Edinburgh area golf

[Steve_Lovett]

A small group of friends and I are planning a golf trip to the Edinburgh area for next year. Our first draft of the trip's itinerary includes the following:


Dumbarnie
Kingsbarns
St Andrews - Old
Carnoustie
Gullane #1
Muirfield
North Berwick


For those who know, are there other recommendations or changes we should consider? If we could add a few days/courses, what would they be? Are there meaningful non-golf sights not-to-be-missed?


Thanks in advance for sharing any advice and knowledge.

[Sean_A]

Dunbar
Goswick
Elie
Panmure
Crail
New
Eden
Burnside

Ciao

[John Mayhugh]

I've not played Dumbarnie, but can't imagine choosing it over Elie. Your list seems to value hitting the biggest names, so it's not clear if lesser known courses would suit your interests.

Sean's list is good. You might also consider:
Lundin
Leven
Kilspindie
Musselburgh Old

It's easy enough to find info and pictures of all of these courses. That could help you decide if they are worth adding.

No specific sights you must see, but if you're in North Berwick and St. Andrews, spend a little time walking around the town. If you just pop in for golf and move on to the next place, you're really going to miss out.

[Ally Mcintosh]

If the big names are the priority, I’d still swap in Elie for Dumbarnie. You need one course to give you an idea of more quirky, less championship golf. Elie is your best bet here, it’s a great club and you don’t need two modern constructed links (Kingsbarns & Dumbarnie).

[Ira Fishman]

Agree that Elie should not be missed. We are going back this year for a second visit. Crail Balcomie is not as strong a course from an architecture standpoint although it is no slouch; it is a truly beautiful setting. We are going back there too.


I was not enamored with Kingsbarns especially for the price, but enough people on here liked it such that I put it on our list. It was worth the play, but I would not go back.


John mentioned Kilspindie. Pure joyous fun. A great choice if you want a second round on the day you are playing NB, Gullane, or Muirfield.


Hope that helps. You will have a fabulous time no matter what.

[Tim Gavrich]

IMO you can't go in and out of Edinburgh without visiting the Short Hole Club. It is an essential golf experience.

[David_Tepper]

Re: the Short Hole Club

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230717-the-little-known-courses-that-made-modern-golf
 

[David Kelly]

A small group of friends and I are planning a golf trip to the Edinburgh area for next year. Our first draft of the trip's itinerary includes the following:


Dumbarnie
Kingsbarns
St Andrews - Old
Carnoustie
Gullane #1
Muirfield
North Berwick


For those who know, are there other recommendations or changes we should consider? If we could add a few days/courses, what would they be? Are there meaningful non-golf sights not-to-be-missed?


Thanks in advance for sharing any advice and knowledge.

I'd drop Kingsbarns and/or Dumbarnie for either Elie, New or a few others. 
I'd also drop Kingsbarns and/or Dumbarnie for a second day at North Berwick.

[David Harshbarger]

Kilspindie is as said pure, joyous fun. It’s also an excellent option for your first day when jet lag may be an issue. Our B&B operator in North Berwick set that up and said Kilspindie on day 1 is her go to start of an itinerary.


Dunbar is amazing. Championship golf ready in scale yet fun and engaging throughout. We played Gullane 2 & 3 but not 1. Unless 1 is wildly superior to 2 and 3, which I had heard it is not, I would put Dunbar ahead of or in place of Gullane.


If you are adding afternoon rounds, The Glen is North Berwicks East Links. It is nothing like the West Links but well worth the round and time. It is cliff side and hill side golf with excellent views.


Either Gullane 2 or Gullane 3 would be excellent afternoon rounds as well.


Goswick is farther afield from NB and Edinburgh and worth the round. From my trip it really helped frame how links golf adapts to the the land to give such different experiences. It showed the strength of siting within the more dramatic dunes that is organic while maintaining excellent golf principles.


If the crew and you are def focused on the top shelf courses on your list swapping out Gullane 1 for Dunbar would be the play that sacrifices the weakest name on the list for a course with low name recognition that everyone will absolutely love.

[mike_malone]

While I love Elie and Leven which I have played and wanted to play Crail and Lundin my suggestion is just do the courses south of Edinburgh.


  Goswick
  Musselburgh Old
  North Berwick
  Dunbar
  Kilspindie
  Gullane 3


  Are courses I have played and maybe you treat yourself to one big one like Muirfield.


Relax at Ducks Inn.

[Tim Gallant]

A small group of friends and I are planning a golf trip to the Edinburgh area for next year. Our first draft of the trip's itinerary includes the following:


Dumbarnie
Kingsbarns
St Andrews - Old
Carnoustie
Gullane #1
Muirfield
North Berwick


For those who know, are there other recommendations or changes we should consider? If we could add a few days/courses, what would they be? Are there meaningful non-golf sights not-to-be-missed?


Thanks in advance for sharing any advice and knowledge.

Great itinerary Steve! I'd echo the others and say Elie is not to be missed. Kilspindie is such a fun course as well. Goswick is the only course I would classify as a 'hidden gem' to most that are coming from outside the UK&I.

[Dan_Callahan]

If you are going to Gullane, I would absolutely play all three courses.

[Wayne_Kozun]

You might want to consider staying in North Berwick or Gullane for a few days rather than right in Edinburgh.  There is easily enough golf in the East Lothian area to justify three nights.

[Steve_Lovett]

You might want to consider staying in North Berwick or Gullane for a few days rather than right in Edinburgh.  There is easily enough golf in the East Lothian area to justify three nights.

Good to hear. Our plan as it is at the moment has us spending 4 nights in St. Andrews and 3 nights in North Berwick.
 

[Mark Pritchett]

Consider adding Panmure to your trip, it is close to Carnoustie.  It is a very unique course. 


Kilspindie is perfect to play the day you arrive.  Aberlady is a neat place.


Kingsbarns is a very American experience.  If you play it you may feel like you are at Whistling Straits, which is not a necessarily a bad thing it just doesn’t have the “Scotland” vibe. 


Not too far and worth a visit is the Kings course at Gleneagles. 

[Brian Finn]

You might want to consider staying in North Berwick or Gullane for a few days rather than right in Edinburgh.  There is easily enough golf in the East Lothian area to justify three nights.

There is enough golf in East Lothian to justify at least a week, as the long list of courses mentioned shows.

[Matt Schoolfield]

I feel awkward to bring this one up, because I couldn't recommend spending a day there, but there is a par 3 in the city of Edinburgh I really enjoyed when I was at grad school. #13 at Carrick Knowe was remarkable enough that I wrote a little piece on it. It's one of the best/quirkiest (intentional?) uses of a prevailing wind I've seen.

The trees make an hour glass shape (you can see here), so the wind speeds at the pinch point are orders of magnitude stronger than at the tee. A long narrow green works with this by allowing the player some wiggle room with distance (wind is a bit random after all), but absolutely zero room for error on target line. Anything that isn't hit dead straight is in trouble.

So, if you're giving yourself a jet lag day in the city, or a few hours before you need to be at the airport, and you really want to play, it might be worth popping over, otherwise, yea, go to Fife. Same goes for the absolutely ridiculous (mostly into the wind) 596 yard finisher at Silverknowes, good times, but I wouldn't waste a round at a place like the New Course playing one of these townie parkland spots, except maybe for a bit of nostalgia.

[Sean_A]

IMO you can't go in and out of Edinburgh without visiting the Short Hole Club. It is an essential golf experience.

Why do you think Bruntsfield Short Course is essential? For the casual golf tourist there isn't much to see.

Ciao

[Tim Gavrich]

IMO you can't go in and out of Edinburgh without visiting the Short Hole Club. It is an essential golf experience.

Why do you think Bruntsfield Short Course is essential? For the casual golf tourist there isn't much to see.

Ciao

Are the folks who frequent this site "casual golf tourists"? I've been under the impression that there's a deeper level of love for the game here. But either way, I would argue that the Short Hole Club is the type of golf experience that might turn a casual player into a more avid one.


I guess for people who only consider big courses to be worthy golf, and whose main goal in golf/golf travel is to belt-notch, it might not seem like much. But knocking a golf ball around on lumpy turf with two clubs in hand in the middle of a city on a piece of ground where golf has been played for half a millennium and then going for a pint across the street in a tavern that has been there since the 1400s is one of the most refreshing golf experiences I've had in my own travels.

[Thomas Dai]

I suggest Musselburgh Old shouldn’t be missed.
It has a special place in golf history, it’s got the former pub ex-serving window, being 9-holes it can be played pretty quickly, its much more challenging than you might at first expect, it’s inexpensive, it can be played with rented hickories for an unusual experience and it’s inside a horseracing track. It’s also on the way to and from East Lothian so pretty convenient.
Atb

[Sean_A]

IMO you can't go in and out of Edinburgh without visiting the Short Hole Club. It is an essential golf experience.

Why do you think Bruntsfield Short Course is essential? For the casual golf tourist there isn't much to see.

Ciao

Are the folks who frequent this site "casual golf tourists"? I've been under the impression that there's a deeper level of love for the game here. But either way, I would argue that the Short Hole Club is the type of golf experience that might turn a casual player into a more avid one.

I guess for people who only consider big courses to be worthy golf, and whose main goal in golf/golf travel is to belt-notch, it might not seem like much. But knocking a golf ball around on lumpy turf with two clubs in hand in the middle of a city on a piece of ground where golf has been played for half a millennium and then going for a pint across the street in a tavern that has been there since the 1400s is one of the most refreshing golf experiences I've had in my own travels.

I enjoyed my few times around the course as well. Except for the very hard core history wing nuts, I would be hard pressed to suggest skipping a cool course to play it...might make for a cool destination if staying in the city. Probably get more history and a 9 holer at Musselburgh. I spose you could do both in the same day.   

Ciao

[Steve_Lovett]

IMO you can't go in and out of Edinburgh without visiting the Short Hole Club. It is an essential golf experience.

Why do you think Bruntsfield Short Course is essential? For the casual golf tourist there isn't much to see.

Ciao

Are the folks who frequent this site "casual golf tourists"? I've been under the impression that there's a deeper level of love for the game here. But either way, I would argue that the Short Hole Club is the type of golf experience that might turn a casual player into a more avid one.

I guess for people who only consider big courses to be worthy golf, and whose main goal in golf/golf travel is to belt-notch, it might not seem like much. But knocking a golf ball around on lumpy turf with two clubs in hand in the middle of a city on a piece of ground where golf has been played for half a millennium and then going for a pint across the street in a tavern that has been there since the 1400s is one of the most refreshing golf experiences I've had in my own travels.

I enjoyed my few times around the course as well. Except for the very hard core history wing nuts, I would be hard pressed to suggest skipping a cool course to play it...might make for a cool destination if staying in the city. Probably get more history and a 9 holer at Musselburgh. I spose you could do both in the same day.   

Ciao

We are not Casual Golf Tourists, nor are we "belt-notchers".


We love golf and the special places that are part of the game - and everything about it, surrounding it, and the history of it. I enjoy all of the feedback in this thread - it's why I asked the question. For this trip, we're staying on either side of Edinburgh (St Andrews & North Berwick) rather than in the city and we know we can't do all of everything this visit. It so happens we have mostly big, well-known courses on this itinerary so far, but aren't so tightly booked that we can't work in other courses/places/experiences (and still leave room for serendipity to happen).


Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming. It's very much appreciated.