Skysports.com plays Prince's Golf Club in Kent, the venue for the 1932 Open Championship.
Skysports.com plays Prince's Golf Club in Kent
'Play a piece of history' is the catchphrase for Prince's golf course in Kent, and it's hard to argue with all that has taken place on this traditional links course at the very edge of England.
Located right on the doorstep of 2011 Open venue Royal St George's, Prince's enjoys the same magnificent views over Pegwell Bay and has itself hosted the oldest major in golf - staging the 1932 Open Championship won by Gene Sarazen.
The legendary Sarazen is credited with inventing the sand wedge, using it in its infancy at Prince's to win the Open - and that original sand wedge is still on display in the clubhouse to this day.
Opened in 1906 by Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley, Prince's was used as a coastal defence and artillery barracks and old used shells and bullets are still found when renovations are being undertaken.
The club has recently spent £300,000 on upgrading some 60 bunkers on the course - which is being used this year as final local qualifying for the Open at St George's, which runs up against the fifth green and sixth tee of the Shore nine at Prince's.
A 27-hole course, Prince's has three sets of nine, the Shore and Dunes are the premier links 18 which run in close proximity to each other right along the seafront, while the Himalayas was added when the course was redesigned in 1950.
Fees
Green fees aren't cheap with them topping out at £85 for 18 holes in the summer, while during Open week it is £400 per tee time, but then again only 14 courses have ever staged an Open so the honour of playing one would never come cheap - and one that is still relevant today.
We played the Himalayas and the Shore nine holes, and the Himalayas does appear a bit different in that it is slightly more inland at times, or at least feels it, and there does seem to be more protection from the elements than on the other 18 holes.
Greens are still pretty quick and firm though, as are the fairways, while the big ridge (hence the name Himalayas for the course) now provides a boundary between holes but used to be a severe obstacle to get over on just one hole.
The Himalayas also offers a rare double green, shared between the fourth and the eighth, and this gives links novices like myself a warm glow inside as, along with the sound of the sea this is the essence of what this test is all about.
The par-three seventh was described to me as 'the hardest par three without a bunker in England' by a couple of the members, and although it didn't look too tough at first glance, the 178 yards can seem a lot further into the wind, while a massive undulating green awaits as does some nasty rough both left and long.
The Dunes and Shore nines sit together nicely as an 18-hole format, and the greens seemed a touch quicker than on the Himalayas, maybe this was just as they were a bit more exposed to the elements or maybe I was simply putting a bit too much extra beef on the putts this time around.
Narrow
On the Shore at least, the fairways narrowed considerably - the sixth especially which looks impossible to hit from the tee, and true enough I failed to find the short stuff, and the punishment can be harsh if you're stuck in a hefty bunker of up on one of the lumps and bumps covered by nasty club-clinging rough.
The fifth green and sixth tee give you an opportunity to peak over the fence at St George's, while also taking a look at the construction of some new accommodation on the Prince's course - something which is in short supply in the immediate area and the club hope to fill these apartments with golfing holidaymakers for years to come.
All the usual links problems confront the golfer, bumpy hard fairways which can punish even the straightest of drives, horrible bunkers and rough which looks not too bad but somehow prevent you from hitting anything above a nine iron at times.
The wind started to blow only slightly while myself and my Finnish playing partners went around, but even then it changed the game and you can imagine the track being ten times as problematic during a decent gale.
Although the place has plenty of history, Prince's has been updated too, with a modern clubhouse (opened by Peter Alliss in 1985) featuring a superb terrace bar and magnificent views of the white cliffs across Sandwich Bay to Ramsgate.
A driving range and extensive putting green offer quality practice facilities and combined with the clubhouse are two reasons why so many competitions and society days are staged at Prince's, along with the course being of championship standard.
Although it's not cheap, if you want to play one of only 14 Open venues, a true test of links golf and trot the same fairways as Open hopefuls this summer, then Prince's is well worth a visit.
