Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich
Encyclopedia
Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich is a links
golf
course located in Sandwich
in Kent
in South East 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 was completed late in 1906 as an 18-hole course and 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 17 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 disused old clubhouse still stands at the entrance to the club, but was extensively damaged by fire in 2008. It is currently being renovated to provide a luxury lodge and dormie house with accommodation for visiting golfers. The new clubhouse sits adjacent to the 14th tee of Royal St. George's.
Prince's is notable for hosting 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 one of only two clubs to host The Open just once, the other being Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland
. The club remains an Open Championship Local Final Qualifying course, and hosted qualifying again 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 various 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 and the 2008 Senior Open Amateur Championship (co-hosted with Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club). Prince's has been selected to co-host The Amateur Championship with Royal Cinque Ports in 2013.
The late WWII ace, Member of Parliament and 1949 Walker Cup
captain Percy Belgrave "Laddie" Lucas
was one of the most famous sons of Prince's and was actually born in the old clubhouse. There is even a commemorative plaque by the 4th tee on the Himalayas course which marks the spot where he used his local knowledge of the course to make an emergency landing after his Spitfire
was crippled over northern France
during WWII. Today an annual golf tournament, the Laddie Lucas Spoon, is held each year at Prince's 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.
in 1932.
Links (golf)
A links is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. The word "links" comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes and sometimes to open parkland. It also retains this more general meaning in the Scottish English dialect...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course located in Sandwich
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the Non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 6,800....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in South East England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. 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 was completed late in 1906 as an 18-hole course and the first course designed to counter the significantly longer Haskell
Golf ball
A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in the game of golf.Under the Rules of Golf, a golf ball weighs no more than 1.620 oz , has a diameter not less than 1.680 in , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits...
ball. Club captain A.J. Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
, 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
John Stanton Fleming Morrison
John Stanton Fleming Morrison was a British golf course architect born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, Harry Colt, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd....
to re-design and restore the course. The new layout incorporated 17 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
Peter Alliss
Peter Alliss is an English professional golfer, BBC television presenter and commentator, author and golf course designer. Alliss is known for his charismatic and unique style of commentary, often displaying a witty demeanour...
, 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 disused old clubhouse still stands at the entrance to the club, but was extensively damaged by fire in 2008. It is currently being renovated to provide a luxury lodge and dormie house with accommodation for visiting golfers. The new clubhouse sits adjacent to the 14th tee of Royal St. George's.
Prince's is notable for hosting the 1932 Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
, which was won by the American Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...
. 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
Padraig Harrington
Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...
in June 2011.
Prince's is one of only two clubs to host The Open just once, the other being Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The club remains an Open Championship Local Final Qualifying course, and hosted qualifying again in 2011
2011 Open Championship
The 2011 Open Championship was the 140th Open Championship, played from July 14–17 at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland won the event by three strokes for his first major championship victory.-Venue:...
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 various other senior and minor professional tournaments, and a number of tournaments for amateurs, including the 1956 Curtis Cup
Curtis Cup
The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match . It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and the Ladies Golf Union and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland"...
, the 2006 Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...
(co-hosted with Royal St George's), the 2006 Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship and the 2008 Senior Open Amateur Championship (co-hosted with Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club). Prince's has been selected to co-host The Amateur Championship with Royal Cinque Ports in 2013.
The late WWII ace, Member of Parliament and 1949 Walker Cup
Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...
captain Percy Belgrave "Laddie" Lucas
Percy Lucas
Percy Belgrave "Laddie" Lucas, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC, , was a Royal Air Force Officer, left-handed golfer, author and Member of Parliament .-Early and family life:...
was one of the most famous sons of Prince's and was actually born in the old clubhouse. There is even a commemorative plaque by the 4th tee on the Himalayas course which marks the spot where he used his local knowledge of the course to make an emergency landing after his Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
was crippled over northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during WWII. Today an annual golf tournament, the Laddie Lucas Spoon, is held each year at Prince's for boys and girls aged 8–13 years.
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
and Gary Player
Gary Player
Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
are both honorary life members of Prince's Golf Club. Ladies European Tour player Helen Wadsworth
Helen Wadsworth
Helen Wadsworth is a Welsh professional golfer on the Ladies European Tour.In her first year as a professional, she had three top ten finishes, winning her the Ladies European Tour - Rookie of the Year Award. She won the 1994 BMW European Masters and took second place at the Irish Open...
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.
The Open Championship
Prince's Golf Club hosted The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
in 1932.
| Year | |Winner | |Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | ||
| 1932 |  Gene SarazenGene Sarazen Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S... 1st |
70 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 283 |
- Note: Superscript number besides the player's name is the number of the Open Championship in their respective careers.