Prestwick Golf Club

Some ten years before Abraham Lincoln took his oath of office, a group of golf enthusiasts gathered at the Red Lion Inn in Prestwick to form a proper club. The Earl of Eglinton provided the land necessary for a course, as well as a gold medal for the club’s annual competition. He also granted right-of-way on his property for the construction of a railway, which connected the club to Glasgow and beyond. In return, the Earl was allowed to stop any train he so desired to ferry he and his friends to the links at Prestwick - a perk he exercised to its fullest.

With the exception of St. Andrews, no club is more closely connected to the legacy of Old Tom Morris than Prestwick. After being fired by Allan Robertson for playing the “guttie” ball, Old Tom moved his young family to Scotland’s west coast and accepted the position of Keeper of the Green at the new club. He laid out a 12-hole course within the stone wall boundaries of the property, and spent the next 13 years molding it into arguably the finest links of the day.

In the modern era, Old Tom’s layout would either be praised for its quirkiness or denounced for its unconvention. The holes frequently criss-crossed their way over one another, while flowing in and out of natural valleys to create a host of blind approaches. The original greens were equally eccentric and most were guarded by rumpled humps and hillocks that would deflect the ball every which way, leading the sheltered golfer to cry foul.

The arrival of the 18-hole standard saw the Prestwick links extended by Old Tom’s successor, Charlie Hunter. While the work removed some of the unorthodox features, it also created a few of Prestwick’s most infamous holes. Specifically the 1st, which runs hard along the Earl’s railway up the right side and joins Machrihanish and St. Andrews among the most intimidating opening tee shots in the game. The par-3 5th hole - known as ‘Himalayas’ - is another fine example, with its tee shot sent over the dunes and into oblivion to an invisible green. It’s here that enterprising caddies have assisted their players by foot to an untold number of hole-in-ones and the skyrocketing tips that they accompany.