Prince's Golf Club

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Prince's Golf Club
The new Prince's Golf clubhouse. - geograph.org.uk - 315936.jpg
The clubhouse
Club information
Location Sandwich, Kent, England
Established1906
Typeprivate
Total holes27 three loops of nine holes (“Shore”, “Dunes” and “Himalayas”)
Events hosted The Open Championship
Website princesgolfclub.co.uk
Designed by Charles Hutchings; Guy Campbell and John Morrison
Par 107 (36 (Shore) 36 (Dunes) 36 (Himalayas))

Prince's Golf Club is a links golf course located in Sandwich in Kent in southeast England. Prince's is immediately adjacent to the more famous Royal St George's golf club, and both clubs lie on the same stretch of coastline as nearby Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club. Prince's hosted the 1932 Open Championship. [1]

Contents

History

Prince's was financed by Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley, built and designed by Charles Hutchings, the 1902 Amateur Champion on land donated by the Earl of Guilford. It was completed late in 1906 as an 18-hole course, and was the first course designed to counter the significantly longer Haskell ball. Club captain A.J. Balfour, a former British Prime Minister, drove the first ball in the Founder's Vase in June 1907.

The present-day 27-hole layout is the result of a 1950 re-design following war-time damage to the original course. World War II was very hard on Prince's, but Australian entrepreneur Sir Aynsley Bridgland intervened, engaging Sir Guy Campbell and John Morrison to re-design and restore the course. The new layout incorporated 14 of the original greens (but with most played from different directions to the original course), and eliminated any blind tee or approach shots. The re-design always envisaged a centrally located clubhouse, and this was finally opened in 1985 by Peter Alliss, allowing the 27 holes to be played in three loops of nine holes, known as “Shore”, “Dunes” and “Himalayas”, each starting and finishing beside the new clubhouse.

The Lodge (previously the clubhouse)
The fire damaged remains of Prince's golf clubhouse - geograph.org.uk - 1287083.jpg
The fire damaged remains of the clubhouse in 2009
The Lodge, Prince's Golf Club geograph-2618864-by-John-Baker.jpg
The Lodge, opened in 2012

The original clubhouse still stands at the entrance to the course and adjacent to the 14th tee of Royal St. George's. It no longer serves as the clubhouse but instead has been completely renovated, called the Lodge, it opened in May 2012, with two adjoining buildings, which house 38 bedrooms and a brasserie.

Prince's hosted the 1932 Open Championship, which was won by the American Gene Sarazen. Sarazen debuted his newly invented sand iron at the Championship, and his original club was on display at Prince's for many years, until insurance costs became prohibitively expensive. The greenside bunker beside the 9th green on the Himalayas course, a bunker he played from on his way to victory, was unveiled as the Sarazen Bunker in his honour by Pádraig Harrington in June 2011.

Prince's is the only club to host The Open just once. The club remains an Open Championship Local Final Qualifying course, and hosted qualifying in 2011 when The Open returned to Royal St. George's. Prince's professional golfer Francis McGuirk finished tied second to claim one of the three available spaces.

Prince's has also hosted other senior and minor professional tournaments, and a number of tournaments for amateurs, including the 1956 Curtis Cup, the 2006 Amateur Championship (co-hosted with Royal St George's), the 2006 Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, the 2008 Senior Open Amateur Championship (co-hosted with Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club) and the 2013 Amateur Championship (co-hosted with Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club). The club is scheduled to host the 2030 Walker Cup. [2]

Shelter on the course Shelter, Princes Golf Course - geograph.org.uk - 1384381.jpg
Shelter on the course

The WWII ace, Member of Parliament and 1949 Walker Cup captain Laddie Lucas was born in the old clubhouse at Prince's, his father being the first club secretary. During WWII, Lucas used his knowledge of the course to make an emergency landing after his Spitfire was crippled over northern France. Today, a commemorative plaque by the 4th tee on the Himalayas course marks the spot where he landed. In memory of Lucas, Prince's hosts an annual golf tournament, the Laddie Lucas Spoon, for boys and girls aged 8–13 years.

Phil Mickelson and Gary Player are both honorary life members of Prince's Golf Club. Ladies European Tour player Helen Wadsworth is a former member and played at Prince's as a junior.

In August 2009 Troon Golf announced an agreement to take over course management at Prince's and the club has undertaken a number of renovations to the course.

Scorecards

Princes Golf Club Scorecards [3]

Prince's Shore & Dunes
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
ParMen's453434454364354454343672
SI Men's612164181428103151115917137
Blue74.8 / 128452562189415158423434568442364345817056943841650637122048636347277
White72.6 / 122426530173410137383405542413341944015552740839449535719846234366855
Yellow70.2 / 116417468137387110336378522385314042015048437536546032518642431896329
ParWomen's453434454365354454353874
SI Women's971731513111541861210214168
Red71.5 / 124325431124339103282303512340275940014039731532441528615136427925551
Prince's Dunes & Himalayas
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
ParMen's435445434364544353443672
SI Men's416142610181281351131717159
Blue75.2 / 136458170569438416506371220486363438162040845814360919734744836117245
White72.8 / 130440155527408394495357198462343637757537243313555619031242633766812
Yellow70.3 / 123420150484375365460325186424318936354031239111652417028937830836272
ParWomen's535445435384544353443674
SI Women's51737911315114612418281610
Red72.6 / 129400140397315324415286151364279234850029433510347014127834928185610
Prince's Himalayas & Shore
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
ParMen's454435344364534344543672
SI Men's146124182816105111531713179
Blue75.2 / 133381620408458143609197347448361145256218941515842343456844236437254
White72.8 / 125377575372433135556190312426337642653017341013738340554241334196795
Yellow70.1 / 120363540312391116524170289378308341746813738711033637852238531406223
ParWomen's454435344364534344543672
SI Women's135113171715910818416141226
Red72.3 / 126348500294335103470141278349281832543112433910328230351234027595577

The Open Championship

Prince's Golf Club hosted The Open Championship in 1932.

YearWinnerScore
R1R2R3R4Total
1932 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Gene Sarazen 1st70697074283

References

  1. Sullivan, Paul (13 July 2022). "Some Classic Golf Courses Have Fallen Off the Open Schedule". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. "Prince's to host the Walker Cup in 2030". The R&A. 8 May 2025.
  3. Source:<https://www.princesgolfclub.co.uk/play/course-overview>

51°17′28″N1°22′22″E / 51.2911°N 1.3729°E / 51.2911; 1.3729