History in the Shadow of the Capital
It is in the Lothians that much of the very earliest history of golf is contained. The ghosts of ancient golfing combat still roam the links on the shores of the Firth of Forth and it is here that Braid has added his own special legacy to golf in the shadow of Scotland’s capital city.
Braid created two courses at Dalmahoy, the East and West with the former the slightly better known having hosted many important events and championships including the 1992 Solheim Cup. At Mortonhall Braid made changes to an original design by his Great Triumvirate partner, J.H. Taylor while at Ratho Park Braid began from scratch and created a delightful parkland layout close to Dalmahoy. His work at Royal Burgess was largely a refinement of an original Tom Morris layout, but at Royal Musselburgh he was given a free hand on a new site at Prestongrange. He attended the opening on the new course in September 1926 playing in a famous match in which he partnered Sandy Herd for Scotland against the English pairing of Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor.
