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Malcolm Mckinnon

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Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« on: April 29, 2016, 11:27:41 PM »
It took me a while to actually play here as the more famous links of the East Lothians and Fife and even Northumbria and Cumbria beckoned. Yet, I finally decided that it was time to climb up the volcanic hill only four minutes from our flat in the Morningside neighborhood of Edinburgh to sample the Edinburgh Municipal Golf of Braid Hills. Hat tips to Jonjo Shanley and Michael Graham who are discussion group members and urged me on to see the wonderful golf course here.



Let the tour commence!


Hole 1
339 yards 
Par 4
Tee View


A blind shot into a short par 4 with an aiming stick. I just sent out a 3 hybrid.


DSC01048 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


The slope of the mountain is very hard right to left


DSC01049 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


I played a running approach shot banking off of the hard right to left slope!


DSC01050 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


To here... and immediately I was hooked. Although not links this course plays fast and firm and is good with the ground game.


DSC01051 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 2
127 Yards
Par 3


An uphill short par 3 to a shelved green!


DSC01052 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


View from Green towards forth river and castle!


DSC01054 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 3
327 yards
Par 4


Huge right to left slope on this fairway. Could take you away 50 to 100 vertical feet in the wrong direction.


DSC01055 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


3rd fairway, yikes!


DSC01057 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


3rd Green!


DSC01058 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 4
260 yards
Par 4


Tee view


DSC01060 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Middle of 4th Fairway


DSC01061 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


4th approach is well protected by mounds from the running game.


DSC01062 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


4th Green


DSC01063 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 5
519 yards
Par 5


Tee view


DSC01064 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Down the hole


DSC01066 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


And Down...


DSC01067 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


6th hole
427 yards
Par 4


Tee view, huge uphill par 4!


DSC01070 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


6th approach


DSC01071 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


7th hole
349 yards
Par 4


Tee view, Again a huge sloping fairway but now left to right and away!!


DSC01072 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


A Better View!


DSC01074 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


And another blind approach!


DSC01075 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


8th hole
311 yards
Par 4


A huge uphill dogleg. Huge being the at least two club uphill second shot.


Tee view


DSC01077 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr




View uphill to green


DSC01079 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Huge Green!


DSC01081 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


DSC01082 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


9th hole
Par 3
183 yards


Tee view!


DSC01084 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr

A View from the 9th tee to the Northeast including an Observatory as well as Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crag.


DSC01083 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr




View approaching 9th green.

DSC01086 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Back left Pin position and all of East Lothian including the North Berwick Law in view!!!


DSC01087 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Back nine to follow later. Ciao!!







« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 11:24:30 PM by Malcolm Mckinnon »

Thomas Dai

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2016, 03:48:54 AM »
Well posted Malcolm. I walked some of the course once many years ago when it had a snow coverage, sledges and skiers all over the place.


I suspect this photo-tour may inspire a few more visits to BH.


atb

Tony_Muldoon

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2016, 04:03:50 AM »
Thanks Malcolm
 
Fantastic I had no idea it was that wild. Two sides of the Scottish experience, town and country, cheek by jowl.
 
 
Looks butt clenchingly tight in places, but got to love the use of slopes. Looking forward to the next part.
Let's make GCA grate again!

Mark_Rowlinson

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2016, 08:00:22 AM »
Tougher and tighter than I'd imagined. Many a lost ball, I suspect. Great photos, well done!

Tommy Williamsen

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2016, 10:06:08 AM »
That is a wild course!!! In some ways it reminds me of Bull Bay in north west Wales.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

Bill_McBride

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2016, 01:58:48 PM »
Rig and furrow fairways.    The ancients farmed that land!

JJShanley

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2016, 08:06:54 PM »
Braid Hills has become my day 1 golf game when I visit my folks in Edinburgh.  It not only gets me acclimatized to golf back home, but it's a heck of a fun time.

Great album!

James Brown

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2016, 08:34:11 PM »
When I played i, I thought the huge and obvious slopes made it play much wider than its actual width because there was a pretty clear target for every tee shot. 


I thought the biggest challenge of the course was the very uphill approaches on several long holes.   

Malcolm Mckinnon

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2016, 08:43:17 PM »
I booked my greens fee on teeofftimes.co.uk for about 19-20 quid. By far the best value I have experienced in Scotland as far as Cost vs. Great Golf! That is, other than playing with a member at their course.


The Pro was astonished! "How in the hell do Yanks know about teeofftimes.co.uk?" he said with a combination of disgust and amusement.

Jonathan Mallard

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2016, 08:55:14 PM »
Is there an option to play left on 7, and have a better view/approach to the green?

Malcolm Mckinnon

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2016, 09:21:32 PM »
I'll bet that there is!


This was my first time around so I had no inside poop on course management. I just felt my way around.




Malcolm Mckinnon

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2016, 10:08:13 PM »
Onward then!


Hole 10
548 Yards
Par 5


Tee view


DSC01088 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Marching down the fairway...


DSC01090 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


View of Green.


DSC01091 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


10th Green


DSC01092 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 11
514 yards
Par 5


Tee view


DSC01094 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


View down to green


DSC01095 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 12
292 yards
Par 4


Tee shot back up the hill


DSC01097 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Approach on 12


DSC01098 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 13
205 yards
Par 3


Tee view


DSC01099 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Guardians...


DSC01101 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Pin and view


DSC01102 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Hole 14
383 yards
Par 4


Tee view


DSC01105 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


I f you walk forward you can get a better idea. A big dropshot dogleg to the left!


DSC01104 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Approach to 14


DSC01106 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


15th Hole
343 yards
Par 4


Tee view


DSC01107 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Approach


DSC01108 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


16th hole
308 yards
Par 4


Tee view


DSC01110 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


16th approach


DSC01111 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


17th hole
161 yards
Par 3

A heroic shot to a shelf of a green across a chasm. Fatigue yet?

Tee view (twice)


DSC01112 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


DSC01113 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


18th Hole
262 yards
Par 4


A view from the tee to the heart of the city!


DSC01114 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


A slightly uphill tee shot!


DSC01116 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


Another view of 18th fairway.


DSC01117 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


18th green


DSC01118 by Malcolm Mckinnon, on Flickr


No bar/pub on premises. I recommend the Canny Man in Morningside for apres golf. Be advised that it is cash only!









« Last Edit: April 30, 2016, 10:30:25 PM by Malcolm Mckinnon »

Jon Wiggett

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2016, 02:13:28 AM »
Great tour Malcolm. I love Braid Hills as it offers an alternative style of good golf to many of the better known Edinburgh courses. I am surprised the GF is £18 as it was £6.50 the last time I played it though that might have been 2001 come to think of it. Still £18 is great value.


Jon

Niall C

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2016, 09:18:54 AM »
Malcolm

At this time of year clubs/courses will offer you deals anyway. Worth contacting direct as you might find you will overpay using that website. Anyway, I suspect the pro was astonished at an American who managed to find his way away from the coast  ;).

Niall

MCirba

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2016, 10:14:04 AM »
I love your photo tours Malcolm...thanks for sharing!
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Michael Whitaker

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2016, 06:50:19 PM »
Well done, Malcolm. I've never considered Braid Hills before now, but your tour has created interest. Good for you!


By the way... your pro was surprised a Yank knew about teeofftimes.co.uk... I'm surprised that he didn't know it is an American creation. It's part of the Golf Channel's GolfNow network.
"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

Carson Pilcher

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2016, 08:51:33 PM »
Thank you for posting this great tour.  Braid Hills is the first course I ever played in Scotland...AND the first course I ever played with hickories.  Great memories.

RJ_Daley

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2016, 10:51:11 PM »
Lovely photo tour.  I agree that the contrast to the typical links golf tourists might seek is appealing.  Beautiful photos of the castle and mount in back ground.  It sure makes me think it would be a nice change of pace place to play.  But with that hill and dale routing, it looks like dinner would taste very good after a brisk day at BH.
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

David McIntosh

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2016, 04:56:53 PM »
Malcolm,

Very nice photo tour, thanks for posting it. I've never played BH and haven't really been that curious to play it before now but your tour has stoked my interest.

For those that have played BH, the 3rd fairway looks pretty extreme - is it possible to hold it from the tee or does the ball just funnel down to the bottom of the slope?

Another observation is that most of the par 3s (uphill to shelved greens, albeit ranging from 127 to 205 yards) and par 5s (downhill approach shots to greens guarded by bunkers on either side) seem to have similar characteristics. Does this lead to a feeling of repetitiveness over the course of a round?

David

Marty Bonnar

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2016, 10:34:37 PM »
Malcolm,
Thanks for the memories!
First played the braids in my twenties and then not again until my forties.
IIRC, they've combined a few holes from the former BH#2, the rest of which they allowed to go fallow as the council couldn't afford the upkeep. You might have spotted the old holes further up and over the hill?
Cheers,
M.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Michael Graham

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2016, 03:58:34 AM »
Malcolm,


Great tour. I'm glad you finally got a chance to play the Braids. From the looks of your photos it seems as though you were lucky with the weather. I'm a homer as the Braids was the first 18 holer that I ever stepped foot on with a set of clubs but I still think you'll be hard pressed to have a more enjoyable round than the Braids in good weather with the magnificent views over the city and down the East Lothian coast. I can understand why it flies under the radar as visiting golfer flying into Edinburgh tend to head straight down the A1 or over the Forth Bridge to Fife. Locals that are members of clubs in Edinburgh are unlikely to pay the fees to play a council owned course. Malcolm got on for a decent price but I recall paying £25 on a Sunday when I last played it a couple of years ago. I know Edinburgh Council needs all the income it can get but I do think it is pricing out new or occasional golfers.


If my club Mortonhall wasn't on the other side of the wall from the Braids I would definitely play it at least once or twice a year.


It's a shame that the round ends on something of a whimper with 18 being probably my least favourite hole on the course. It's really just a walk back to the car park.


David,


The 3rd fairway is pretty extreme. You just have to accept that regardless of how you hit your tee shot it is going to take the hard right to left camber of the fairway. It's a long iron or hybrid aimed on gorse on the right hand side of the fairway.






Jon Wiggett

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2016, 07:12:17 AM »



If my club Mortonhall wasn't on the other side of the wall from the Braids I would definitely play it at least once or twice a year.




Michael,


surely being just over the wall should make it more likely.


Jon

Jon Heise

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #22 on: May 03, 2016, 10:19:15 AM »
Outstanding! I need to get back to Edinburgh ASAP.
I still like Greywalls better.

Michael Graham

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2016, 10:29:16 AM »



If my club Mortonhall wasn't on the other side of the wall from the Braids I would definitely play it at least once or twice a year.




Michael,


surely being just over the wall should make it more likely.


Jon




Jon,


If you pony up my green fee I'll happily play the Braids once a month.  ;)

JJShanley

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Re: Braid Hills Golf Course in Edinburgh, UK photo tour!
« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2016, 11:54:34 AM »
When I finally win the PowerBall (which I never play) I have three plans for my native Edinburgh:
1. Renovate the Ross Band Stand.
2. Finish off the Napoleonic War Memorial
3. Fund a "restovation" of Braid Hills.


I wouldn't change anything about the layout, because I don't think you can, but it could do with a few tees rebuilt here and there.


I might shorten the first so that the tee shot is no longer blind (for safety and pace of play) with some bunkering on the left.  That would allow for a larger practice putting green.


I hadn't thought of the par 3s all following a generic, uphill, blind shot.  I'd consider tinkering with the 2nd green, to make it more Redanish. 


I love 14, although the prize for a tee shot that flies the rocks is a dull pitch shot.  The one time I pulled it off - downwind - I felt like walking to the other side and hitting the blind approach.


The 6th green seems awfully small and narrow for an long, uphill par-4 that typically plays into the wind.


Not much you can do at 18.  As Michael says, it lets you down after the fun at 17.


I plan on playing there May 19, as early as possible.