Prestwick is situated on the west coast of Ayrshire with fine flat sandy beaches, which stretch from Ayr in the south, to Troon. The Island of Arran can be seen in its entirety from the promenade. In the evening, some of the finest sunsets in the world can be seen as the sun drops behind the highest peak on Arran, 'Goat Fell'.

Prestwick can not only boast to being the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland, it was also the home of the first Open Golf Championship in 1860, when the event was held at Prestwick Golf Club.

Dundonald Links
In February 2003, Loch Lomond Golf Club acquired a new links course near Troon in Ayrshire. It was intended to not only enhance the club’s prominence within international circles but also to provide its esteemed international membership with a challenging alternative links venue.

Designed by the highly respected golf course architect Kyle Phillips, best known in the UK for Kingsbarns and The Grove, the 7,100-yard, par 72 course is located about an hour’s drive south west of Loch Lomond and five minutes from Prestwick International Airport. It was inspired by the timeless architecture of the great Ayrshire links courses of Royal Troon, Prestwick and Western Gailes, all connected by the historic rail line.

Glasgow Gailes lies on a marvelous stretch of links land between Troon and Irvine on the Ayrshire coast. Gailes lies in the heart of Scotland’s Ayrshire Golf coast with several celebrated courses within easy driving distance: Royal Troon – 5 miles, Old Prestwick – 8 miles and Turnberry – 35 miles. Also nearby, the Loch Lomond Golf Club has recently opened their Dundonald Links course.

Willie Park of Musselburgh a former open championship winner designed the course, which opened for play in 1892. Willie kept his designs simple. He wasn’t a believer in creating greens with dramatic slopes , did not much favour ‘blind’ shots, and particularly in the case of Gailes, left the glorious heather and gorse untouched. He always believed Gailes to be one of his best creations; generations since believe he was right.
At 6903 yards long from the championship tees with a par of 71 Gailes is a great test of golf whilst the kinder medium tees provides a fine test for players of all abilities. It is simply traditional links at its best.

Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club is to be found on the outskirts of Troon on Scotland's west coast and has been offering the golfer a magnificent links golf challenge for over one hundred years.

The course itself is an Open Championship Final Qualifying venue with a well-deserved reputation for some of the best maintained greens in Scotland. The course measures just under 7000 yards and the holes provide some wonderful challenges perhaps no more so than the par 3 fourth hole or the quirky dog leg par 5 eighth.

The course is challenging, but is typically what Scottish Links golf is about - large undulating greens, deep bunkers and doglegs. The course has generated some excellent publicity in recent years having been host for the British Amateur Championships in June 2001 along with Prestwick Golf Club and played host to the European Youths Championships the previous year. The Open Championship at Royal Troon in 2004 saw Barassie play host to the Junior Open Championship.

Kilmarnock (Barassie) once again, hosted Open Championship Final Qualifying in July 2009, when the Open Championship was played at Turnberry.

Western Gailes Golf Club
Formed in 1897, the Club has hosted a number of prestigious tournaments, including the Scottish Amateur Championship, the 1972 Curtis Cup, the 1964 PGA Championship, and in 2007 was host to the European Men's Amateur Team Championship. The course is used for final qualifying when the Open is played at Turnberry or Royal Troon, and also as a final qualifying venue for the Seniors Open.

This natural links course offers undulating fairways, occasionally interupted by three meandering burns. Greens that are cleverly located in naturally folded ground, some protected by burns whilst others guarded by sand dunes. The course is highly rated and is 38th in the Top 100 courses of the British Isles.

Prestwick Golf Club was founded in 1851 by a group of 57 members who met at the Red Lion Inn, Prestwick. The Earl of Eglinton was the first Captain of the club, and presented a gold medal for annual competition, the Eglinton gold medal is still played for to this day.

The first Open Championship was held at Prestwick in 1860, which was organised by the members who subscribed £25 to purchase a red morocco belt with silver clasps. It was won by Willie Park of Musselburgh with a score of 174 over 36 holes and there was no prize money. The Belt was won in three successive years by Young Tom Morris from 1868 to 1870 and thus became his property.

Prestwick is a wild kingdom where heather and gorse rule over all and which, in combination with the seemingly statutory, cavernous Scottish bunkers, can play havoc with what so often promises to be a respectable score.

Prestwick's fairways are narrow, its greens small and undulating, the approaches interesting. On a calm day, Prestwick can be forgiving, but when the wind blows in off the Firth of Clyde, you’d better lower your expectations for, in times like these, good scores are hard to come by.   ^