216 - Mortonhall

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Rating: 8.0

On a recent trip to Scotland to watch the Springboks take on the Scottish, I was luck enough to get to play two of the more esteemed Edinburgh courses in Mortonhall and Bruntsfield Links.

I had mixed reviews from friends who had played here in the past but was very pleasantly surprised by the offering at Mortonhall. With a relatively low key entrance off the main road, you’re given a tantalising glimpse of what will come with the 18th fairway staring right at you as you walk up to the clubhouse. A beautiful, traditional style clubhouse at that.

Walking up to the first tee you don’t really get much of a view of what is to come, a par 4 that drops down and then bends up and to the left with a tricky shot to an almost blind green. From there you move onto the heart of the course, with the elevated 2nd tee shot providing a stunning view of what is to come. The course continues to weave through the parkland in a clever design, with some holes crossing to make the most of the prime Edinburgh property.

The course is quite forgiving with wide fairways, the odd patch of bush but your main obstacle is the plethora of trees and playing in November the rough was cut quite short.

I was amazed at how good the quality of the course was given the colder temperatures and heading towards Winter. I think playing in Scotland at this time of the year with reduced rates is not a bad shout.

As we came down the 18th, with the light fading and the clubhouse looking back at us in the distance we were reminded of the dry Scottish humour with some of the members teasing us for our ‘slow play’. Nevertheless we all shared a beer in the clubhouse listening to the scores of the Scottish Premier League chime in.

Very pleasant, very interesting course at a very reasonable winter rate of £55. Great value for a course in the heart of Edinburgh.