Open Qualifiers
Tour
Duration: 5 days
If you contact the club secretary well in
advance you may be fortunate to play at the world's oldest club,
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. They relocated to
Muirfield at the end of the 19th century and the course has since
hosted the Open on many occasions.
Don't be too disappointed if you cannot play
there, as the area has five other stunning courses that
have hosted the Open's Final Qualifying and many national
championships. Each of these is a joy to play and makes the area
one of the best in the world for genuine links golf.
Gullane
No1
A stunning links playable all year round, the
course snakes across Gullane Hill from where views of East Lothian,
Edinburgh and Fife are spectacular. Greens, fairways and bunkers
are all superb and the course presents one of the best challenges
in Scotland.
North Berwick
GC
North Berwick is one of the best and most scenic
links courses in Scotland with views over the Isle of May, the
islands of Fidra and Craigleith, the Bass Rock and across the Forth
to Fife. The course is sprinkled with top-notch holes and rewards
strategy and guile rather than power hitting. The par three 15th,
'Redan', is one of the most copied holes across the world.
Dunbar
GC
Fourteen consecutive holes run along a narrow
strip of land by the Firth of Forth meaning a lengthy, testing
exposure to the vagaries of seaside golf. An internal out of bounds
wall at the 18th provides a final test at a truly outstanding
course.
Longniddry
GC
Among the courses lining the Forth estuary,
Longniddry stands out for its mix of links and parkland. 6260 yards
may not seem long but with no par 5's and eight 400+ yards par 4's,
this is a stiff challenge, particularly in a west wind, leaving no
doubt why the course has been an Open qualifying venue.
Luffness New
GC
Luffness New is a championship links adjacent to
Gullane and Muirfield, famous for its true greens. When Bobby Locke
offered the Head Greenkeeper a written statement to this effect, he
replied "No thank ye, Sir - a' body kens aboot it."
