A step back in time Prestwick is temporarily reinstating its original 12-hole routing to mark the 150th Open The Open Championship delivered a fitting spectacle for its special anniversary, with Cameron Smith edging out Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young in front of a record crowd at the Old course at St Andrews. Prestwick Golf Club is marking the occasion of the 150th Open by recreating the original 12-hole course that hosted the first edition in 1860. The layout, which will be playable for two weeks in October 2022, has been recreated with the help of historical records and detailed maps. The club has reinstated five greens and created teeing areas to replicate the routing originally designed by Old Tom Morris. Some areas of long grass have been tempered to facilitate play, and wicker f lag poles like those originally used have been commissioned. The layout will offer blind tee shots, double greens, crossing fairways and undulations that combine to create a course “quite unlike anything that would be permitted today”. Ken Goodwin, secretary of Prestwick Golf Club, said: “This is where the magic of the Open began one fateful October day in 1860. There had to be a first, and it happened here at Prestwick.” Prestwick has hosted the tournament 24 times and has previously reinstated the inaugural Open course for special occasions, but the 2022 restoration is the most comprehensive and extensive to date. “Part of the Prestwick experience is walking through history,” said Goodwin. “In the past, the club has endeavoured to bring back the original on only a handful of occasions. This year, however, to mark the 150th, the club was fortunate to have the necessary equipment required to deliver the 12-hole course to a much higher degree of accuracy than ever before. Together with the wicker basket f lags, this has been the most thorough revisit and certainly the most eagerly anticipated.” GCA Photos: Mark Alexander 68 HOL ING OUT Prestwick is giving golfers the chance of “walking through history”
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