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XXX: Gullane #1

The world of golf is home to a collection of famous neighbourhoods, where one course blends into the next and you could do much worse than to unpack your bags and stay put for weeks on end. The Melbourne Sandbelt, Monterey Peninsula and the London Heathlands are often pushed to the forefront of conversation, however the five-mile drive along East Lothian’s coastline towards Gullane’s trio of links watching North Berwick, Archerfield, Renaissance Club and Muirfield fly by is a wide-eyed introduction to a rare concentration of world-class golf. East Lothian is of course ideal grounds for golf, its sandy soil and rolling terrain the elixir for the brand of the game golfers cross the world for and the three links which smother Gullane Hill are right at its beating heart.

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The town of Gullane seeps into links

To its core Gullane is a golfing town, the game bleeds into the streets and its trio of storied links on the hill are its beating heart. You can’t spend long in town before catching a glimpse of a golf hole climbing the hill or the rattle of a push cart across the cobbled streets – wherever you look golf has stamped its mark.  Quite simply, Gullane exists for golf, but nothing cements this quite like the first glimpse of Gullane Golf Club’s endless sprawl of fairways and the countless golfers scattered across its hills - a links eutopia.

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Gullane #1's varying use of the hill's tilt characterises many approaches

Gullane Hill is the central predominant feature which characterises #1- the club’s championship layout, yielding much of its intrigue and the compelling nature of its holes. Boasting one of the game’s most adventurous routings, #1 explores the hill and ridge in a number of ways, taking golfers up, down and around it, bouncing back and forth from the coastline – the seaward clifftops at the far end of the property bring the height of its drama and one of a handful of Gullane’s spectacular viewpoints.  

 

A loop of Gullane feels so utterly natural, a wonderful combination of subtle micro-undulations and the dominating tilt of the hill – simple, pure and unassuming, there’s little man-made theatre, just firm rolling land with golf at the forefront.

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The narrow second green tucked into the valley

Akin to Fraserburgh and County Sligo, following a relatively gentle, non-descript opener, #1’s second hole tackles the height of the feature hill early in the routing. Climbing sharply through a narrow valley carved into the hillside, its long and partially bowled green smothered by dunes makes for an elusive target and an exacting test early in the round.

 

Summiting the third tee lands a moment of sheer exhilaration, the first cliff-dive tee shot of the round delivers breathtaking long views across the Firth of Forth and nothing but a golfing paradise at your feet and a fairway snaking to the shore. Appetite whet, there’s nothing quite like launching one from the third tee’s upper deck to the fairway below - the fruits of the climb gone by. The well-paced sprinkling of these tumbling hilltop tee shots and stunning views at the 3rd, 7th and 17th are perhaps the most lauded trait of Gullane’s routing, injecting thrills at the perfect moment.    

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Gullane Hill unravels a handful of golf's great views

#1’s set of one-shot holes are a standout feature of the layout, delivered with a compelling variety of lengths directions and shapes. The fourth green rises from a flat section of property at the shore, fronted by a pair of pot bunkers and falling sharply on all sides, commanding a high flying short-iron which stops on a dime.

 

The spectacular clifftop 9th forms a wonderful antithesis to the perched up fourth with gorgeous views across the water and a sharply tilted green from front to back combining with a small raised lip making holding anything on the front third a delicate art. Gullane’s closing pair of par threes at 13 and 16 play strong and uphill, with the elegant 13th green site tucked seamlessly into the hillside one of the finest across the layout. In many ways, the four par threes embody the spirit of Gullane – simple, lay of the land and uncontrived links golf.

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One-shot holes don't get much prettier than Gullane's 9th

Gullane’s most memorable stretch of golf occurs in a triangular loop of four holes at the far corner of the property. Kicking off at the blind 11th tee, with nothing but the sea peaking over the verge, the fairway careens over the peak downhill, with the gorgeous approach into the seaward infinity green one of the round’s climaxes and an excellent use of the land. The three-shot dogleg right along the coast at 12 and aforementioned uphill par three at 13 deliver a diverse one-two punch with the solid 14th kicking off the final ascent of Gullane Hill as the routing swings back towards the clubhouse.  

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A blind tee and an infinity green at the 11th

With the elevated 17th tee granting one final showstopping view back towards the town and a wall of cross bunkers slicing through the fairway, there’s a moment to reflect on the walk. Taking you away from the town, over the hill, to the shore and along the cliffs before your eventual return, its layers are perfect and nothing feels forced.

 

Gullane is an honest affair, a pleasant cocktail of championship test and a good dose of variety and intrigue induced by a routing which continuously returns to the hill for the joys of tilt and elevation change. In this famous neighbourhood, Gullane #1 may lack the magnetism of the quirks and eccentricities of North Berwick and the Open Championship pedigree of Muirfield, but it delivers one of the most pure and authentic Scottish golfing experiences you could seek – no fluff, just golf.   

The brilliant view down the cross-bunkers at 17 

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