Longniddry Golf Club

Situated only eighteen miles east of Edinburgh, Longniddry Golf Club hosts the closest seaside course to Scotland’s capital city. Offering an unusual combination of links and woodland holes, sea views, beautiful vistas of Edinburgh and over to fife, Longniddry Golf Club is the northern gateway to East Lothian’s Golf Coast. Designed by Harry S. Colt, and altered over the years by golf architects James Braid, Philip Mackenzie Ross and Donald Steele, this delightful course has eight par 4s stretching over 400 yards and is a joy to play. Longniddry Golf Club offers excellent practice facilities that are open to visitors and features a beautiful historic clubhouse, where a friendly welcome is guaranteed. Longniddry Golf Club is a stunning venue to play at while enjoying a Scottish Golf Break. Golf Scotland. Play Longniddry. Golf Edinburgh & the East. 

 

History: Formed in 1921, Longniddry Golf Club is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, arguably the finest stretch of golfing coastline in Scotland, eighteen miles east of Edinburgh and known as Scotland’s Golf Coast. Longniddry is the closest seaside course to Edinburgh, comprising an unusual combination of woodland and links, with sea views from many holes.

Harry S. Colt was invited to design and build 18 holes for Longniddry Golf Club, on land owned by the 11th Earl of Wemyss. 150 acres were made available and thousands of trees were cleared to create a course measuring some 6,369 yards. There have been a number of alterations to Harry S. Colt’s original layout. In 1936, James Braid was invited to advise on the second hole, following which a number of changes were made to the course, although none, it would appear, to the second.

During the Second World War, part of the course was ploughed up for food production, following which Philip Mackenzie Ross was invited to make good the damage and in 1945 the course was redesigned. Some of the changes were quite significant, with two holes by the sea being scrapped. More recently, Donald Steele was engaged to advise on the course architecture, particularly the bunkering. Many of the original cross-bunkers were removed, or to be more precise, relocated.

The course now occupies a modest 106 acres and measures 6,230 yards, but with four of the most celebrated course architects having left their distinguished marks, it is always a joy to play.

The course: Longniddry is a traditionally laid out course, with the first tee just a few steps from the locker room door and the 18th green sitting next to the clubhouse in full view of the patio area. The course offers a fine mix of woodland and links holes, where the surface runs fast, even on the sections of course framed by trees. The course has no par 5s on the, men’s, score-card, but this is balanced out with eight par 4 holes measuring over 400 yards in length, four of these coming over the final five holes. However, a round at Longniddry requires strategy rather than brute strength to put a good score together. Clever bunkering, the rough and the wind ensure that club selection and strategic ball placement will reap greater rewards than power hitting alone on this course. Offering amazing views over to Fife, Edinburgh and Arthurs Seat, (a famous Edinburgh landmark) and excellent golf, the course at Longniddry Golf Club certainly stands its ground with some of its more famous counterparts on the East Lothian Golf Coast. The course at Longniddry Golf Club is an eighteen hole, par 68 (men & women), track. It has tees ranging from 5,151 to 6,271 yards. 

SGB Signature Hole: Name: Cadell’s Neuk. Number: Hole 5. Measuring 319 yards (M) and 303 yards (W) from the tee, this hole may be reachable for the longest of hitters, and this offers an exciting risk and reward challenge. However, with trees lining the fairway to the left and right, on this slight dogleg left hole, and two bunkers situated directly in front of the long and slender, two-tier green, the risk may be greater than the reward. For mere mortals like ourselves, an accurate tee shot of around 200 yards, avoiding the fairway bunker on the right, will leave a short iron shot into the green. Don’t miss the green to right though as there is a steep run off waiting to gather your ball. Once safely on the putting surface, there is still much work to do to achieve a par. The two-tiers of the green slope from the rear to the front, heading back down towards the bunkers, ensuring that even an attempted lag putt provides no guarantee of success. Whether you achieve a par by maximising the risk or by more conventional means, this tempting par 4 is a brilliant hole and certainly one of our favourites on Scotland’s Golf Coast.

Clubhouse, Professional Shop & Practice facilities: The traditional style clubhouse at Longniddry Golf Club offers a warm welcome and features a main lounge, a spike bar and a dining room. Visitors are welcome to use the changing rooms, which contain secure lockers and shower facilities. Inside, the clubhouse has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and features a well-stocked bar which serves the main lounge and spike bar. A wide selection of catering is on offer including breakfast, light bar snacks and full three course meals. The dining room seats up to 60 people and is available for parties, events, Sunday roasts and group bookings. (see food and dining section). Professional Shop: The pro shop at Longniddry Golf Club provides a full range of the very latest golf equipment and apparel, along with great advice and information on new products. It is the only outlet where visitors can buy the comprehensive range of club-crested items, ranging from sweaters, polo shirts, caps to ball markers and golf balls. The pro shop also provides for your day-to-day golfing needs selling balls, tees etc., and offers trolley and buggy hire. Pull trolleys can be hired from the pro shop on the day of play, but the club recommend that electric trolleys and buggies are booked in advance. (SGB will be delighted to organise these advance bookings on your behalf). Practice facilities: Use of the practice facilities at Longniddry Golf Club are available to visitors prior to their tee time. The facilities include practice nets, a putting green and a short iron practice range.

Food & Dining: Before or after a round of golf at Longniddry Golf Club, visitors are warmly welcomed to the bar and lounge within the clubhouse. Catering is offered from 11am on weekdays and from 10am over the weekend. The menu options cover breakfast, light bites and a wide range of delicious main meals. The dining room seats up to 60 people. For larger groups, SGB will be delighted to organise sole use of this facility on your behalf, in advance of your visit. The bar is also open from 11am on weekdays and from 10am over the weekend. It is generously stocked and offers a wide range of beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks.

Accommodation: SGB partner with a number of large hotel chains in Edinburgh City Centre and on the outskirts of the city. While we work with many smaller, more intimate, ones, such as The Lodge at Craigielaw, situated across East Lothian. In addition, we have partnerships with a number of letting agencies, including North Berwick Holiday Homes, to ensure we provide a fantastic suite of accommodation options across Edinburgh & the East. Whether you want to stay on a country estate, in a hotel, a luxury lodge, an apartment or a signature villa, Scottish Golf Breaks can arrange it for you.

 

Featured deal: 

 

Typical packages include:

• Accommodation in a hotel, lodge, apartment or signature villa
• A round at Longniddry Golf Club
• A round on the West Links at The North Berwick Golf Club
• A round at Dunbar Golf Club
• Dinner Reservation @ the clubhouse
• Full Scottish Breakfast
• Use of resort facilities: Access to changing & locker-rooms, and practice facilities at Longniddry Golf Club

 

Packages can be designed to your specification and group size, and can include alternative accommodation, additional courses across Edinburgh & the East, and or other regions within Scotland.

 

Additional services:

• Airport or train station transfers (all sizes of groups catered for)
• Executive travel
• Caddie service

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