fbpx
Prince's Golf Club

The course that has become a Prince among layouts

The redesigned Himalayas course at Prince’s has been labelled a triumph. Steve Carroll talked to the people who made it happen
 

It was 7.01am when the first competitive shot was hit, a drive struck in a squall.

The gusts were hitting 45 miles-per-hour, flagsticks clung grimly to the holes, the rain menaced and the ball threatened to come backwards.

Yet there was a queue on the tee. And all the men were still going off the whites.

I suppose when you’ve waited so long to play Prince’s new Himalayas course, not even Mother Nature was going to stop the members in their tracks.

They’ve watched with curious eyes as architect Martin Ebert took their favourite nine and almost redrew it entirely over the better part of a year.

The Shore and the Dunes are the loops that always brought the Sandwich club acclaim, but it was the Himalayas that was closest to the hearts of those who played at Prince’s most frequently.

It takes courage to meddle with emotions, and history, with the course having stood as a monument to 1950s design principles.

But the McGuirk family, who have owned the club for two generations, pushed forward.

Not that they are saying this is a redesign, rather a re-imagination. Well, someone clearly had some big dreams.

If you are going to show ambition, then hiring the team that turned Turnberry’s 9th into one of the world’s most spectacular par 3s, or could envisage the two new holes at Royal Portrush that will stun spectators at next year’s Open, was a masterstroke.

“You have to describe Prince’s as perfect links terrain,” said Ebert of his first impressions of the stretch of turf that has been the club’s home for more than a century.

It’s land that has withstood not only the most severe examinations by the weather but the bombs and barbed wire of two world wars.

Prince's Golf Club

“It’s beautiful sandy soil, with fantastic links undulations produced by the natural wind. A great tract of land, and plenty of room for it characterised by these parallel ridges to the ocean.”

Even if the members didn’t feel the same way, the Himalayas was the awkward child of the trio of layouts.

If visitors didn’t ignore it, it was reluctantly embraced. As far as the McGuirk family were concerned, it didn’t hit the championship standard of its other siblings.

You couldn’t argue that now.

“When we first talked to Martin about it, we’d had a number of the top 100 people come down and they said ‘it’s a really strong 27 holes but you haven’t got any signature holes’,” explained general manager Rob McGuirk.

“It was ‘every par 4 is a similar length, there’s no risk and reward and you don’t have any holes facing the sea’.

“When Martin came, we said ‘these are the observations we have had over the last 10 years’ can we integrate these things into the Himalayas? He filled the brief.”

As is his firm’s wont, Ebert delved into the archives with staff architect Mike Howard, unearthing old photos and scattered aerial shots – any scrap that could give them a hint of how the course developed.

But a simple restoration, however, was not in their minds. Only the first hole remains the same as the original design.

Feature continues on next page…

Pages: 1 2 3

Latest Posts

st andrews tee times

Courses and Travel

The days (or nights) of queuing up for a tee time at the Old Course are over

Read full article - The days (or nights) of queuing up for a tee time at the Old Course are over
st patricks links

Courses and Travel

Classic course: St Patrick’s Links, Rosapenna

Read full article - Classic course: St Patrick’s Links, Rosapenna
Muirfield

Courses and Travel

How much is too much to pay for a round of golf?

Read full article - How much is too much to pay for a round of golf?
St Andrews

Courses and Travel

I shudder to think it – but I might never play the Old Course again

Read full article - I shudder to think it – but I might never play the Old Course again
Goswick Golf Club

Courses and Travel

The perfect golf trip on a budget? Here’s where our experts say you should go in 2024

Read full article - The perfect golf trip on a budget? Here’s where our experts say you should go in 2024
You can retrace this Open champion's famous steps

Courses and Travel

You can retrace this Open champion’s famous steps

Read full article - You can retrace this Open champion’s famous steps
Royal County Down

Courses and Travel

‘It’s not going to stop’: Expect to pay even more to play GB&I’s top 100 courses

Read full article - ‘It’s not going to stop’: Expect to pay even more to play GB&I’s top 100 courses
Turnberry

Courses and Travel

Could new changes to Turnberry get it back on The Open rota?

Read full article - Could new changes to Turnberry get it back on The Open rota?
Amendoeira Golf Resort

Courses and Travel

Amendoeira Golf Resort: Tour-Level Golf and Stunning Architecture

Read full article - Amendoeira Golf Resort: Tour-Level Golf and Stunning Architecture