Great Views And Fine Links Golf At The Birthplace Of The Open. What More Do You Need?

The Open Championship sprang into life in October 1860, when seven Scots and one Englishman did battle over three loops of Prestwick's original 12-hole course, with Willie Park Senior emerging the inaugural Open champion.

Much has changed and much has stayed the same on today’s 18-hole links at Prestwick, with the gloriously rumpled and, at times, quirky terrain providing a tangible link with the challenges faced by Old Tom Morris et al 165 years ago. This is especially so on the par-3 5^th, which plays blind over a sand hill from 200 yards, and in the cavernous bunkers such as the sleeper-faced Cardinal on the 3^rd.

The overriding goal on the 1st is to avoid blocking or slicing it onto the adjacent Ayrshire Coast railway, hence the sign in the photo above. I followed the directions perfectly until the end of point two, misreading ‘into landing area’ for ‘onto the train tracks’. My reload was almost identical but this time the ball miraculously ricocheted back onto the fairway, from where a 6-iron to 15ft left me a putt for the unlikeliest of bogeys. I missed.

Nothing compares

Prestwick is one of a kind in many respects. It is also occasionally bewildering, sometimes a tad unkind, but always great fun and a voyage of discovery. Having now played it a handful of times, my discovery on this visit with a group of golf club secretaries was that threading the needle to split the fearsomely narrow 15^th fairway means little if you hit a poor wedge in, and possibly relatively little even with a good wedge, such is the severity of the downslope you’re landing on.

Double there followed by bogey on 17 after what I thought were two perfect, but ultimately fractions-out, shots sums up the Prestwick challenge. At least I took advantage of the must-birdie short par-4 18^th via two putts from the front edge.

I didn’t have time to play Prestwick St Nicholas this time, half a mile south along the promenade, but did walk a few holes to rekindle memories of my round 20-odd years ago. At the time, I wrote, “The 16th sweeps down towards the clubhouse, with street and houses unnervingly adjacent, but this pales into insignificance when you reach the 18th – a 200-yarder running the length of the car park.” I must have been fighting a slice back then, so would love to one day have another go at those two holes and also the short par-4 3^rd, whose eye-catching tabletop green is designed to repel anything misjudged or misstruck.

My West Kilbride debut

The other links I did have time for was West Kilbride, on my radar for a while on account of its proximity to the beach and ever-present views out to Arran, home to seven golf courses. It’s one of several courses that my base for the night - The Waterside Hotel in West Kilbride - works closely with.

This excellent hotel enjoys the same Arran vistas from the seaview room I found myself in, and its owners, SimpsInns, offer stay-and-play packages here and at sister properties, The Gailes Hotel and Spa and Old Loans Inn, to include breakfast, a three-course meal, 60 balls at a Toptracer driving range and a complimentary drink at GG’s Sports Lounge in Irvine. The package (2025 rates) costs £210pp for Gailes Links based on two sharing, £290pp at Dundonald and £310 at Western Gailes.

As for West Kilbride, the layout is predominantly flat other than the climb to the 3^rd tee after a green you just can’t miss left on account of its steep bank being cut to rough height. The 7^th is a fine example of how bunkering and gorse can add strong visual interest to an essentially flat, straight links hole.

The visual interest ramps up a level on the par-3 9^th, the only sea-facing hole, which plays to a stirring backdrop of Goatfell on Arran. The 10^th is then the first beach-hugging hole, with the very short par-4 11^th a tempting proposition despite fiendish and extensive bunkering.

You embark on a four-hole stretch with the beach tight right from 13, a strong test with its concave green set 50-70 yards beyond a stone wall jutting out into the fairway, while the visuals on the shorter 16^th are enhanced by the distinctive white cottage a few yards left of the green.

Prestwick
Par 71, 6,551 yards
GF: £160-£310wd; £185-£350we (Sun am only in winter)

West Kilbride
Par 71, 6,146 yards
GF: £75-£105wd and after 3pm we

Prestwick St Nicholas
Par 69, 6,043 yards
GF: £80-£120, fourballs £320-£420 (not Nov-Mar)

(green fees correct at time of publication in February 2025)

Stay
The Waterside Hotel
Ardrossan Road, West Kilbride, Ayrshire
W: watersideayrshire.com