Redevelopment of Himalayas Nine at Prince’s Golf Club to begin this month
The Himalayas Nine at Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK, is to be redeveloped.
Prince’s Golf Club played host to the host of the 1932 Open Championship, and Mackenzie & Ebert – a golf course architecture firm with vast experience of working on courses featuring on The Open rota – has been hired to oversee the upcoming project.
Martin Ebert and Mike Howard of Mackenzie & Ebert have paid numerous visits to Prince’s, and have created a historic report on the Himalayas Nine. This included an analysis of pre-war photography, as well as photography from the Royal Air Force taken during World War II, which will be used to help reintroduce numerous interesting features to the course.
The forthcoming redevelopment work will include the amalgamation of the former second and third holes to create a new long par five hole, which will play to a maximum of 615 yards.
A new hole will also be introduced following the existing fifth hole. This will play towards the sea and measure between 120 and 160 yards.
The eighth hole will also see major changes, and will be converted into a short par four hole with permanent wetlands on either side. New tees will be built atop dune ridges located to the right of the existing hole. This will allow for the practice ground in front of the clubhouse to be further developed.
Work is set to commence this month, with an initial focus on the development of the new hole.
“The entire club is very excited by this project,” said Rob McGuirk, general manager of Prince’s Golf Club. “We believe Mackenzie & Ebert’s plans will transform the Himalayas Nine into one of the finest stretches of links golf in the country. We’re committed to continuous improvement at Prince’s and this is certainly the most ambitious phase of development the club has seen for decades.”
The Himalayas Nine will remain open for play throughout the project to minimise disruption. Construction work is set to be completed before the end of the year, and the new holes are scheduled to open in mid-2018.