[mike_beene]

We are scheduled for 36 holes in Gullane.Has anyone played Gullane #2?I'm not a huge fan of#1 and am tempted to play an extra round at N Berwick .Is #2 worth a play?

[Dan King]

If you don't like No. 1 there is a good chance you won't like No. 2 either. More than once I've spent a very pleasant day at Gullane playing No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, just taking a break for the Death by Chocolate Cake and a pint or two of Belhaven's Best at the Old ClubHouse.

Dan King

Then have you anywhere in all the world such delightful 'heichs and howes' giving relief for the muscles, variety to the battle, and sustained interest, as you have at Gullane? There is no unpardonable monotony here. You never tire. As our lamented friend John Thomson sang:

It's up the hill, it's down the hill,
 And roun' the hill, an a' man;
To Gullane Hill, wi' richt guid will,
 If ye can gowff ava, man.
  --John Kerr, 1896

[Dan King]

Oops, I accidentally only sent part of John Thomson's poem:

It's up the hill, it's down the hill,
 And roun' the hill, an a' man;
To Gullane Hill, wi' richt guid will,
 If ye can gowff ava, man.
The turf is soft as maiden's cheek,
  Wi' youth and beauty bloomin';
And bonnie thyme, wi' odour sweet,
 The caller air's perfumin'.
There's hights and howes, there's bosky knowes,
 As far as eye can cover;
By sea and land, a picture grand
 Dame Nature shows her lover.
 
By the way, while in Gullane, you should make an appointment to see Archie Baird at his little museum. You can explain to him how you don't like Gullane No. 1.

Dan King

For scenery we place Gullane before any other green. It is said from the top of the hill on a clear day you can see fourteen counties. Certainly at many points the outlook is grand, far-reaching, unsurpassable in interest and beauty. Mind and body are refreshed as the eye wanders over the Firth, sweetly silvered under the sunshine of a summer day.
 --John Kerr

[Norbert P]

By the way, while in Gullane, you should make an appointment to see Archie Baird at his little museum. You can explain to him how you don't like Gullane No. 1.

  THAT would be a test of diplomatic prowess.   Archie's ex-military .. could get ugly. . . and probably wouldn't hesitate banishing Shirley Temple-Black from Scotland.

[Dan King]

Now I know why I miss this place when I'm away. I learn something new every day.

I didn't even know Shirley Temple was still alive. What's she doing in Scotland?

Dan King

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph."
 --Shirley Temple

[mike_beene]

Let me start my backpedal(learned from VJ).I don't hate Gullane,just love Muirfield and N Berwick.I've been to Archie's museum,and have an autographed copy of his book on my desk.The Open medal is neat.The view off 7 is great.The course just doesn't make my heart race like Muirfield,TOC,N. Berwick and Kingsbarnes.I know I just blew it with that last one,so much for my political career!

[les_claytor]

I spent a day golfing around Gullane Hill many a fortnight ago and found it very pleasurable.  I found the par 3 on the back of #2, from an elevated tee over a spectacle bunker to a punch bowl green one of my favorite tee shots.  The hole is over 200 yards, but the bunker foreshortens the space into what looks like approx. 150 yards.

Archie told me they were considering removing the bunker bcs the seniors could not carry it.  Hopefully that notion never came to fruition.  Any reports?

Did Archie publish a book.  If so what's the title and info?  He is an amazing guy and quite a resource to golf.  He had the most amazing golf cards from the twenties.  Those cards would make a book in themselves.

[Paul_Turner]

I want to see #3 more than #2, just from a couple of reports.  I like #1, but it's not a favourite links, too many straight holes from what I remember.

[mike_beene]

Archie's book is Golf on Gullane Hill. The 6th edition was published in 1999.I got mine a few years ago at his museum in Gullane.I think correspondance to Muirfield or Gullane would find him.The book is worthwhile.As you probably know,the museum is worth a trip.It gets some mention in Dobson's Final Rounds.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I have Archie's Book too and liked it. I would skip #2 for another round at N.Berwick. I like to play differnet course and I enjoyed #2 and #3. They are just slightly easier versions of #1 in many ways. I really liked #1 and the whole complex there. However, N Berwick is a special place to be enjoyed as often as possible.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I admire and respect Dan King, but to each his own. Belhaven's best has a strong following. I am however a Tennant's man, being lager lover. That is when good whisky is not the drink of choice.

[Tom_Doak]

I trashed #2 in my book years ago because of the blind, uphill 3rd hole; but I played it again in March and it was much better than I remembered (esp. the par 3 mentioned above).  It's worth playing.

But you should really call Archie and ask him to play #3 with you.  It's only 5300 yards, but it's got some great greens complexes and it was a lot of fun.

[Bob_Huntley]

There is Muirfield, there is the wannabe Muirfield-Luffness New, and then there is Gullane. How anyone can not like Gullane surprises me. Number 1 is a delight and wonderful test, Number 2, if one does not have a cardiac event going up the third, can be an enjoyable outing and Number 3 is a walk on the wild side.

I do believe I have had more fun playing around the Hill than at Muirfield. I like and admire Ben Crenshaw, but when he calls Muirfield the best course on the planet he must have been using a banned substance.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

lol Well said Bob, I agree totally. lol I do not find Muirfield to be the best course in East Lothian, much less the world.

[Dan King]

I'd always wanted to play Luffness-New and finally had gotten a chance on my last outing to Scotland. I thought it was a wonderful course.

Being a history buff, it is often tough to separate a club's history from the course, and then there is always the idea of playing a course that you've looked forward to playing for a while.

Add to that the impossible task of judging a course after only playing it once or twice, and I think I'm going to have to make a few trips back to really get a feel for Luffness-New.

Throw on top of that the fact that I totally dislike rankings.

All that said, I think it would be possible to make the case for Muirfield being no more than the third best course in the town of Gullane.

For a guy who doesn't like rankings, I'm really getting into it tonight. But I'd nominate the town of Gullane as the golfingist town. Not as pretentious as Pebble Beach and not as touristy as St. Andrews. But right there within the town are the three Gullane courses, Luffness-New down the road, Muirfield at the other end of town, along with a children's course, Death by Chocolate Cake and Belhaven's Best (or Tennant's) at the Old Club House, Archie Baird's fine museum and the Mallard, a fine place to rest after playing 90 holes on a summer day, or Greywalls for those of you with the chi-ching.

Dan King

There is probably no other golfing centre that is quite so good as Gullane, in the East Lothian. If the golfer can only get up early enough in the morning, and has the strength to do it, he can play on seven courses on one long summer's day. At his very door is a trinity of courses -- Gullane, New Gullane, and New Luffness -- which to the eye of a stranger, are indistinguishable the one from the other.
 --Bernard Darwin

[Darren_Kilfara]

I believe that if I could belong to any golf club in Scotland, I'd choose Gullane - and I haven't even played the #3 course yet. #1 is a fantastic, very varied golf course which I rate alongside and possibly even above Muirfield (I agree with Bob's comments completely), and #2, while clearly weaker than #1, has many strengths of its own. #2 is basically the same style course as #1, with 17 holes that are only marginally less good that #1 and one hole (the third) which has been rightly panned but certainly qualifies for, um, uniqueness points. What golf clubs in the WORLD have 54 holes as good and as different (catering to the entire gamut of golfing abilities) as those at Gullane?

Cheers,
Darren

[ForkaB]

Gullane is good (and I like #2 better than #1--about the same quality, and less pretentious), but anybody who really thinks even the best 18 or the 54 holes there are the same league as Muirfield has the right to their own opinion........

[Bob_Huntley]

Rich.

Look around, you may not come this way again. (in joke)

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