Playing Prestwick
BY MURRAY BOTHWELL
PHOTOGRAPHY - HARVEY JAMISON
5 MIN READ
To see what Old Tom and the seven other competitors saw when The Open was born back in October 1860 just stand at the cairn on Prestwick’s Links Road. Today’s passing pedestrians, making their way to and from the nearby beach, are largely unaware of this marker which identifies the location of the original first tee, and that pivotal moment 162 years ago when the inaugural match would determine who was the best golfer. Ahead of them lay 12 dune-obscured holes, ground which Old Tom himself had sculpted and cared for, bounded by the meandering Pow Burn to the north and, in today’s terms, possibly some of the most dangerous golfing estate ever created.
The frequent criss-crossing of the holes provided many opportunities for players to meet each other at awkward moments. Only second to St Andrews in the number of times a course has hosted the Open, subsequent land purchases beyond the burn enabled the Club to create 18 holes, becoming pretty much the same course as you will play today. Original 1860 greens, found at the 15th and 17th, are some of the oldest in existence and champions old and new have taken to these fairways to try and conquer these challenging, and often quirky, links.
Today’s visitors tee off from in front of the imposing two-storey clubhouse with its Victorian veranda. Immediately next to the tee sits the railway station, the arrival of which was instrumental to the explosion of golf courses throughout Ayrshire. Between you and the tracks runs a 4ft high wall that will do little to keep your ball in play should you tend to (power) fade your tee shots. Nervous? Probably. Presidents and professionals, celebrities and amateurs have all made their way here to experience the course where it all began.
What you notice very quickly is that you can’t always see where you’re hitting to. Prestwick is gifted with high dune complexes and rolling, hummocked fairways which make accuracy essential and reward the repeatable swing. After the easier welcome of the first two holes, players are introduced to the massive Cardinal bunker, its black backwall of railway sleepers embedded in the dune that rises out of the fairway ahead, defying the driver off the 3rd tee. Hidden in front of The Cardinal is another equally huge bunker, with only a small area of fairway between them, that catches many golfers not using their Strokesavers. From there, this par-5 bends almost 90 degrees, following the line of the Pow Burn to a landing area which resembles a mogul run in downhill skiing, and beyond which the generous green lies waiting for your approach shot. It’s a game where you use the contours to your advantage when you can, and accept the rub of the green when you can’t.
The Himalayas, Prestwick’s 5th hole, is a 5- or 6-iron depending on the wind and lies over a mountainous dune with only coloured pieces of timber at its peak to guide you from whichever tee you are playing from. The result, when you survey the green from the top of the path, is even better if you see your ball on the green for the bunkers surrounding it are deep and you can’t knowingly avoid them from the tee.
The course beyond the Pow Burn is more open and gentler, its fairways rising and falling to large greens with devious slopes. Only once you reach the 13th do you encounter remnants of the original course again. Puzzling fairways occupy an endless variety of elevations and ground cover, whilst greens with massive swales or steep run-offs penalise any misplaced shot. Eventually you are elevated to the 17th tee where the panorama of the original course surrounds you… and, at last, The Alps ahead of you. A drive, usually into wind, leaves you with around a 160-yard blind strike over this huge dune, behind which lies the enormous Sahara bunker, its walls supported by more railway sleepers and, beyond it, a pudding bowl green which drains to its centre from all points. Nerve, and accuracy, are essential.
Walking off the driveable par-4 18th green, you can reflect on the experience by taking lunch in the Clubhouse, perhaps even in the fabulous Long Room and surrounded by the historic portraits and photographs of every past-Captain. Alternatively, and only a short stroll away, sits The Red Lion Inn and the very spot where, in 1851, the gentlemen golfers of Prestwick Golf Club gathered to convene their Club, continuing to do so regularly until their Clubhouse was built.
History on tap, and your opportunity to tap into golfing history.