Find S_R a course (edinburgh golfing scene)

To stop us buning up navy’s thread here is the place to post thoughts on Edinburgh golf and where S_R should join.


What i would have posted.

“Carrick Knowe isn't great but if all you need is a place to practice midweek it could do the trick. I would guess in later evening traffic you could get to the braids in about 20-25 mins, maybe quicker.

The issue I have with paying for membership at the “better” Edinburgh courses is that a lot of them are not really that good in terms of the course for the fee charged. The better ones like bruntsfield links and royal burgess are a bit of trek from my side of town. I know ban plays at duddingston which is ok, not sure what the membership fee is there these days.”

My favourite by a considerable margin is Braid Hills, It's always in tip-top condition. Even after the weather/snow battering Edinburgh took this time last year the course was opened late January (2-3 weeks before most others) and was in relatively good condition. And with a round being £21 its extremely good value.

Tend to play Silverknowes and Craigintinny most often but thats due to locality than anything else. Also played Kingsacre and Lothianburn. Both are good courses and fairly inexpensive.

Would also recommend forrester Park in Dunfermline/Cairney Hill, family run, greens are USGA spec, Its quite pricey but the course always looks fantastic, very rarely have I noticed laying water when visiting to use their range.

Mac,

I'm surprised you didn't mention Dalmahoy. I thought that would be right up your street...

I have never played Dalmahoy, seems the sort of place that might be a little over priced for what it is.

By the way dont go outside, it is fecking cold.

Had considered a few but they are pretty pricey, not sure the value for money from the likes of Mortonhall.

Super

Mortonhall is on the same land as the braids, so you may as well join the braids. I always wish I lived just a bit closer to gullane as I would love to join there.

Super, are you moving to Edinburgh, or will you be travelling too/fro from St. Andrews? I ask as there are some fantastic courses/clubs along the south-east Fife coast en route, Aberdour for one.

Gareth, I've moved, so am now a considerable distance away from St.Andrews and my other heathland course.
Some cracking courses along the coast. Leven is cheap, but still a bit of a mission.

Turnhouse, Royal Burgess, Bruntsfield are the best courses on that side of town. Murrayfield and Silverknowes are ok. Dalmahoy has two nice courses, but it's expensive and it wasn't improved by the redesign in the 1980s.

I agree with the comments about Braid Hills, I like it, but it can be a bit fiddly getting there on weekdays at rush hour. Same applies to Merchants and Mortonhall, and they aren't as good as the Braids.

I've always like Duddingston. Out in East Lothian - I know not very convenient from Corstorphine - I like Craigielawe, Longniddry, Kilspindie, Aberlady, Gullane (all of them) and of course the West Links at North Berwick which is where I'd choose if I could only play one course for the rest of my life.

George

Silverknowes is a dive, not sure when you last played it?

Super as long as you dont try to drive through morningside high street then getting to the braids is fine in traffic.

Forgot about turnhouse, not played it so cannot comment on the quality.

Silverknowes is pretty horrible in the bad weather, its one of the worst courses I've played in terms of drainage, but throughout the Summer I think its a good course. 7th, 9th, 16th and 18th holes are as tough a test as anywhere I've played (7th playing against the wind is brutal).

Does Carrick Knowe have a practice area? Just somewhere to hit wedges and chip?

super_realist wrote:Gareth, I've moved, so am now a considerable distance away from St.Andrews and my other heathland course.
Some cracking courses along the coast. Leven is cheap, but still a bit of a mission.

Have you finished uni?

I am quite curious about the info in this thread as I might need to relocate to Edinburgh in the next 6 months due to work commitments, so I'll need to find a new or second course. Cragielaw looks reasonable and they have spaces.

Have I finished Uni? I graduated in 2000!!! Ha ha, but not from that rubbish Uni in St.Andrews.

super_realist wrote:Have I finished Uni? I graduated in 2000!!! Ha ha, but not from that rubbish Uni in St.Andrews.

Must have been somebody else going to St. Andrews and raving about the golf privileges on the old 606 forum, always thought it was yourself.

I think it was EDSM (or something like that acronym)

I do get St. Andrews outrageously cheaply though.

Super, Am I correct in thinking it's like 35% if you live within the Town/district boundary?

Gareth, If you live in the town boundary you get a links ticket for £180 provided you are in one of the local clubs about £150 a year.

NE Fife is about 360, and then everyone else is about 540.

Redrage

If you plan to live in the town, then east Lothian as a location for your main course might not be the best idea if you tend to play through the week. You would be looking at 30-45 minutes at best to get out to Aberlady depending on traffic. If you only want to play at weekends then east Lothian would be an excellent option as there are many great courses. Of course getting a membership place may be tricky at some of the clubs.

Sadly the in town options are as expensive but of poorer quality courses.

super_realist wrote:I think it was EDSM (or something like that acronym)

I do get St. Andrews outrageously cheaply though.

That'll be how my wires got crossed!

Anyway, Cragielaw is worth checking out.
http://www.craigielawgolfclub.com/webpages/members_howtojoin.php

McLaren - I can't remember. I've played Silverknowes about half a dozen times over the years, mostly in summer I think. It always seemed reasonable to me, neither fantastic nor terrible.

Unfortunately, from the north or west of Edinburgh you do have to skirt Morningside to get to the Braids. There are some back doubles but they take some getting to know, and you are always at the mercy of Jemima picking up little Horatio and Prudence in a Chelsea Tractor that's so big it needs its own postcode.

One course I forgot about that quite impressed me is Broomieknowe. It's quite easy to get to round the by-pass (if that's moving) and the greens are lovely. Not convenient for Corstorphine I'm afraid though.

McLaren wrote:Redrage

If you plan to live in the town, then east Lothian as a location for your main course might not be the best idea if you tend to play through the week. You would be looking at 30-45 minutes at best to get out to Aberlady depending on traffic. If you only want to play at weekends then east Lothian would be an excellent option as there are many great courses. Of course getting a membership place may be tricky at some of the clubs.

Sadly the in town options are as expensive but of poorer quality courses.

I would be mainly playing through the week, but I would be playing during the day. I dunno where we would relocate to, I don't fancy the city centre though.

George

I will have you know the people of Morningside are fine folks. Well some of them anyway, cant say I mix with the Horatio’s of the place.




Redrage, ok if you are living out of town then east lothian is nice, but good luck affording a house. It is a bit pricey.

McLaren,

Yes, I lived in Morningside for a while. It was very nice, and the people were very friendly. Just recently though I've noticed it's become a bit like Chelsea. Decidedly la de da, and not nearly as nice as I remember it. If you live there, then I take it all back!

super_realist wrote:Does Carrick Knowe have a practice area? Just somewhere to hit wedges and chip?

No, but i tend to go along at night, it is usually quiet enough after about 7 to pick a Hole and practise wedges/chipping/putting

Gerore, yes I live in morningside but no need to take it back, there are more than few la de da's.

Is Gullane an option? Or of course The Renaissance - by all accounts you would have the place to yourself!

Spoke to a work colleague this afternoon, he recommended either Merchants, Lothianburn (both have offers for new members) or Craigielaw, or any of the Braid Hills affiliated clubs.

There are very good practice facilities at Craigielaw.

The one course that no one seems to mention in that neck of the woods is Luffness. They used to have a very small inclusive membership but I don't think that is the case now.

There is also a good wee 9 holer at Gifford if it is a second course you want.

Merchants is a bit quirky. I like it, but there are some holes where you smack it off tees that must be 100 feet above the fairway, and others where the green is 100 feet above the fairway. The first hole over the road is a classic example. It's the closest thing to standing on top of Arthurs Seat and smacking one towards Holyrood that I can imagine.

puligny wrote:Is Gullane an option? Or of course The Renaissance - by all accounts you would have the place to yourself!

Renaissance!!! Well yes for a mere £60000 at least upfront you could get the course to yourself. I think you can play as a one off for £200, I am tempted but cannot find anyone else willing to pay that. I know someone whose dad is a member but I have had no luck getting on down that route either.

I have considered joining Gullane but it is the sort of place where you need to know a few members, and I dont. Secondly at at leat £2000 annual fee that means a lot of trips out to east lothian to get your money's worth.


Doon

I have never played luffness and given the green fee is about double Gullane 1 and triple no.2 dont think I will be playing it unless that changes. If anyone has played luffness what did you think of it and how does it compare to local rivals.



Gareth

Lothianburn looks like you might need the skills of a mountain goat, it is parallel to the ski slope.

Lothianburn,

I moved to Edinburgh for a couple of years in the mid 80s. While selecting a course in the Autumn I tried Lothianburn. Must be the hilliest course I've ever played. The light was beginning to fade on the back 9 as the ski slope came into view. Looked fantastic and much more fun than playing Lothianburn.

Within the next 6 months I learned to ski (would not have done so if I had not played Lothianburn) and joined Duddingston. As previous posts I think its an option to consider.

I have played Luffness quite a few times, compares somewhere between Gullane No2. and Kilspindie. Those prices are just plain daft, they obviously don't want visitors.
Haddington and The Glen at NB. are other options.

We'll certainly need to have a game arranged for the springtime with those in the area.

There was talk of a meet up last year but I am not sure what happened to it?


Did anyone attend?

Was just browsing through this and thought I'd say that Turnhouse looks a fairly decent place, with a large practice area/range as well and just off the top of Corstorphine is it not?

Would be interested to hear if anyone's played it? Was in the area a fair bit last year with work and was always passing by that course.

Turnhouse GC was mentioned in the thread below and I offered my opinion on it; basically pretty good course with excellent practice facilities let down slightly by 2 or 3 weak blind holes. Also a fair bit of noise from the airport which you get used to after a while.

https://www.606v2.com/t7749-anyone-played-turnhouse-golf-course-in-edinburgh?highlight=turnhouse

On the west side of Edinburgh I'd also recommend Baberton (greens were excellent when I played it in July and layout was interesting as well), and I've heard Ratho Park is decent although I've never played it. Further afield there are good courses in West Lothian (including my own) although you're talking roughly a 10-mile drive from the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh.

I'm thinking of joining a 2nd course on the west side of Edinburgh (work at the Gyle) and Baberton & Turnhouse are the 2 I'm considering.

Had a look at the duddingston website and you can get a 7 day youth membership (18-29) for £573 + £400 joining fee, the joining fee can be paid over two years. Sadly it says there is a waiting list but don’t know if Ban can shed some light on that. I have often thought about joining Duddingston as the idea of belonging to a proper club is starting to appeal to me. Seems reasonable enough price wise.

Seems like a good deal Mac, you should go for that. I think it's more expensive for me but still quite good value.

McLaren wrote:There was talk of a meet up last year but I am not sure what happened to it?


Did anyone attend?

It was just Graeme and I in the end. You seemed to go awol in the weeks leading up to it after committing to going, we were most curious to see if you would show on the day.

I'm still shocked at how little I actually played in the area when I had an 8 month contract for RBS in 2008. I tended to just practice during the week and used the range at KingsAcre (just off the bypass a lot), never actually played the course though as I did the weekly commute back to Swindon to play medals at the weekend.

Got to say though that the drive from Musselburgh to North Berwick would have any golfer salivating at the mouth...Just exactly how many courses are there along that stretch?

Whatever happened to Graeme? I remember him taking over-the-top offence to something I said and I don't remember hearing from on the forum since.

Bloody hell super well done.

Redrage

If you met Graeme and have his contact details is there a chance you could get him back posting, I remember enjoying his contributions.

There was a time last may/june/july I stopped posting because of travel and other commitments and do remember Graeme and LJ not being around when I returned.

I messaged him a few weeks back to see if he was still using the forum, he runs his own business and is quite busy so doesn't post often now.

McLaren wrote:Had a look at the duddingston website and you can get a 7 day youth membership (18-29) for £573 + £400 joining fee, the joining fee can be paid over two years. Sadly it says there is a waiting list but don’t know if Ban can shed some light on that. I have often thought about joining Duddingston as the idea of belonging to a proper club is starting to appeal to me. Seems reasonable enough price wise.

mac, they closed entries for the youth category a couple of months ago. i think they'd taken in around 100+ new youth members over the past couple of years. i'm not sure how long a waiting list there is but i'd be happy to ask the secretary for you if you are interested. one thing to note is that they are also changing the youth category status next year into sub-sections. from memory this means that under 25's will pay the current 50% rate, under 27s will pay 67%, and under 29s will pay 75%. that means it is likely that a few of the current youth members may move on and free up room for the likes of yourself. i'm intending to renew come the end of march for another season, but thinking about possibly moving elsewhere after that depending on circumstances (most likely the edin leisure card for a year or two before our next house move - when i'll be looking for some where to live which is nearer a cheap but good club!).

i'm still happy to host a v2 4ball at duddingston in the spring.

s_r, if you've moved to corstorphine you might be my new next door neighbour - whats your postcode
i'd try courses like turnhouse and lothianburn out - they're love/hate courses and they might be down your street or not. they are both in good condition (lothianburns greens are astonishinly lovely) and both have some excellent holes, and a few where being a member helps out a lot. One thing - on the 3rd at Turnhouse, don't aim over the marker pole the correct line is waaaay right (more like the airport control tower if i remember correctly!!).

i also thought about graeme a few weeks ago when i read something about crail. he was a nice chap and its a shame he's not posting on here as he made some interesting comments.

off to kilspindie again tomorrow! first game in nearly 2 weeks so that should be interesting!!!

Jas

Mussleburgh Old
Royal Mussleburgh
Longniddry
Craigieknowe
Kilspindie
Luffness
Gullane 3,2,1
HCEG
Archerfield x3
North Berwick West
North Berwick Glen

I think thats them!

Jings that works out as a course per mile on the A198.

Doon

You missed, Renaissance. It sits between Muirfield and Archerfield.

I have a friend that plays out of Ratho Park ... he loves it. Never seem to see it mentioned in any lists. Have any of you ever played it?

Mac I included it in the Archerfield x3. [or is ther 4 there now?]