The viilage of Gullane is located a short 45 minute drive from the Airport in Edinburgh. A small an, but growing village that has a long history, all the way back from the Vikings prime time around 900 (Ruins of the old church dates back to that period).
Golf plays a mayor role in the city. Gullane is the home of Muirfield which has hosted The Open Championship on numerous occasions, most recently in 2013. But there are plenty of other options just a swing away from Muirfield.
Gullane Golf Club hosts 3 excellent links courses. No1, No2 and No3 are crossed as you drive into the village. Also these courses has hosted Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the golfers a bit better than the average Ruff-Fairway player. We had the pleasure of playing No2 and No3 on an excellent day with a little Sun, a wee bit breeze accompanied by a brilliant Scottish Salad at the Visitors Clubhouse.
Gullane No3
| Type: | Links | Design: | Willie Park Jr |
| Par: | 68 | Length: | 5259 yards |
| Played: | 17. April 2019 | Reveiwer: | ShortSwing |
| Clubhouse: | Course: | ||
| Staff: | Value: |
From the parking lot on the visitors clubhouse, you can almost putt for the people at the 18th green of number two, and just a couple longjumps further down is the Starters house and First Tee’s of both No2 and No3. The latter being the one where you can tee of with te least spectators. The
Willie Park Jr designed course celebrated its centenary in 2010 and is a short but awesome course. The greens are brilliant and hold the same standard as the other course.
Marc Owenson, PGA Professional
NUMBER 3 IS A REALLY FUN COURSE. IT REQUIRES ACCURATE DRIVES TO OPEN UP THE TIGHT PINS, IF YOU SHORT SIDE YOURSELF IT MAKES IT REAL TRICKY TO SCORE LOW. THE BUNKERS ARE WELL PLACED AND THE ROUGH IS PUNISHING SO AS MUCH AS IT’S A SHORT COURSE, IT’S FAIRLY DEMANDING FROM TEE TO GREEN. THE GREENS THEMSELVES ARE QUIRKY, USUALLY At COMFORTABLE SPEED AND A SMOOTH SURFACE WHICH MAKES IT A REAL PLEASURE TO PLAY.
No3 Kicks off with a downwards par 4, which makes an enjoyable start to the round, as long as you keep left and are not tempted to mix your ball with the ones on the driving range. This club has excellent training facilities, but being in Scotland, I skipped the warm up, wiggled the hips a couple times for some HulaHula and drove it down the left side. An Iron approach, a chip and two puts later I was ready to it the second hole, a short par 3 the caused me little hassle. Par on that one and I started my way up towards the road to the city. The fourth is somewhat steep upwards, but makes it fun to play, just hit it high enough to go all the way and low enough not to be affected by the wind.
On the other side there are a series of great holes, all possible to score well on, and be punished if you are not accurate. The driver is not really needed … but hey, that is the club most people spend the most money, so it is definitely possible to get around using that as well. I was also accompanied by 3 deers.
The 7th, being my favourite on the course, goes steep downhill and is heavily protected by bunkers. But the par 4 is only 270-280 meters and definitely possible to reach in one. I almost did, but screwed it up with a short put from the fringe and two more for par. The front nine was absolutely enjoyable. But tell you what, the same was the back nine, well at least the back seven ….
The elevated green on the 11th with the two really deep pot bunkers making the hole a bit Iconinc, was nice, but I took too little club. Luckily it was #shortandcrooked, so bunkers were not in play. I continued my decent play until the two last holes, where I managed to double bogey both …. to go off with double double bogey, made me drive away faster than I could say coffee in the clubhouse ….
All in all a fun course with great conditions. True and perfectly maintained greens. 67 Bunkers in total, I managed to hit none. That is how it goes when you follow the strategy of aiming for them.null
Gullane No2
| Type: | Links | Design: | Willie Park Jr |
| Par: | 71 | Length: | 5976 yards |
| Played: | 17. April 2019 | Reveiwer: | ShortSwing |
| Clubhouse: | Course: | ||
| Staff: | Value: |
As earlier mentioned playing No2 and No3, you report your arrival at the Visitors clubhouse. A well maintained clubhouse with all that you need, ut steak. The “Scottish Sallad” makes up for it though.
The first tee is right next to very welcoming starter and you start out going towards the road with your tee shot. Stay clear of the training area on the left side, at least with the tee shot. A warm up is recommend prior to teeing off. Not much fuzz on this starting hole. Next one is blind and uphill and from there on you play a few holes alongside the No1 course, that is supposed to be the best of the three. That being said, I was recommended No2 over No1, and I see no reason to regret that.
More Coming ….
