OLD PRESTWICK

From the Club tees on a calm summer afternoon, Old Prestwick may flatter you. On the other hand, a stiff breeze and the medal tees present entirely new problems, so that one soon sees how well Prestwick has stood the test of time and the transition from hickory shafts and the gutty ball to today's more powerful equipment.

Here you are on ground as historic as at St. Andrews. Though golf had been played on the links many years earlier, Prestwick Golf Club dates back only to 1851. Nine years later the first Open Championship took place here with three rounds of its twelve holes played in a day.

Prestwick is a seaside links course, bounded by the railway and the sea shore. The Pow burn is a hazard at several holes. Fairways are often extremely undulating and there are steep sandhills, vast deep bunkers and stretches of heather, gorse, broom and nearer the sea, buckthorn.

At every hole, the undulations of the greens make the approach to the pin testing. During the summer, the greens are hard and fast - although "...never fast enough for me." Tom Watson said when he played here.

There are fine views of Arran and the Ailsa Craig from various points on the course. Apart from additional tees, the course has remained unchanged for many years. About Prestwick, it has been said: "Why change it? Prestwick can take care of itself".

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