TOUR TIPS
It’s worth taking a bit of time to have a good look around the Prestwick clubhouse. This is quite an old school course. The members were very friendly, but it was quite ‘well-to-do’ - shirts tucked in and no hoodies here please!
There are so many options of where else to play on this coast. Royal Troon pretty much adjoins Prestwick and Turnberry is within an hour’s drive so you could do an Open course trip. However, that would mean missing out some of the other fantastic courses in the area. For me, Western Gailes and Glasgow Gailes are the pick of the crop, although Dundonald would be an OK addition too. In terms of where to stay, Troon is probably a good spot to pick and you will find plenty of good deals through Tripadvisor or Airbnb. It’s definitely worth spending a few days in the area rather than just coming in and out for the day.
CONTACT DETAILS
Prestwick Golf Club
2-4 Links Road
Prestwick
Ayrshire
KA9 1QH
Scotland
Web - www.prestwickgc.co.uk
Phone - +44 (0)1292 477404
Email - bookings@prestwickgc.co.uk
