Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club

The members of Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club originally played on the adjacent 12-hole Prestwick course that held the first twelve Open Championships between 1860 and 1872 (incidentally, there was no Open held in 1871 for anyone who realizes there are 13 years in that time span). The club moved away in 1877 to another piece of land to the south east of Prestwick but fifteen years later, it relocated to the present site where it remains until this day.

Henry Cotton, in the 1930s, spoke of St Nicholas as “a miniature championship course” which perfectly describes the links – its only weakness is its comparative shortness. But then that’s probably what endears it to the older, more discerning golfer, who realises length isn’t everything on a golf course!

Measuring a little more than 6,000 yards, there are two old-fashioned short par fours on the course, one on the outward nine and one on the inward half. “Maryborough” is the 281-yard 3rd hole, played towards the Firth of Clyde from an elevated tee to a green surrounded by punishing rough. The 276-yard 15th, called “Kingcase” is played to a plateau green that runs at an angle to the fairway. Both holes may look straightforward from the tee but members will tell you a par score at each hole is never an easy feat.

Other design traits from a bygone era include a blind approach to the 6th hole, the criss-crossing of fairways at the 6th and 7th holes and the conclusion of the round with a par three hole that plays to every inch of its 227-yard length.

The opening three holes and closing three holes are situated amongst the most undulating terrain on the course with fairways rising and falling like huge waves on a stormy sea. If only the holes on the other side of the Maryborough Road between the 4th and the 15th had the same wild contours – not that they are bland by any means.

Course management is the name of the game at Prestwick St Nicholas. If you can cope with several blind shots, intelligent bunkering, water (at the flooded quarry on the 8th hole), whins, gorse and rough then a good score can be made here as the fairways are generous and the putting surfaces are famed for their quality all year round.