I was one of the eight Prestwick members, referred to by Bob, who were so royally entertained at MPCC and other clubs earlier this year. Bob is correct – Prestwick is a club of tradition, and changes to the course of any import would not be tolerated. I recall that, when a bunker, rarely in play at the 9th, was filled in one weekday, the outcry from the membership that Saturday was such that it had been restored by the following Monday evening. A hole that would be unacceptable to the professionals, but is dearly loved by the members, is the blind short 5th; a member, who had obviously had problems there, wrote in the Suggestion Book in the 1880s, that “the Himalayas (the hill between the tee and green) be thrown into the burn.” There were no supporters..... We would also be unable to control the crowds; we were unable so to do when the Open was last at Prestwick in 1925, so think of the problem today with ten times that number.
The land to the north of the current 10th fairway is playable. There was a controversial plan to expand the course in this direction in the late 1930s - a short hole running through the dunes between the ninth hole and the Pow burn, a long hole crossing and following the Pow towards its mouth, and then a hole back to the current 10th green. The club was split about its merits; Lord Rowallan, a member at that time, wrote in the Suggestion Book in October 1937 “the new holes be reserved for members of the Committee, six times to constitute a round, and the flags be replaced in the old greens for the use of ordinary members who play for pleasure.” The Committee’s response was that it “did not feel justified in accepting this privilege.” The affair rumbled on with feelings remaining strong. The matter was to be decided at an extraordinary general meeting two years later, but a month before the meeting was due to be held, the 2nd World War started and the plan was dropped.
We do play the original 12 hole course from time to time, as we will during the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the first Open next year. It's dangerous, as three holes cross on the 17th fairway. We still contest a few original holes such as the 13th and the 17th (which Vardon I think called the best par 4 in the world), and some of the original greens remain in use (e.g. the 2nd) although approached from different directions. The first hole was 578 yards long to the 16th green from a tee now marked by a plaque. Young Tom Morris holed out in 3 shots in 1870, an albatross as the hole was a par 6. But alas, the green in the grass in the middle of the Cardinal bunker is now only played when we revert to yesteryear.
A couple of additional comments after reading what people have written. Once a year we have a cross country match with Royal Troon - the first 8 holes at Prestwick followed by the last 10 at Troon, playing the others after lunch. And to the best of my knowledge, the holes have never been renumbered i.e. the 15 to the 18th becoming 1 to 4. We don’t like change!
There are two excellent books, Shaw's Prestwick published in 1938 (it has maps of the course since its inception as well as changes that were proposed but not effected in the early 1900s - a gem for any budding architect), and David Smail's more recent Prestwick Golf Club, full of information; you can usually find both for sale on Abe.
Finally, should any of you wish a game on our hallowed links, please contact me.
Iain