Prestwick pics: 1890's and today

[CHrisB]

Found these in an old shoebox in the attic...  Any observations/comments?

Here's the 17th in the 1890's and then today:



Here's the 1st in the 1890's and then today:



Here's the 3rd (Cardinal Bunker) in the 1890's and then today:



Here's the 5th in the 1890's and then today:



[In exactly what year did the world go from black and white to color?  ]

And here's how you turn bunkers back into hazards--throw away the rakes! (the old 9th):

[Mike_Cirba]

Chris;

You found these in the attic??!!??!

What's your last name?  Braid??

Love the shot without the rakes!

I found myself wondering if there isn't a better preserved course than Prestwick, while simultaneously saddened at how much quirk, interest, and history has been lost over the years at some other famous courses.  

Thanks for sharing!!

[Tim Weiman]

ChrisB:

Thanks so much for the pictures. Prestwick still ranks as one of the best experiences in golf, but I like the old look better.

[Mike_Cirba]

Tim;

I would concur, but it looks that all that is needed to restore that "old look" is to remove some of the grassing that has grown around the dunes, and RESTORE that AWESOME sand face to Cardinal.  

The grass face stinks in comparison, frankly, and I'm sure someone will say it's a maintenance issue.  Tough Snausages.

To me, some things are worth the additional time and money.

[Doug Wright]

Along with TOC's Hell, Cardinal creeps into my dreams (nightmares?) as one helluva bunker, even if it's a shell of its former self.  

Long Live Prestwick!

All The Best,

[Rick Shefchik]

They've really tidied the place up a bit in the last 100 years or so, haven't they? Not for the better, as far as I can tell. The original Prestwick looks raw, wild, unkempt and full of bad lies and lousy breaks. The new Prestwick looks like a contemporary golf course with some weird ideas.

My main impression (and perhaps this is a function of the quality of the photographs) is that Prestwick must have rated quite high on the old "resistance to scoring" scale in its day. Look at the green in the first picture; more to the point, where is it? In the updated photo, you can see that the green has a slope from back to front, but it at least looks like a receptive target. I'm not sure what there was to aim at in the earlier photo, or if that rise behind the players was part of the green or just a grassy bank.

In any event, I'd love to play either version, but the old one is the one that fascinates me.

[wsmorrison]

ChrisB,

Thanks for the wonderful pictures of Prestwick then and now.  I have to agree with Mike that the sand flashed higher in the Cardinal bunker looks much better than today's look.  These photos reminded me of the wonderful trip I spent this past August touring around all of Scotland with my oldest son and playing, by chance, a round with a great guy and fellow GCAer, Bob Crosby...what a day; one of my favorites in golf.
Regards,
Wayne

[CHrisB]

There are more old and new pictures of Prestwick at the club's website, www.prestwickgc.co.uk, but none that can be put side-by-side like those above.  The old pictures clearly show that Prestwick was a wild and woolly place back then, and although it is still quirky and fun, it has been tidied up quite a bit.

[Steve Lang]

IS there some beach in your family history?

[Doug Siebert]

I looked at the old pics on the course website ChrisB posted, and noticed the 7th was a par 5 back then.  Anyone have a picture of a scorecard from that era?  I'd be curious as to the pars of the various holes, and if any have been lengthened since then.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

Chris thank you for the look into time at one of golf's great homes. I loved the pics too.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Chris, I have to warn you about posting stuff like this. Pat Mucci may become irate at the possibility that the old images might be 100 times better then the new.

-What was Prestwick's mission statement?
-The old bunkers look like they were too hard to maintain.
-Rees work here made the course much better because par 3's & 5's were lengthened and indignant bunkers were either removed or cleaned-up.
-They should remove that Dyke (rock wall) that way they can play the tee and the green futher back.


Great stuff, really!:)

[TEPaul]

Simply amazing!

Thanks so much for those photos juxtaposed! Talk about leaving a golf course alone through the ages, except for maintneance practices!

I don't think there's anything about any of those holes today that need to be restored! To me they indicate no more than how golf can gracefully evolve through the ages!

I see they changed the pin position on #1 in the last 112 years but other than that every single thing from 1890 to today is compeletly recognizable!