Duddingston Golf Club- Edinburgh

[jamielaing]

I wrote on here previously about looking for a new course in Edinburgh and I think we have narrowed the choice down to a few courses, favourites being Duddingston and King's Acre.

My questions to anyone in the know,

Does Duddingston still have the drainage issues it used to?
Is it ever unplayable throughout the year?
Is it worth the £1000 a year and £400 joining fee?
What are the members like?

Would anyone have any suggestions-

Duddingston v King's Acre?

 

[Hickory_Hacker]

I wrote on here previously about looking for a new course in Edinburgh and I think we have narrowed the choice down to a few courses, favourites being Duddingston and King's Acre.

My questions to anyone in the know,


Does Duddingston still have the drainage issues it used to?
Is it ever unplayable throughout the year?
Is it worth the £1000 a year and £400 joining fee?
What are the members like?

Would anyone have any suggestions-

Duddingston v King's Acre?

There's only one winner - Duddingston

 

[DCB]

Agree with Hickory_Hacker, of those two, Duddingston has to be streets ahead. It's a Members Club, established course and other than the worst that winter throws at us, it should be playable all year.

Kings Acre is nice but is a commercial concern and to be honest, it has some rather convoluted holes, to either give the distance or to fit in the space.

But, all said and done it's up to you to find what you're looking for in a course/club

 

[Foxholer]

Unless KA is significantly closer or the subs are significantly cheaper, Duddingston is the one I'd suggest. KA has a better range, but it's not a free one - so could use it anyway - and The Braids is not too far from Duddingston (by car at least). Played both but only a couple of times, but did get a 'nice course' feel from Duddingston that was 'ho-hum and quirky' from KA. And you'd need to like the 15th (from memory) if you played it often!

Duddingston did (maybe still does) have a reputation for a couple of holes, late in the round, where 'the locals' might offer you your ball back for a price!

 

[SliceAndEasy]

Duddingston easily against Kings Acre.

Have you considered Mortonhall?

 

[jamielaing]

Thanks for comments, Kings Acre is £400 a year less although has a higher joining fee. Looked at Mortonhall but the joining fee is huge. I dislike joining fees at the best of times but they want £2k.

My main concern with Duddingston is that I know there were drainage issues in the past and I am worried these are ongoing.

Arranging a game at both soon to get a bit more of a feel for the courses as it's been a while since I have played either but I just wanted to get the forum's take on this.

 

[IanG]

There have been drainage issues at Kingsacre in the past too, again not sure if they have been sorted or not. I think most Edinburgh courses suffer with it to a greater or lesser degree. I've not played Duddingston, but wouldn't put Kings acre in the top 5 Edinburgh course while Duddingston seems very highly regarded by those who have played it. If you want high quality year round golf your only option is to join down the coast somewhere.

King Acre is also a commercial venture not a members club so that is a consideration., Their clubhouse, while functional and welcoming, is a little characterless.

If you can afford it Duddingston seems like a much better bet. Assuming this a (hopefully) long term decision, once the pain of the joining fee has healed, the quality of the Duddingston course and clubhouse remains.

 

[SliceAndEasy]

Understand about the joining fee. At Mortonhall you don't start to pay a joining fee until you are 35 and then you can pay it over 10 years. Still a lot of money I agree.

Great course but I might be biaised as a member

 

[IanG]

Great course but I might be biaised as a member

You might be biased, but it is still a great course ! My favourite of the 16 or so I've played in Edinburgh.

 

[jamielaing]

Understand about the joining fee. At Mortonhall you don't start to pay a joining fee until you are 35 and then you can pay it over 10 years. Still a lot of money I agree.

Great course but I might be biaised as a member

Is that no joining fee if under 35 or delayed until you are 35? It may come into the equation here!

 

[IanG]

Is that no joining fee if under 35 or delayed until you are 35? It may come into the equation here!

It's a sliding scale depending on how long you have been a member for before you turn 35. Details on the website.

 

[the smiling assassin]

Member of Duddingston.
Course condition is generally pretty steady and the greens have been superb the last couple of summers. Drainage issues are being addressed - drainage trenches dug and now bedding in on the 5th and 17th fairways.
Would be happy to have a quick chat at some point if you're keen - drop me a pm. Worth contacting the sec to arrange a courtesy round too. I also run an email group of about 40+ members and we regularly welcome new club members to help establish some connections - if you're joining en masse, you may be ok in that regard, but you'd be more than welcome.
I also travel from Corstorphine area, no problem getting across town on a Saturday morning.

Happy to have a quick chat at some point if you like - just drop me a pm.
Duddingston coming on very nicely just now. Greens are true, very firm and slick. Course looking good.
Drainage wise the 5th and 17th fairways where some minor flooding used to occur have had drainage channels dug and have more or less bedded in - if you didn't know they were there you wouldn't notice.
As far as all year round golf goes, we were mainly on temp greens for about 10 weeks (Dec-Feb) last winter, but if conditions allow the main greens are kept in play. The greenstaff also hung around this winter at the weekends to bring greens back into play following a further 10am check if they had been a bit frosty first thing. Some small areas of the rough can become a little muddy over particularly wet winter's, but this wasn't the case last winter.
The course genuinely doesn't have any weak holes - a super test, which will have you using all 14 clubs in the bag every round.
I like Mortonhall, it's a good course generally in great condition, but I wouldn't move there from Duddingston even if it saved me a couple hundred quid a year. Monktonhall is another that gets rated alongside Duddingston - it's got a good spell of holes on the back nine. Can't comment on Burgess or Bruntsfield, the other two apparently vying for Lothian's finest parkland.
I also like the feel of the place, its genius loci - much of the tree planting was designed by Capabilty Brown, and it does have the feel of a vast rolling garden landscape - the layout of the golf course is generous and well considered. Someone above mentioned KA's range being superior - I'd contest that and say that Duddingston's practice area between the 6th, 7th and 8th holes is a far more serene and appropriate place to work on your game - bliss on a warm summer evening.