Prestwick
May 2022 – Prestwick is old-time links golf. It is the birthplace of the Open Championship but hasn’t hosted one since very early into the 20th century. It is chock full of blind shots and crazy hazards with encroaching OB everywhere you turn. I generally am not fond of a course where its main defense is OB so I was not sure what I would think of Prestwick. I came away, though, loving the course despite my craptacular play and the constant OB threat. I played here with my buddy Mike as the last stop on our six course, five day smorgasbord of Scottish golf and I was tapped out – shooting a 45-49. We played from the red tees that are not on the scorecard but I’m guessing played around 6,200 to 6,300 yards and 72.5/135. Definitely no pushover and would be interesting to have a tourney here to see what the pros would do at close to 7,000 yards.
Hole 1 – Railway
The aptly named first hole, Railway, is such a great starter. The fairway and green hug the OB wall and you know you’re in for a treat when you get a sign that tells you how to play the hole. The hole is only 345 yards (from the red tees we played). So as the sign says, you need to take an iron and hit it to the landing area to keep OB out of play. I hit about as good of a five iron as I could (which is a 175-yard club when I flush it but got even more out of it) and this was about five yards too much. The rough beyond the landing area is super gnarly and we spent a good five minutes looking for the ball before I dropped to get out of the way from the groups behind. During our trip, we decided to play lost balls that were findable if we spent enough time as a free drop but from a bad lie. Figured the pros have 10,000 spectators, officials and TV cameras and they wouldn’t lose them. From that area, your approach is blind. To get out of the crap I couldn’t hit any less than an eight but I cranked it just left of the green. A chip and two putt for bogey.
Hole 2 – Tunnel
The second is a well protected par three, about 160 yards. This is the #17 handicap and features a pretty good-sized green which is relatively flat. There are only three par threes on Prestwick and each are VERY different. While not a hole that will make your top par threes of all time, two is a nice, normal golf hole on a course full of Abby Normal golf holes…
I put it on the green and two putted for par here.
Hole 3 – Cardinal
Three is one of the most interesting par fives you will ever play. It’s only about 470 yards or so from the reds but you need to keep your driver (or other club) from the tee under 260 yards. My usual good drive is just about that. Not today boy. I hit it just about 265 and right into the back end of the first bunker. I actually got relief from the back wall but dropped and hit it into the Cardinal bunker about 40 yards ahead. Do not go into this bunker. It is brutal, but I got out and put it on the fourth tee box – the second photo above. From there I hit an awesome shot and two putted for bogey. I didn’t add a photo of four because you can see it above from where I was on the third.
Hole 4 – Bridge
As mentioned above, I took a photo on three of the fourth tee so I don’t have a photo. Like your approach on three, the hole hugs the Pow Burn. I faded my drive around the bunker, hit a good shot in and parred here. I suggest you play the hole just like that.
Hole 5 – Himalayas
There is not another hole like Himalayas in golf. In fact, if someone tried to recreate it they would be ridiculed. You have your every day 200+ yard, par three, over a hill making it completely blind. You have color-coded aiming points based on the tee you’re playing so you launch a hybrid and hope for the best. Our caddie stood on the hill and let us know how we did. I ended up in the front left bunker and double bogeyed. If you’re going to miss then launch it hard right.
Hole 6 – Elysian Fields
Once you climb over Himalayas on five, the next four holes are on much flatter earth. The 6th shouldn’t be an issue. It’s the #15 handicap, only 360 yards or so and pretty open. After a great drive into the wind I had about 180 yards in and shanked my hybrid dead right into some super high grass. If you’re playing the sixth can I recommend not shanking your approach shot. Lost ball (that was so far lost I counted the penalty), dropped into the crap and barely got it out. Even a great wedge and one putt could only garner me a double. My advice to you? Do not try and attack a right pin.
Hole 7 – Monkton Mills
So seven is the #1 handicap. It shouldn’t be. Sure it is 400+ from even the reds. There are also some tough traps to the right so you’re thinking left here. But left is not really a lot of trouble, So left I went. Man that was much higher rough than I bargained for. Luckily found my ball, but could only barely advance it more than 100 yards and then on in three and three putt. My buddy also played up the left-hand side and had the same troubles as me. After playing the hole I understood the handicap. You really must thread your drive and then the approach to a green riddled with traps so it’s the most uneasy approach on the course.
Hole 8 – End
One of the primary ranking factors of a golf course in my mind is the uniqueness of golf holes. This counts both as unique from other courses and unique from each other. Prestwick is the most unique course I’ve ever played and most of the holes are also unique from each other – save seven and eight. You still want to thread your drive here, but a miss left gets you in the 9th fairway. The green is similarly protected as the 7th. You’re as far away from the clubhouse here as you’ll be but a nice drive and solid approach shot (keeping it straight) will make par/bogey here pretty easy. I bogeyed and my buddy Mike parred.
Hole 9 – Eglington
Nine is another 400+ yard par four. A slice is no good and the left is surprisingly easy in which to lose a golf ball. It’s dogleg right and you better keep it straight. I aimed left for my fade and it worked. Had a good approach but missed just short and bogeyed. This is another well-protected green.
Hole 10 – Arran
The 10th takes you back across the Pow burn and into the more undulating portion of the property. This is the first of the elevated tees that you will experience at Prestwick. This is another 400+ yard par four and plays slightly uphill. The traps left and right are all in play off the tee so keep it straight. This was only my third of four pars on this day. I was able to carry the trap on the left so you should be too.
Hole 11 – Carrick
Eleven is a long par three. Not sure what the mental block is with me and par threes but I hit as bad of a three wood here as I could hit. Re-hit from the tee only slightly better and slogged my way up for a six. The green here is well protected and slightly elevated so while listed as the 16 handicap, I suggest this is a tough par. Great variety in the par threes.
Hole 12 – Wall
You see the 4th green to the left? At this point in the course, you are pretty much on top of the other outbound holes. The twelfth is the second and final par five measuring a cool 500 yards from the reds. The hole is bunkered well to the left with gnarly rough right. I chose the latter, and chose poorly as my second and approach shots were just right and both gobbled up and lost. I lost more balls at Prestwick than I did the entire six-round trip. That would be a seven on 12.
Hole 13 – Sea Hedrig
The thirteenth is the final l-o-n-g hole you play on Prestwick. It is about 450 yards from the reds. My buddy’s approach was on the 16th green. I played this hole relatively well but took three to get on and a 3 putt for double. There are no bunkers to speak of on 13 but length gives it its bite.
Hole 14 – Goosedubs
The 14th is a mid-length par four. Avoid the bunker right on your drive. This is the most well defended green on the course so expect to be in a bunker on your approach. I wasn’t but ended up left nearly on the 18th green but got up nicely, missed the putt and took bogey. You will not avoid a bunker here unless your approach shot is perfect.
Hole 15 – Narrows
I didn’t take a photo of fifteen. I probably didn’t want any memory of it. Your drive is uphill and blind. Nasty bunker and schmeggies to the right. This is right where my ball was lost. Since we saw where it went, I was allowed the free drop but a drop in the vicinity put me back into a tough lie that I yanked left, flubbed the next, then chipped off the green, I made up for the non-stroke with a three putt and was able to contribute to my crappy round with a seven.
Hole 16 – Cardinals Back
Only about 280+/- yards from the red tees, everything that sixteen lacks in distance it makes up for in tightness. This is the tightest fairway on the course and the surrounding rough was up and tough. You really have to thread the needle on your drive and both me and my buddy Mike were successful in doing so and parred.
Hole 17 – Alps
I only took a photo of Alps of me rounding the corner not knowing where in the hell my ball would be hiding. I hit a Joe DiMaggio off the tee (a dead yank), thought I hit a great shot to the foot of the Alps ( I didn’t and after walking the grid to find the damn ball I took a non-stroke drop to keep us moving along), then hit a great shot but had no idea how it ended up on the other side of the Alps. It was on the green. CB MacDonald copied this hole for the National Golf Links but it is a faint copy and nothing can prepare you for this hole. You literally hit your ball to then end of a fairway that abuts a mini-mountain. There are blind shots in golf and then there is the Alps at Prestwick. What a great, unique golf hole. Without the stroke for the missing but obviously not lost ball, I ended up with a five – which felt pretty good.
Hole 18 – Clock
Eighteen is a short little finisher with a ridge running up the middle of the fairway. The guys you see on the right are on the 15th so you see how congested the holes get at the back end of your round. I know on 14, I was almost on the 18th green with my approach. You aim at the clock of the clubhouse, hence the name. It was so great to finish with an awesome drive that I took a lazy swing at my gap wedge and duffed it about 20 yards. I settled for a bogey but a very satisfying experience on golf’s most original and unique course.
If this is your first visit to golfscrapbook.com you may be thinking that the walk through I did with hole maps and photos is pretty great and you may be tempted to visit other pages. Sorry, I usually just spout on about whatever nonsense is filling my brain regarding a particular course or time. You’ll find no other description on this site of a course like this but if you like to hear the thoughts bouncing in my head about courses, politics, music or who knows what, please go ahead.
Overall I put Prestwick at the very top of my rankings. It is unique, a great experience, et cetera, et cetera. We played with a member from Sahalee and a kid doing his study abroad in Scotland (what a great idea and a great kid too). We treated him to multiple post-round beers before he hit the train back to Edinburgh. We loved the vibe of the club – laid back and it was the only club that let us skirt the booze rules. Prestwick is certainly worth the trek and will be a course you will never forget.
Golf Scrapbook 