Prestwick Golf Club: The Best Kept Secret in Scottish Golf

Sometimes in life, we misjudge people and places. Our biases seep in, our expectations run askew. Such was my case with Prestwick Golf Club. I’m now writing an open letter to make amends.

14 March 2019

Club Secretary

Prestwick Golf Club

2-4 Links Road

Prestwick

Ayrshire

KA9 1QG

Scotland

Mr. Secretary,

I’m writing from the frozen expanses of Kansas in the U.S. This time of year, our little burg gets an occasional warm day for golf, but for the most part, we are in sporting hibernation.

As any golfer does in the “off-season”, I find my mind wandering to warmer days, counting down until I can once again tee it up and chase par.

On such occasions, my thoughts quickly travel beyond the fairways of my home course and drift to some of the grander golfing adventures I’ve experienced.

A year and a half ago I finally had the chance to travel to the home of golf, your beloved Scotland. Along with seven of my closest friends, we played the titans of Scottish golf – St. Andrews, Troon, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Turnberry, and the newer but equally gorgeous Kingsbarns.

As I planned the trip, I needed one more course on the western coast to fill out our schedule. I asked a number of people and consulted countless online resources to determine what course could stand shoulder-to-shoulder between Troon and Turnberry. No small task.

I was drawn to the incomparable history of Prestwick. I’d never heard of it but it seemed, at the time, a “quaint” choice to fill out our rota. I will admit that I viewed it as a potential weak link in our 8-day journey.

Before we arrived at the club, I found myself excusing the choice to my fellow travelers as something that would not likely meet the standards of the other world-class venues we were to play.

I feel certain there is a colorful Scottish term for such ignorance, but it may not be printable here.

More than a year on, when my companions and I sit and reflect on that magnificent trip, one course dominates the conversation – Prestwick.

It would be easy to say that our lowered expectations allowed Prestwick to rise to the top of the list, but that is wholly unfair.

Our round was cold, wet and breezy; the worst weather of our trip. However, in retrospect, it was unanimously our favorite round. “Proper Scottish golf weather”, one might say.

One word seems to bubble up more than any other adjective – magical. The layout, the salty caddies unafraid to spur their horse, the burns, blind shots, trains, ancient ruins … all of it made for an impossibly perfect day.

I share this with you out of loving respect. Prestwick deeply touched my golfing heart. Like any forlorn romantic, I now feel the need to shout it from the rooftops. Let all there know that a piece of Prestwick forever lives in the heart of an American Plainsman.

These days, as other golfing friends plan their own trips to Scotland, I’m asked my opinion on course selection. Beyond playing St. Andrews – a venue so holy to golfers it would be like a devout Catholic visiting Rome without seeing the Vatican – I whisper my secret to them in conspiratorial confidence.

Prestwick.

There is no other place like the Home of the Open, I tell them. If St. Andrews is the Home of Golf, surely Prestwick is its soul.

It is safe to say there never will be another Prestwick. It is a course born of a bygone era. No modern architect would dream up such a place – no investor would allow them.

But Prestwick is not simply a place to tread in the footsteps of Champions past. It is a place to experience the game; be immersed in it. My round at Prestwick clung to me. I tracked it body and spirit into my hotel room after the round. And I find it’s never really left me.

A magical thing, indeed.

I leave you with nothing more than a ‘Thank you’.

Thank you for standing sentry over those hallowed grounds.

Thank you for your hospitality.

And thank you for letting a far-flung kindred spirit experience what I shall always call my favorite course in the world.

Many happy rounds to you and the esteemed members.

Sincerely,

West Valentine