Where The Open began in 1860, with blind holes the railway still runs past.
Prestwick is where The Open began. On 17 October 1860 the club staged a competition for professionals over three rounds of its 12-hole course, and Willie Park won the Challenge Belt. Prestwick went on to host The Open 24 times in all, the last in 1925. The club, founded in 1851 at the Red Lion Inn, hired Old Tom Morris as its first Keeper of the Green. Today it is a members’ club with generous visitor times six days a week, a dormy house beside the course and a lunch that it treats as part of the round.
Book through the online visitor system linked from the club’s site, by email to bookings@prestwickgc.co.uk or by phone on +44 (0)1292 477404. Payment in full is taken at booking. Visitor times are fixed by day: for example 8.00 to 9.00am, 10.20am to 12.10pm and 2.40 to 3.30pm on Mondays, and later morning and afternoon windows from Tuesday to Friday and on Sundays. Saturdays are for members only. There is no strict handicap limit; a recognised handicap is preferred, but regular golfers who know the etiquette and keep pace are welcome. On Wednesdays the Prestwick Experience pairs a round with a three-course lunch in the Dining Room.
Monday–Thursday, winter, November 2026 to March 2027 (winter rules, mats or preferred lies). £295 Monday–Thursday in April and October 2027; £360 from May to September 2027.
| Monday–Thursday, May–September 2027 | £360 |
|---|---|
| 36 holes, Monday–Thursday, May–September 2027 | £470 |
| Friday and Sunday, May–September 2027 | £395 |
| Prestwick Experience (Wednesday, with lunch), May–September 2027 | £410 |
| Friday and Sunday, winter 2026–27 | £205 |
The links runs north from the clubhouse between the railway and the shore, and blind shots are part of the deal. The 1st, Railway, is a 345-yard par four with the line along your right. The 3rd, Cardinal, is a par five played over a vast sleepered bunker. The 5th, Himalayas, is a par three of up to 231 yards hit over a dune you cannot see past, and the 17th, Alps, sends the approach over another ridge to a green guarded by the Sahara bunker. The card is par 71 and 6,908 yards from the championship tees, and the course finishes beside the clubhouse with the short 18th, Clock.
Prestwick feels most like itself on a Wednesday, when the 8.00 to 8.30am slots lead straight into lunch at the long table, or lunch comes first and you tee off between 2.30 and 3pm. Book that lunch ahead. The Cardinal Room serves a snack menu from Sunday to Friday in summer, and there is no bar or food on winter Mondays. Jeans, trainers and round-neck T-shirts are not allowed anywhere. The club no longer stores or receives shipped clubs, so bring them or hire Titleist sets at £65.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport is on the edge of town, a few minutes by taxi. Glasgow Airport is about 40 miles north, roughly 45 minutes by road. Prestwick Town station, on the Glasgow–Ayr line, sits beside the first tee, so a car is optional; direct trains run from Glasgow Central.
Nearby: 1. Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course) (4 km) · 2. Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club (7 km) · 3. Dundonald Links (10 km) · 4. Western Gailes Golf Club (10 km) · 5. Trump Turnberry (Ailsa) (25 km) · 6. Machrihanish Dunes (69 km) · Compare all Ayrshire tee times
The club’s own dormy house, Number 17, has eight en-suite rooms within walking distance of the first tee; rates run from £125 for a single to £210 for the Captain’s Suite, with breakfast, and Monday-to-Thursday stay-and-play packages. A group of eight can take the whole house for £1,140 a night. Otherwise Troon’s seafront hotels are ten minutes north and Ayr has a wider choice.
Royal Troon’s Old Course is five minutes up the coast, Western Gailes and Dundonald Links about 15 minutes north, and Turnberry roughly 30 minutes south. Off the course, Burns Cottage and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway are a short drive, and Culzean Castle sits on the cliffs south of Ayr.
These packages have a confirmed round at Prestwick Golf Club in the itinerary, with the other courses, nights and hotels listed so you can compare like with like.
10 nights B&B, 8 rounds
Rounds: Western Gailes · Prestwick · Royal Troon · Dunbar · Crail Balcomie · Carnoustie · Kingsbarns · North Berwick
Stay: Ayrshire, East Lothian and Fife, including Rusacks St Andrews
Eight links in ten nights, mixing Open venues with Prestwick and Western Gailes, which many first trips miss.
Prices are Golfbreaks’ published per-person guide prices in US dollars, checked November 2026; your quote depends on dates and group size. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
The club’s peak season runs from May to September, with shoulder rates in April and October. From November to March winter rules apply, so you move the ball to the side of the fairway or play from mats. The clubhouse opens at 7.15am year round.
Explore golf by monthYes. Prestwick takes visitors from Sunday to Friday in set tee-time windows, with Saturdays kept for members. You can book online, by email or by phone, and the full green fee is paid when you book.
It is a Wednesday ticket that includes a round and a three-course lunch, without drinks, in the Dining Room, with visitors treated as temporary members. In May to September 2027 it costs £410. Men need a jacket and tie for lunch.
There is no strict limit. The club prefers a recognised handicap but welcomes regular golfers who know golf etiquette and can keep a good pace of play, which makes it easier for mixed groups than many Open venues.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport is a few minutes away, and Prestwick Town station is beside the first tee. Glasgow Airport, with more international flights, is around 45 minutes by car.
Last checked 10 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
How we research our guidesPhoto credits and licencesShared greens, the Swilcan Bridge, and the town where golf feels at home.
A modern links shaped by hand above the Fife shore, six miles from St Andrews.
Eight Opens, the Barry Burn and a finish that has humbled the best in the game.
