Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society

Bruntsfield is the 4th-oldest golf club in the world, founded in 1761, just 25 years after its neighbour, Royal Burgess. It’s a parkland course today, but when the club was named, “links” was simply a general word for a golf course; there were only three other clubs in existence, long before categories like parkland, links, or desert meant anything. The course was designed by Willie Park Jr., with later input from both James Braid and Alister Mackenzie. The clubhouse sits majestically on a hill overlooking the 1st tee, 18th green, 10th hole, and in the distance, the North Sea. It’s a beautiful setting, and even though you’re in the middle of Edinburgh, it feels wonderfully rural. That same hill gives the course some great elevation changes, used cleverly across several holes. The greens were much faster than expected for late November, and the clubhouse staff were very friendly. A historic club with a charming setting and a course that’s enjoyable year-round.

Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, and that heritage alone makes a visit special. Although the club dates back centuries, the course itself no longer sits on its original ground at Bruntsfield Park. That area is still home to The Golf Tavern, which proudly claims to be established in 1456, a fun reminder of where the game was once played. When the club moved to its current site, so did The Royal Burgess, the world’s oldest golf club. Royal Burgess had first pick of the land and chose the terrain slightly closer to the city and the railway. Bruntsfield sits just next door, on more elevated ground with better views and a more spacious, rolling landscape. The clubhouse is particularly charming, offering wonderful vistas across the course and towards the sea. It’s the kind of place where you immediately feel a sense of tradition but also a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. We played just before flying back to Amsterdam, in a bit of a drizzle, and its location near Edinburgh Airport makes it a perfect option for an arrival or departure day round. Despite the name, this is not a links course; it’s a parkland layout, gently hilly and pleasant to walk. It’s not a course filled with standout signature holes — we only had time for 11 (1–9, then 10 and 18) — but it offers a solid, enjoyable experience. What elevates Bruntsfield isn’t flashy architecture or dramatic holes; it’s the history, the setting, and the people. Everyone we met was welcoming, the clubhouse views were genuinely impressive, and the salmon-and-egg sandwich we had afterwards was excellent, a perfect way to finish our visit. All in all, Bruntsfield Links is a decent course enriched by remarkable heritage, and well worth a visit for anyone who appreciates the story of golf as much as the game itself.

After watching the Springboks beat Scotland the day before, and nursing a wee hangover, we headed to Bruntsfield Links to enjoy the time before heading leaving Edinburgh. Quite different to playing Mortonhall a few days prior, Bruntsfield Links is as the name suggests a relatively flatter course, utilising the natural contours of the land but different to other links courses in Scotland, it is a bit further from the sea. Another stunning clubhouse and with beautiful surrounding areas it is difficult to believe that this is another course in the heart of Edinburgh where you feel like you could be out in the countryside. The course starts and finishes each loop at the top of the hill with lovely elevated tee shots on the 2nd and 11th. The 10th, a short par 3, has a particularly lovely backdrop with the North Sea in the distance. Similarly to Mortonhall, the course offers a lovely mix of some thickets of bush but predominantly tree lined fairways, a plethora of bunkers that protect the green and the fairways weave in and around. Again, the course was in top condition considering it was November and the temperatures had started to drop on what was a crisp autumnal morning in Scotland. There was barely a soul on the course this Monday morning and at £55 a round at this time of the year, it is another gem.

This was the first time I'd played Bruntsfield since the course changes of a few years ago. The changes have elevated it to probably the best parkland course in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The only reason I haven't rated the course higher was that the greens, whilst quick to putt on were, in my view, too firm in places making it tricky to keep even short shots from running through. Nothing some judicious watering wouldn't fix. The bigger issue however was the bunkering. The re-work involved replacing all bunkers with concrete bottomed ones and very soft sand, with the result that "fried egg" lies are pretty much guaranteed whenever a ball pitches in a bunker.

So, keep out of the sand and you'll have a thoroughly enjoyable round!

Clubhouse, food and general ambiance are all what you'd expect from one of Edinburgh's premier clubs.

Een parkbaan die er zeer goed bijlag. Geen echte moeilijke baan... zeer aangenaam om te spelen. Met voldoende afwisseling. Dankzij de ligging ook minder last van de wind. Een clubhuis dat echt golf uitstraalt met de er aan verbonden historiek. Enige nadeel is de ligging vlakbik aanvliegroute van de luchthaven waardoor je constant dalende overvliegende vliegtuigen moet trotseren.. wat toch een storend element is. Ook het feit dat je op de driving range maximaal met een ijzeren 7 mag practice is niet echt handig.