The Goodness of GULLANE GC 1

[Sean_A]

It’s quite simple; Gullane exists for golf. The elder statesman of Gullane Golf Club is the #1 course, records for which reach back to 1650. In total there are three courses at Gullane, all of which, like a magnet, play over Gullane Hill and on some of the best turf in the game. The three courses are essentially divided by their overall yardage and when they were opened. Built in 1884, Gullane 1 is the oldest and longest of the three and has championship pedigree as the multiple times host of the Scottish Open and Open Qualifying plus a long list of other events. Taking a page from the book of St Andrews, the 2015 Scottish Open used 16 holes from #1 and two holes from #2.

It was at Gullane that Babe Didrikson, certainly in the conversation as one of the best women to ever play the game, won the British Ladies Championship in 1947. Her awesome display of power is legendary. It is reported that with a modest tailwind she reached the uphill 15^th, a hole of 535 yards, with a drive/4 iron!  Not only a top class golfer who in less than 10 years as a pro won 48 events, including 10 majors, was also a founding member of the LPGA. Babe's final major championship, the 1954 US Women's Open, was won wearing a colostomy bag shortly after what turned out to be cancer surgery. Not to mention winning three Olympic medals in athletics at the 1932 Games, playing in spring season major league ball games etc etc. In short, Babe Didrikson was a remarkable person.

 

The opener is a proverbial handshake with the drive playing into a pocket of bunkers...perfect.


The game is afoot on 2.  The hole isn't overly long, but it is narrow without much in the way of forgiveness. To my eye the hole looks built. I suspect earth moving took place to make the hole playable. The green is tucked between dunes near the top of the valley.


Back down Gullane Hill we go with the third...a short par 5.


The short holes are compelling. #4. Although, the bunkers add nothing.


More to follow.

Ciao

[Tony_Muldoon]

Played with a guy yesterday who grew up there. He said they always referred to their famous neighbour to the east as Gullane 4.

[Niall C]

So in order;

Gullane 4 (Muirfield)
Gullane 5 (Renaissance)
Gullane 6 (Dirleton)
Gullane 7 (Fidra)
Gullane 8 (NB West links)

A question; what would you call Luffness ? The original ?

Niall

[Sean_A]

Gullane #1 Cont

A very tough hole, the dogleg left 5th takes us up the hill for 435 yards.  The green mimics the slope of the hill and can be very fast when above the hole.


The shortish par 4 sixth finishes the hill climb.


Rountree painting




Lauded as one of the best 360 degree views in golfdom, the 7th runs us back down the hill. Its very easy to get caught out too far left.


Muirfield is behind the tee.


More to follow.

Ciao

[MCirba]

I am in love with Gullane #1.


Thanks for the memories, Sean!

[mike_beene]

Isn’t the view to the Edinburg Castle and the Firth bridge spectacular! And you turn around and see number 4. And the best chipping turf .

[Sean_A]

Yer welcome Mike.

Mike B, I agree, Gullane has supreme turf kept at a good height.

Gullane #1 Tour Cont

I get the sense that other than dealing with the hill, another purpose of the routing is to take the golfer to the Firth of Forth. The 8th strikes me as a hole on this journey....nothing flashy.  I do like the nasty 9th. The green seems to will tee shots to the rear.


The 10th is a bit like the 8th, but running in the opposite direction and a bit longer. 11-14 form a triangle of good holes. The infinity view on the 11th is one of the highlights of the course.




The club could do with trying to remove some of the vegetation behind the green to retain the clean view.


A contrary wind more from the east-north can make the three-shot 12th play shorter than a few of the par 4s...a trait I admire in a design.


There is a lovely dip left of the green. Plenty of WWII debris remains on the far dunes.


A wonderful short hole, the 13th is benched gracefully into the hillside. A pack of bunkers short of the green encourage golfers to possibly take too much club.


Looking back to the tee.


More to follow.

Ciao

[Sean_A]

GULLANE #1 TOUR CONT

Another of Gullane's ball buster holes comes at 14. Like most of the three Gullane courses, nothing flashy, just a solid hit the shots hole.


Continuing the slow climb back up the hill, the 15th plays past its name sake, the pump house.


The back to front green is one of the more entertaining on the course.


More to follow.

Ciao

[Sean_A]

Gullane 1 Tour Cont

Gullane finishes with a flurry of shortish holes thus creating some doubt as to the outcome of many matches. An uphill par 3, 16 is like much of #1, good, honest golf.


I have a lot of time for the downhill 17th. It is perhaps a more graceful way to make the final serious descent than is the case on #3 course.  Everybody knows wind plays a major factor on links and on 17 it is abundantly clear that anything goes.  The hole is about 390 yards, but into the wind that downhill advantage can be completely eliminated.


There is some dead space beyond the bunkers, but not a lot to work with if the hole plays downwind. 


A fine home hole gives golfers a chance to finish on a high note.


Handsome surroundings! One of the finest scenes in golf.




The house was refurbished a few years back and impressive it is.


Yes, dogs are allowed!


It is always a treat to play any of the three Gullanes. #1 offers a kinder, gentler championship test than many other courses of its stature, but its certainly no pushover with bruising holes such as 5, 10 & 11. I was pleasantly surprised by the rough in high summer. It was very harsh in places, but generally ok. However, as stated previously, the one single aspect I enjoy the most is the turf. With three courses and that turf, it must be glorious to be a member of Gullane. 1* 2023

Other East Lothian courses

Kilspindie
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,66109.0.html

Luffness New
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,66102.0.html

Dunbar
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,64305.0.html

North Berwick
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59363.0.html

Gullane 3
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,67899.0.html

Gullane 2
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,71153.msg1711897.html#msg1711897

Renaissance
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,58937.0.html

Longniddry
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,72306.0.html

Ciao

[Michael Whitaker]

Sean - as usual, excellent review. You nailed it concerning #17… it’s all about the wind. First of all, it’s a tricky tee shot to get correct, then the second can be anything from a gap wedge to a hybrid depending on the wind. It seems like a pushover from the teebox, but it is a vexing hole. Par is a good score here and very welcome!

[John Mayhugh]

This is the best tour of any of the Gullane courses that I've seen. This looks like very thought provoking and fun links golf, within bunkering that demands good play. I need to see it.

[Brian Finn]

Thank you for the great tour.  Gullane has to be a near ideal golf club.  As terrific as the #1 course is, my group enjoyed #2 and #3 as much, perhaps even more!  We played multiple rounds on the short, but still challenging #3 course.  To have three courses play across the same topography, with each so enjoyable in different ways, is just too good to be true. 

[Michael Whitaker]

Brian,


You are so right! I am in the process of closing out month three of my four month summer at Gullane and I can attest the courses never grow old. As you say, having the three courses available is a wonderful benefit of membership and it does feel too good to be true sometimes.


In addition to the fabulous courses, the membership is outstanding… warm, welcoming and amazingly hospitable.


Gullane GC has far exceeded my hopes and expectations.

[Sean_A]

Thank you for the great tour.  Gullane has to be a near ideal golf club.  As terrific as the #1 course is, my group enjoyed #2 and #3 as much, perhaps even more!  We played multiple rounds on the short, but still challenging #3 course.  To have three courses play across the same topography, with each so enjoyable in different ways, is just too good to be true. 

Brian

Yer welcome. #3 is my favourite of the three courses. I have a lot of time for the holes around the visitor house. It would be a lovely boozer loop.

Ciao

[cary lichtenstein]

Fond Memories

[Sean_A]

I hear Mackenzie and Ebert have worked up some fairly radical plans, including turning 1 and 2 into a par 5.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

I hear Mackenzie and Ebert have worked up some fairly radical plans, including turning 1 and 2 into a par 5.

Ciao

Just saw the plans. Overall about 9 new holes throughout the links. Biggest changes to No.2.


The changes have merit and may indeed be an “improvement” but the extent of them is hardly necessary. It’s the detailing that concerns me as much as anything.


Clubs really need to write better briefs if they want to ensure they don’t end up with wholesale change to their courses.

[Niall C]

Interesting. It's amazing what a bit money tempts clubs to do !


Ally


I agree to a point about the brief. But sometimes its worth letting the gca's imagination run away with them as long as you have the ability to then decide what works and doesn't work in their plan. Being too prescriptive in the brief might lead to missed opportunities.


Niall

[Ally Mcintosh]

Interesting. It's amazing what a bit money tempts clubs to do !


Ally


I agree to a point about the brief. But sometimes its worth letting the gca's imagination run away with them as long as you have the ability to then decide what works and doesn't work in their plan. Being too prescriptive in the brief might lead to missed opportunities.


Niall

Niall, it doesn’t work for either party if you leave an open brief and then use the solution as a shopping list for some changes and not others. That normally causes confusion, arguments and an inferior outcome.


A brief would be better written if it comes with certain priorities underneath the overarching goal such as - for example - “the club would like to change / relocate as few existing greensites as possible”.


The Gullane brief is essentially four sentences.


Given what he was asked to do, Tom MacKenzie’s plans actually make a lot of sense. But that’s a long way from making them the right answer.

[Mike Worth]

I played #2 and #3 on September 8 — memorable for the golf and the Queen passing that day.


Anyway, as I played # 2, I wondered to myself if there was room for another golf course on the property. There seem to be quite a bit of room to the south of #2 and then wrapping around #3.


I don’t know if another course would be feasible or advisable. But there did seem to be quite a bit of good land to build at least 9 new holes.

[Sean_A]

I played #2 and #3 on September 8 — memorable for the golf and the Queen passing that day.


Anyway, as I played # 2, I wondered to myself if there was room for another golf course on the property. There seem to be quite a bit of room to the south of #2 and then wrapping around #3.


I don’t know if another course would be feasible or advisable. But there did seem to be quite a bit of good land to build at least 9 new holes.

I thought at least some of the land west and south G2 is a nature reserve?

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

I played #2 and #3 on September 8 — memorable for the golf and the Queen passing that day.


Anyway, as I played # 2, I wondered to myself if there was room for another golf course on the property. There seem to be quite a bit of room to the south of #2 and then wrapping around #3.


I don’t know if another course would be feasible or advisable. But there did seem to be quite a bit of good land to build at least 9 new holes.

I thought at least some of the land west and south G2 is a nature reserve?

Ciao

The proposal uses a parcel of land next to Luffness New to create 4 new holes for Gullane 2. However the vast majority of land at the far end of Gullane 1 is an SPA and off-limits.

[Ben Sims]

Any chance we can get a better idea (or illustration) of the changes? Also, what’s the timeline.


Seems a few places in EL are getting some notable changes

[David Jones]

Any chance we can get a better idea (or illustration) of the changes? Also, what’s the timeline.


Seems a few places in EL are getting some notable changes

I believe there is a club vote in early December, although some revisions to the plans are expected before then. The plans are only available to members in video form, although half the (interested) Scottish golf world seem to have seen them.


I find it all a bit depressing. The club has got lots of cash at the moment and they seem to have a committee very keen to make changes that have surprised large swathes of the membership.


The brief was -


'To investigate ways to reinforce the standing of number 1 as a championship course and consolidate its global reputation, to at least maintain the quality of number 2 but ideally to improve it and investigate ways to improve number 3.'
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It's all very odd. The Scottish Open was held very successfully with just swapping out a couple of holes from number 2 and this proposal is far more dramatic. It makes the course much longer for member play with some inelegant moves. Number one now begins with a long slog up the hill which will make for some slow getaways. And from the proposal tabled so far it is impossible to say that number 2 would be improved.


One of the big themes that Tom Mackenzie talks about in a very serious tone is the importance of addressing the issue of balls on the road which very few members seem to recall ever been an issue. However the need to have players, especially children, being able to cross the road safely is totally ignored.


Unfortunately I'm not the convinced the full membership are that engaged with the issues and many think 'if we need to make changes to help our rankings then we should do them'. As I say, for me it's all rather depressing...

[Niall C]

David


I'm in the half of Scottish Golf who haven't seen the proposals so can only really comment on what might be driving it. Like you I am baffled by any suggestion that balls go on the road. I can't think where that happens although I don't doubt it maybe happens on occasion. I should say that while not a member at Gullane I have played no.1 a handful of times and probably played 2 and 3 nearly a hundred times between them.


Gullane used to be one of those courses that largely went under the radar as far as foreign visitors were concerned but was very popular with visiting Scottish golfers. The club were/are in the enviable position of having 3 courses that provided good links golf all year round. They made so much money from (local) visitors they were able to build a visitor clubhouse, and their pricing structure was such that it ensured that no.1 was virtually left to the members to play.


The Scottish Open has obviously changed all that and when I was through this summer I was taken aback by the change. Not so much in the changes to no.3, the new practice short game area and the upgraded visitor clubhouse, but by the feel of the place. It looked like there was a couple of coachloads from Perry Golf milling about, complete with the obligatory caddy following behind everyone. Maybe they are trying to turn Gullane into the Pinehurst of Scotland ?!


Niall