It’s where Gene Sarazen won the Open in 1932 and includes one of Tony Jacklin’s favourite par 3 holes.
There are only two proprietary-owned golf clubs in the UK that have hosted the Open Championship, Scotland’s
Turnberry and Prince’s near Sandwich in Kent. Sitting next to Royal St George’s and a few drives away from Royal Cinque Ports, Prince’s has some fearsome neighbours to keep up with. But it steps up to the mark very well indeed. Not only does it have a superb 27 hole layout but also boasts one of the friendliest and well run clubhouses in the UK.
Gene Sarazen won the Open in 1932 with a record breaking score of 13 under for which he received the princely sum of £100 for his efforts. It was then that a sand wedge was used for the first time, designed by Sarazen and made by Wilsons and his caddy given strict instructions to replace it in the bag upside down after every effort with it because the little man was worried it might be deemed illegal. It wasn’t and now sits resplendent on display in the main clubroom at Prince’s.
Founded in 1906, re-designed in 1950 and with a new clubhouse opened in 1985 by Peter Alliss who won two professional tournaments in the sixties at Prince’s, the club has a long and successful history. It also has some of the best facilities of an Open course with none of the fearsome tradition of certain rules that are seemingly becoming a bit archaic these days.
Whilst adhering to the important traditions of golf, this is a forward thinking environment and the management goes the extra yard in supplying top quality golf with an excellent off course experience.
The Course
There are three nines, The Shore, The Dunes and The Himalayas. The present tournament eighteen are the first two and, at a touch over 7,200 yards, represent the sternest of tests, especially when those winds blow. But what makes Prince’s unique for an Open Championship course is the flexibility that three nines gives to the management.
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