Andrew and Chris were lucky enough to play Prestwick Golf Club during their recent trip to Scotland. This was our first round in Scotland, our first true links golf experience, first time either of us had ever played golf with a caddie, and Prestwick was the home of the first 12 Open Championships. Here is a recap of our round, the course, and overall thoughts. Click here to read an overview of our entire Scotland golf trip.
About Prestwick Golf Club
The history of Prestwick Golf Club stretches back over 170 years when the club was founded in 1851. Prestwick Golf Club started as a 12 hole course and was updated to the current full 18 holes in the late 1800’s. The course played by guests and members today is the same one played for over 100 years and remains a monument to the early days of golf, with fast running, bumpy fairways, deep bunkers, and many blind shots among the unpredictable winds.
Remains of the original course boundary wall.
History of the Belt & Claret Jug.
History of Prestwick Golf Club
So what makes Prestwick Golf Club so special? It was the original home of the Open Championship, which held its 150th edition this summer at what is considered the home of golf, St. Andrews. The original home of the British Open (also known as the Open Championship), was played at Prestwick for the first 12 years, beginning in 1860. It ultimately hosted 24 British Opens, the last one coming in 1925. Prestwick has also been the setting for a host of exciting and dramatic tournaments including eleven Amateur Championships between 1888 and 2001.
Original 1st Green - Now played as the 16th.
Golfers today can still experience pieces of the historic 12 hole layout as it was played during the first Open. Six of the original greens that were built in 1851 are still used today. Add to that, the 17th hole, The Alps, is the oldest existing hole in championship golf, still being played today as its was 170 years ago.
Original Claret Jug & Red Moroccan Belt
Original 1st Tee Marker
The Course
Prestwick Golf Club has the ability to play quirky yet fair. It includes a few outlandish and unheard of design qualities (looking at you blind par 3) but still manages to be very enjoyable. There is a good mix of long, medium, and even drivable par 4’s, manageable par 5’s, and strong par 3’s. We played from the white tees measuring 6,500 yards as a Par 71. The course can play anywhere from 6,900 to 6,500 yards. Click here to view the scorecard.
One of the biggest differences we found between parkland (the standard treelined American course) and links golf is the lack of aiming points. There were times when our caddies were having us aim at church steeples a mile away. Due to the lack of trees and because quite a few fairway bunkers were not visible from the tee, distant landmarks were the only way caddies could guide us around the course.
There were also two major links course lessons that took a few holes to learn and those were the run of the fairways and the firmness of the greens. We hit some massive drives because of the firmness of the fairways with both of us hitting a few tee shots approaching 350 yards, mostly due to the amount of roll. This also made the course play shorter than the yardage. The second lesson was the firmness of the greens in that we rarely played the yardage to the hole but to one much shorter. There were a few downwind approach shots that required landing on the front of the green to keep the ball from going off the back.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our round at Prestwick Golf Club. Admittedly, we had a fairly calm day wind wise which did make it much easier considering we are both high ball hitters.
Opening tee shot.
18th Hole
17th Hole - The Alps with the Sahara Bunker
5th Hole, Par 3, Blind Tee Shot
Clubhouse
The original clubhouse was built with the course in 1851. In 1864, when Old Tom returned to St Andrews, his house was auctioned with the proceeds used to part-fund the construction of a new clubhouse on the present site in 1868. It cost £758.
The clubhouse was extended in 1877 and 90 lockers, which are still in use today, were added in 1882. A major re-development was completed in 1999 consolidating the clubhouse’s prominent position overlooking the first tee and 18th green.
The pro shop, formal dining area, and locker rooms are on the main level. While there is some memorabilia on the first level, a majority of it is upstairs accompanied by a less formal lounge, and restaurant. We recommend taking some time and looking at everything in the cases.
Second Floor of the Clubhouse
Pro Shop
The Pro Shop at the Prestwick Golf Club was well stocked with course logo merchandise along with Open Championship gear. We expected the prices to be much higher than they were, especially considering this is a bucket list golf course that is a must for golfers from around the world. I purchased a course flag, yardage book, and Open coin and spent less than £50.
If you forget to pick something up during your visit or aren’t able to make the trip to Prestwick, most of the items in the pro shop are also available online here.
Pro Shop - Courtesy of Prestwick Golf Club
Clubhouse Grill
We wanted to really take in everything at the course assuming we will never get this opportunity again so we made sure to hang around and tour the clubhouse. This included getting lunch in the upstairs restaurant. We ordered the lobster roll and burger and both were really good, especially paired with the view of the course. Another advantage of eating lunch at the course is getting to meet other golfers as they finish up. We met folks from all over the world on this trip and most of these encounters were after the rounds either roaming the pro shop or during our post round meals. The clubhouse grill at Prestwick is a must when visiting the course.
Our view for lunch
Lobster Roll
Burger
Pricing
Chris and I paid for the entire trip as a package so we did not pay the course directly for our round. However, here are the rates depending on the time of year.
November - March: £105 for 18 holes £150 for a full day, £120 - Sunday (am). Winter rules may be in effect including using fairway mats or moving your ball to semi rough.
April & October: Weekday rounds are £180 for 18 holes. Weekend rounds are £230 for 18 holes. Additional rounds played in the same week is £85.
May - September: Weekday rounds are £220 for 18 holes, £295 for a full day of golf. Weekend (Sunday only) rounds are £295, £325 for a full day of golf. Additional rounds played in the same week are £85.
Ayrshire Resident Rates: Available to those with a KA post code: Weekdays only £85 for 18 holes. Limited weekday afternoon times subject to availabilty 7 days in advance of play.
Staff
We were greeted as we walked into the clubhouse by a very nice gentleman who asked us our name and tee time. He gave us a quick rundown of what to expect while playing, a quick overview of the clubhouse, and answered a few of our questions. We then walked into the pro shop to check out the merchandise.
The starter was equally helpful giving us a quick lay of the land, a few bits of history, and answered a few more of our questions. One thing Prestwick did that only occurred here was they took a picture of us on the 1st tee, which they then printed, placed into a folder, and had one ready for each of use after our round to take home.
Caddies
First off, getting a caddie is worth every penny! Since we booked a golf package, our agent reserved all of our caddies for us. If you book directly with the course, caddie bookings should be made through the Prestwick Golf Club.
In order to maintain the highest possible level of service to our visitors, only caddies who are trained and authorized by Prestwick Golf Club are permitted to caddie for payment at the Club. The cost for a caddie at Prestwick at the time of our round was £55 plus gratuities, with that amount at the player’s discretion based on the level of service provided. Per the Prestwick Golf Club website, as a general rule, a gratuity of £10 would be appropriate. However, after speaking to a few locals and doing a little online research, it appears most visitors give more than that. We each gave our caddie £100 after the round and here is why.
Without the caddies, we would have been lost standing on a few of the tees. We would have chosen terrible lines and would have found ourselves guessing on where exactly to hit it, especially on holes with hidden bunkers. Chris actually walked up to a tee box and faced the wrong way until the caddie turned him around. After a few holes, they got a good sense of our skill level and started guiding us around the course accordingly. Every read on the greens was spot on… except for one (25 footer that was outside right which he read outside left so really no big deal). The other two caddies in the group rode him hard for a few minutes after that. Which leads me to the final reason for getting a caddie and that is the banter. They will tell great stories, jokes, history of the course, and provide great conversation.
As mentioned above, we paid the caddies directly right after the round. They carried our bags to the bag drop area, we paid them, exchanged a few final words, and off they went. This was the case at every course and is normal practice so don’t take it personally if they seem rushed. Some caddies have multiple loops in one day and like to get a break in before their second round.
If the players in a group do not wish to use a caddie, using a fore-caddie is an excellent alternative. A fore-caddie’s job is to keep the group moving by keeping track of all balls in play and letting each player know where his or her ball is located. The fore-caddie assists with club selection, green reading, yardages and pace of play. The cost for a Fore-Caddie is £80 plus gratuity.
For visitors that don’t want to pay for a caddie but also don’t want to carry their own bags, Prestwick Golf Club offers Trolleys (pushcarts for us Americans) for £7 and electric Trolleys for £20.
1st Tee, 18th Green, Clubhouse, and our two caddies.
Final Thoughts
This was the perfect golf course for our first round of golf in Scotland. It was such an amazing experience that I truly did not care about my score the entire day. We were too busy taking it all in, enjoying the variations and quirks of the course, chatting it up with the caddies and playing partner, and just enjoying the overall experience to care about grinding out a score. To me, this is the true measure of a great golf course and Prestwick Golf Club more than delivered. Thank you to every staff member and our caddies for making this a once in a lifetime experience.
