The Open And The Little Course Where It All Began
You might think the Open started at St Andrews. It didn't. The story of Prestwick, the railway line, and the birth of golf's greatest championship.
I pulled into the car park of Prestwick Golf Club on Scotland’s west coast and there were men getting out of their cars with their sons, all dressed formally in suits.
It was a chilly day in April and some of the young lads couldn’t have been older than 15 and here they were, all dressed up heading into the clubhouse looking like little gentlemen. I watched on as these young lads tried to catch glances of approval from their fathers - “does my tie look ok Dad?”
Prestwick is a golf club of history and tradition.
It’s a special place.
If you were asked in a quiz, what golf club hosted the very first Open Championship you could be forgiven if you answered St.Andrews. My guess would be if you asked 100 golfers in your local club that question, 80 of them would say St.Andrews. But the answer isn’t St.Andrews.
The answer is Prestwick Golf Club, 1860.
A Pub, Two Cottages and a Man Called Tom
On the evening of 2nd of July 1851, a group of men gathered in a non-descript pub called The Red Lion in the Scottish town of Prestwick as they often did. They would regularly meet to talk about life in general on Scotland’s west coast but this particular evening over a few pints they discussed the idea of forming a golf club.
Golf was a sport that was growing in popularity across the country so 57 of these men decided to purchase some land across the road from The Red Lion pub where they were sat that could be used as a course for this new endeavour.
Golf was a seaside sport so the land right along the beach seemed appropriate.
It was also decided to purchase 2 cottages across the road from the pub.
The 1st cottage would be used as a sort of clubhouse for the members while the other was gifted to a fella called Tom who was recruited from the other side of Scotland to design their golf course and be “the keeper of the greens”.
This fella Tom, or Old Tom Morris as he is better known, uprooted his family from their hometown in St.Andrews. His wife Agnes and their young son Tommy travelled across the country to Prestwick with Tom.
Old Tom Morris laid out a 12 hole course right beside the new railway station - something that had come to Prestwick a few years earlier making it convenient for people travelling down from Glasgow to visit this seaside town and so golf at Prestwick began.
Crowning a Champion
At the time it was widely agreed that the best golfer in the world (and by the world I mostly mean Scotland) was a man called Allan Robertson but when Allan died in 1859, there needed to be a tournament played to determine who was the new best player in the world.
So on the 17th of October 1860, 8 professional players (7 from Scotland, 1 from England) were invited to play in a tournament at Prestwick to determine “The Champion Golfer” to succeed Mr.Robertson.
The tournament would be played over 36 holes, 3 loops around the 12 hole golf course and the winner would receive a red morocco leather belt (the Challenge Belt).
A man called Willie Park Senior beat Tom Morris by 2 shots and so Willie Park Snr. was the Champion Golfer for the year 1860.
Open to the World
The event was such a success in that first year that they did it again the following year in 1861 and they decided to make it “open to the world”.
So clubs across the UK were invited to send their best players, either amateur or professional to play in The Open but it was not good enough that they just be great players.
It was a requirement that the players “produce a certificate of respectability from the Treasurer of the Golf Club to which they are attached” - basically, some professional golfers at the time had a reputation of being fond of the drink and were often a bit messy.
That simply wouldn’t do and so you must carry yourself as a gentleman.
And so the Open as we know it was born.
In 1863, prize money was introduced with £5 being given to the runner up, £3 for 3rd place and £2 for 4th place - nothing for the winner. A wee bit shy of the $3.1 million Scottie Scheffler received for his win at Portrush.
Old Tom Morris headed back to his home town of St.Andrews in 1864, his work at Prestwick was done.
Prestwick would go on to host 24 Open Championships, the last one being in 1925, only St.Andrews has hosted more.
Every golf tournament in the world that you see all stem from this one tournament played by 8 men in 1860.
Joe, myself and Colin, 1st tee Prestwick
Standing on the First Tee
As a golf nerd I was pretty excited when I jumped out of the car with my 2 mates, Joe and Colin to play this old and historic golf course.
We strolled through the beautiful clubhouse, given a tour by the head professional, David Fleming. Something I would recommend for any fellow golf nerds reading this piece.
We stood up on the 1st tee and looked at the wall of the railway line that hugs the right side of the fairway. The 1st tee shot on this hole, aptly named railway is a bit of a crazy one - none of us had a clue what club to hit. The hole only measures 345 yards from the very back tee but driver did not appear to be the play.
After a nice little chat with the starter on the 1st tee, I poked a little 5 iron down the left side and we were off.
We all play golf for different reasons. Apparently after Branden Grace holed his par putt for 62 at Royal Birkdale (where the Open is headed in a few days) he had no idea he had shot not only the lowest ever round at The Open, but the lowest ever round at any major ever. Grace is obviously someone who doesn’t over think it and is just an unbelievable player.
I certainly don’t possess the same talent as a player like Branden Grace but as I strolled along these historic fairways of Prestwick on that April day I was very aware of the history. I love it.
A Handshake With History
The golf course is a quirky one. As you can imagine, it has evolved over the 160+ years since Old Tom Morris laid the course out but there are 6 greens still pretty much as they were. According to Top100 courses, Prestwick is currently ranked in that top 100 in the world, coming in at 93, sitting between Te Arai in New Zealand (92) and Peachtree in Georgia (94) in the rankings.
A round at Prestwick is a nod to history. The course has many blind shots and features several deep sleepered bunkers with wooden steps to take you down to the bottom to find your ball.
The greens are notoriously firm and fast – some are hidden in hollows whilst others are perched above you. The majority are quite small and all of them have wicked borrows to negotiate.
The course is great for its variety of holes but my favourite is probably the 17th which requires a long but straight tee shot and a 2nd shot that’s blind with the green sitting behind a massive dune. It’s been described as “the most spectacular blind hole in the world”. The fine people of Royal County Down may dispute this statement…
The 18th takes you gently back to the historic clubhouse and you feel like you’ve completed a small rite of passage. No drama, just a nod to history.
I watched a YouTube video about Prestwick made by my friend Ru MacDonald which I would recommend. Ru describes the first hole as a gentle handshake. I would take Ru’s point a step further and say a stroll around here feels like a handshake with the game.
Prestwick is a special place.
A Nod To Tradition
Something I love about this silly little game of ours is that we can walk along the same turf that the greats of the past have walked.
All eyes in the week ahead will turn on links golf and this special form of the game has a rich history. A rich history that started at Prestwick. My advice to anyone reading this, get stuck into that history. Immerse yourself in it and little things will reveal themselves to you if you pay attention.
Those young lads who I saw in the carpark that day in Prestwick making their way into the clubhouse to play their annual father and son foursome tournament in their suits had clearly been taught the history of this great game by their fathers.
I think that’s important.
The Read: If you’re someone who loves links golf then I would highly recommend you check out Linksland by my friend Ru MacDonald. Ru is one of the great experts of links golf and you can read some of his work here.
The Caddies Line: The Open is called “the Open” for a reason - it’s open to anyone. Around 7,000 golfers entered qualifying this year, from tour pros to club players, all chasing one of the few remaining spots. That principle traces right back to 1861, when Prestwick threw the doors open to the world.
That's a great read
What a great article! I trust the Open returns soon to this wonderful course. Subscribing now 😎