Glen GC, aka North Berwick East Links

[Pierre_C]

North Berwick is a great golfing area. On every trip to Scotland I always spend a few days in the area to play both West and East Links. One of my favorite courses in Scotland is the West Links at The Glen G.C. in North Berwick.
The photo below is of the town of North Berwick. There are two golf courses in town, West Links and East Links. To most foreigners, the name North Berwick usually conjures up the images of the West Link. However, North Berwick’s East Links in its own rights is a fine example of Scottish golf.


The original course was nine holes, built in 1894. The additional nine holes, and current 18 holes was designed James Braid and Ben Sayers in 1906.

Unlike the West Links, the East Links plays at a higher elevation, on top of the cliffs of the edge of North Berwick.  The Eastern side of North Berwick has a higher elevation my several meters.



There are four sets of tees. The longest, white, plays at 6275 yards par 70. The shortest, blue, plays 4801. With 16 of the 18 holes played on top of the cliff, wind becomes a fact and can make for a challenging day of golf.






Club house of Glen Golf Club, 2 levels and separate from the pro-shop.



Putting green sandwich between clubhouse and 18th green.  View of 1st hole to right with respective green on top of hill. Adjacent to 1st green, to the left, is the tee box for 18th hole.



Images of the course layout and satellite map. The 1st and 18th holes are located adjacent to the the clubhouse and pro-shop. There are several homes located behind the club’s car park.



The image below provides historical wind speed and direction for the East Links for specific months. The prevailing winds will provide some comfort for players on the first few holes on the front 9. The final 8 holes will likely play into the wind.



The first is a gentle opening hole, short par 4. There is friendly wide fairway with room on the left - 18th fairway. The primary obstacle on the fairway of concern for the player is the lone bunker - 196 yds from tee and 127 yds from center of green. The bunker is shallow, but can influence club selection if the tee shot is located in the bunker.

The bunker is located in the ideal landing area for a shot into the green, center right and 125 yds from center of green. This bunker will force the player consider his/her ideal distance for a 2nd shot into an elevated green.



Right side is lined by vegetation, so this tends to push players to aim more to the left.



The ideal tee shot should rest just center right of fairway.  A gentle angle from the center right removes the walking path and side hill located on either side of the green.

The safe tee to the left means the 2nd shot will need to take on the walking path to the left of the green. The bunker isn’t overly penal, but can impact club selection depending on the wind.



This is a view back towards the tee box from the bunker.



View back towards the tee box from the edge of the green.



The green is elongated, it slopes from right to left. There isn’t much room to the right of the green for error.



The rough on the side of the hill is extremely penal.




This is a short and straight forward par 4. The majority of the time, the player should be down wind, which means a driver is not required. Hitting a driver risk a tee shot landing OB in the tree line. Tee shot too far left brings bunkers and mounds into play. In addition, a 2nd shot is required to clean bunkers on left of green.



The fairway runs right to left.  Trees come into play on this hole, especially for the 2nd shot. Tree line pushes into the fairway 133 - 61 yds from the green.



Fairway slopes from right to left, and left side is lined with grass mound and sand bunkers. The mounds are not severe, but will impact a player’s stance.



Approaching green from left side of fairway, 130 yds from green. A 2nd shot from here requires avoidance of left green side bunkers.



Bunkers lining the left side of the fairway near the green.  The first number is 102 yds from center of green, while remaining bunkers guard ledge edge of green.



View from bunkers back to tee box.




Notice how tree line protrudes into the fairway.






Notice the 3 ridges that runs diagonally across the fairway. The first ridge is just over 200 yds from the tee. The ridges will push the ball towards to the left of the fairway.



Fairway is fairly wide and open. Tee shot to the left may bring small trees into play on the 2nd shot.



Ideal tee shot will baby draw hugging right side of fairway. Mid to long hitter can carry the first and second ridges. The prevailing wind is with the player, so a driver is not always required on the tee box.



Middle of the fairway looking towards green.



From fairway looking back to the tee box.



This is the edge of the ridge that runs diagonally across the fairway.
















This is the first par 3, up hill shot. The wind will dictate club selection on this hole as you are exposed elements of Milsey Bay.






Zoom view of green from the tee box.



View from right of green.



Elongated green.









This is a simple hole, straight forward with a lot of room to left and right of the tee box.





Left edge of the fairway.





Looking back towards the tee box from there fairway.





View from green back towards the tee box.








Zoom view of fairway from tee box.




Bunker center of fairway, 153 yds from green.



View of approach of green right of fairway bunker, 153 yds from green.



Approach of green from right edge of fairway.




View back to tee box from green.








Initial view of fairway from tee box. Right side of fairway is OB, other side of fence is farmland.


Zoom view of fairway from tee box.


Front edge of fairway, slopes up and runs to left. Far left is 8th fairway.







Center left approach of green.


Front left of green.



View from back left side of green.


View right back corner of green.



View from green back towards tee box.







An ideal shot will be a draw starting on the left edge of the tree line.  The right side of the fairway at the dogleg has a severe sloping of the rough into the treelike.








The tee box is elevated, so depending on the wind the player needs to judge distance with drive.


The 7th fairway runs along left of 8th hole. Tee shot needs to draw or remain on the left edge of the fairway. Tee shot on the right or too long is in danger of landing in the tree line.



Notice the fairway slopes to the right and the tree line comes into play. Tree line on right comes into play at 230 yds from the tee box. Since it’s an elevated tee, the player needs to select the correct line and shot shape.




Middle of fairway looking at green.


Photo below is just off the tree line and rough looking back at the tee box. The rough isn’t deep, but notice the severity of slope pushing an errant shot into the tree line.


Left front of green is the safest area for an errant shot into the green.


Front area of green, right side of fairway. 9th hole tee box right of 8th green. Anything a few meters off the right edge of the green will end up near the adjacent tee box.


Green looking back towards tee box. 7the fairway is on right.





This is a challenging par 3 but there are landing areas in front of the green for the player hesitant about club selection. The player should take into account the wind coming off the edge of the cliff, which can be different than the wind of the prior hole.


Great test of a par 3. This is one of the highest point on the course. The tee box is completely expose to the elements.



There is a hiking path running behind the green. A safe shot would be short and left of the green.



Front edge of the fairway., there is a lot of running room for a short shot off the tee.



Front area of green is generally flat. Tee shots rolling to the left or right can find either bunker. Notice the contour of the bunkers, which makes it easier for them to collect a rolling ball.



Right edge of green, this bunker has a deeper face and tends to collect balls pushed to the right by the wind.



View from back left corner of green. The bunker on this side of the green is deep, but collects balls on the front edge.


Back area of green. Anything long will run off the green and find the collection area between the green and hiking path.

[Pierre_C]

Gradual uphill tee shot. Based on historical wind data, the player should encounter a head wind from this point on till the 18th hole. Near the green the upslope becomes more severe. As you approach the green, the fairway and green slopes to the right. Shot into the green needs to take into account of the elevated green. Difficulty here is to determine direction and severity of the wind.View from fairway back to tee box. Approach shot landing on right of green runs to the right and away from the green.Left center of fairway, 110 yds out from green.45 yds from center of green.View back of green towards fairway.Middle of fairway looking to green.View center right of fairway back to elevated tee box. Center left of fairway looking back to tee box.Front of green looking back towards tee box. Front of green, 50 yds to center.Zoom in view of approach into the green.Front right of green.Front left of green.View of 13th from 12th tee box. 13th tee box is far right, slightly out of view of image.13th has 2 sets of tee boxes, parallel to each other. On this day, the white and red tees were located on the left box. The right tee box had blue tees. View from right tee box. The tee box on the left has an elevated mound in front of it, which can be intimidating for some players. There are two tee boxes, This is view from left tee box.Blind tee shot into the green from right tee box.Path wraps around the mound. Notice there is a narrow landing area right of the green, which is also a hiking path.View back of green towards tee boxes - wide angle image.Back of 13th green. View of 13th hole walking to 14th tee box.The 14th hole moves the player back up to the top of the cliff.Tee boxes for 14th. One of the few holes where tee boxes are distinctly separate.Fairway left edge looking into green. Zoom in view of approach. 1st bunker is 34 yds from enter of green. The back of the bunker is pronounced. As you approach the first bunker, it hides subsequent bunkers on the right side of the green. View from top of 1st bunker towards green, view looks back to the tee box. Mounds in front of the green, providing additional obstruction of middle and last bunkers on right. Front right corner of green.Short par 5. The wind comes into play the entire hole, usually plays downwind.  This is one of my favorite holes because I love the contours of the fairway and areas around the green. Everything about this hole feel natural.Tee box is expose to wind. The ideal tee shot is a draw, there are two sets of bunkers that come into play for a tee shot. First set of bunkers are 225 yds and second set are 284 from the tee box. Entire right is a hazard and the bay.Looking back towards tee box. The fairway has a lot of natural contours. Adjacent to bunkers from above image, 200 yds from green, center of fairway. Center of fairway looking to the green.Close up of 3rd set of bunkers in fairway, 100 yds from center of green.\Looking back to the tee boxes. Zoom of image above. The contours of this hole are beautiful. This is the final par 3. The tee shot is slightly uphill and likely a cross wind, right to left. On the day I played, there was a left to right wind into the tee box. Of all the par 3s on the course, I felt this was the most challenging. Unlike the other par 3s, I felt where was less room for error off the tee box. Area right of green is tall rough. 17th tee box is located right of 16th green.Front right of green.Green is elongated with a collection area on the left and behind the green.View back to the tee box.View of the 16th hole from 17th tee box.This is the last hole that plays entirely on top of the cliff. The player will likely play the entire hole into the wind. The entire right side is OB and there is a housing park that comes into play on the right off the tee.Right side of fairway, 150 yds to green and 265 yds from tee box.Middle of fairway looking to green.Fairway, looking back tee box, 280 from tee. Notice fairway slopes to the right, towards the edge.The finishing hole brings the player back into town and the club house. The hole itself is not long and has an elevated tee box, hitting down to the green located adjacent to the club house. For longer hitters, there is an opportunity to go for the green if the wind is blowing in the right direction. However, the green complex is protected with multiple bunkers located in front and side and there is a practice area on right. Tantallon Terrace runs along the right of the fairway and is OB.18th tee box looking back to 17th green.  Again, the tee box is completely expose to the elements. Green view of the North Berwick and the coast line.

[Pierre_C]

there is a 20,000 character limit, so I had to remove most of my comments.

[David Harshbarger]

Thank you for sharing! By coincidence I am wearing my Glen GC shirt today!


Photos don’t capture how cool 9 is playing straight out towards Bass rock. 12 revisits this view, then 13 is a bona fide cliffside par 3 that you could fall off.


If all you have ever played is inland parkland golf you’d think this is best setting for golf you’ve ever seen - and this is the local’s course!

[Marty Bonnar]

I am, at this very moment, sitting in our MoHo at the caravan site which overlooks ‘The Glen’. Here’s the view through our windscreen:




To my shame, I’ve never played it, with the temptations of the West Links always too strong for me. We walked into town through the Course on Friday afternoon and I have to say I was quite impressed.
We were lucky enough to play the West with a fellow GCAer yesterday (thanks again, mate!) who also praised the Glen, so I MUST make an effort to do it sometime soon. The weather is crap at the moment, so it’s not going to be today!
F.

[Peter Sayegh]

Pierre,
Great tour of the course.

Thanks for the new screensavers.

[Niall C]

First time I played there it was a tenner green fee and the clubhouse was a single storey timber clad building about a quarter of the size of the modern one. I've been back a number of times since and always enjoyed it. Apart from a couple of lung busting climbs its an easy walk and despite once lipping out for a hole and one on the 13th my favourite hole has to be the 3rd. By far the best green complex on the course, a real standout.


I must confess being put off last time I went to pay by the greenfee. Can't recall what it was but at the time I baulked at paying it. Just checked and the rack rate is now £80 during the week and £100 at the weekend. I suppose it's of value compared to others but still 


Niall