DCB
Well-known member
Well today was the last day of my weeks holiday, so I wanted to do something a bit different. The weather has been a bit mixed this week and I’ve had some Junior activities on at the Club during the holidays, so today was some golf for myself.
I’ve had thoughts of playing Musselburgh Old Links for quite a while. In fact ever since there was a campaign to stop the racecourse from digging up some of the holes and altering the layout some 4-5 years ago it’s been on my list. So, with bright sunlight and blue skies this morning, it looked the perfect opportunity.
It’s a relatively short 9 hole course, but it’s defences are all in the undulations, humps and hollows and of course some strategically placed bunkers. It is old style golf in it’s truest sense. In actual fact, the course is in excellent condition. Dry, firm and running well on the fairways. The greens were true and will no doubt speed up as the year goes on.
It is the oldest recorded course in the world and hosted several Open Championships in the period between 1872 and 1892. It also hosted some serious grudge matches between local men and visitors. Most famously between Willie Park and Young Tom Morris where the partisan crowd caused play to be stopped until order could be restored. Can you imagine a crowd kicking a pro’s ball into a bunker at an event today, or spitting at the visiting pro. All part of the game in those days. Some serious wagers on the go as well apparently.
One of the features of this course is that you can hire hickory shafted clubs and play in the ‘old style’. Maybe one day I’ll go back to try that. It can’t be any harder than todays effort was. It may look a benign course, but it’ll bite you hard if you don’t keep the ball in the correct part of the fairway off the tee. Some deep fairway bunkers await those ill placed shots. Greens may appear flat from a distance, but have some serious undulations that can easily lead to a 3 putt if you’re not careful.
If you are in the area, it’s definitely worth a look, it’s golf in the raw, but it’s part of the rich history of this great game, so take the chance if you can and play Musselburgh Old Links.
The attached picture is off the 6th Green, with a height difference of around 5' between the front and back of the green !
I’ve had thoughts of playing Musselburgh Old Links for quite a while. In fact ever since there was a campaign to stop the racecourse from digging up some of the holes and altering the layout some 4-5 years ago it’s been on my list. So, with bright sunlight and blue skies this morning, it looked the perfect opportunity.
It’s a relatively short 9 hole course, but it’s defences are all in the undulations, humps and hollows and of course some strategically placed bunkers. It is old style golf in it’s truest sense. In actual fact, the course is in excellent condition. Dry, firm and running well on the fairways. The greens were true and will no doubt speed up as the year goes on.
It is the oldest recorded course in the world and hosted several Open Championships in the period between 1872 and 1892. It also hosted some serious grudge matches between local men and visitors. Most famously between Willie Park and Young Tom Morris where the partisan crowd caused play to be stopped until order could be restored. Can you imagine a crowd kicking a pro’s ball into a bunker at an event today, or spitting at the visiting pro. All part of the game in those days. Some serious wagers on the go as well apparently.
One of the features of this course is that you can hire hickory shafted clubs and play in the ‘old style’. Maybe one day I’ll go back to try that. It can’t be any harder than todays effort was. It may look a benign course, but it’ll bite you hard if you don’t keep the ball in the correct part of the fairway off the tee. Some deep fairway bunkers await those ill placed shots. Greens may appear flat from a distance, but have some serious undulations that can easily lead to a 3 putt if you’re not careful.
If you are in the area, it’s definitely worth a look, it’s golf in the raw, but it’s part of the rich history of this great game, so take the chance if you can and play Musselburgh Old Links.
The attached picture is off the 6th Green, with a height difference of around 5' between the front and back of the green !
