1. East Lothian Local
A private club’s new public offering opens up the legends of
Scotland’s Golf Coast.
cotland’s East Lothian region is rightly
referred to as the country’s Golf Coast. The
windswept stretch of Caledonia—located about
half an hour east of Edinburgh—is home to more than 20
courses,includingsuchtreasuresasMuirfield,Gullane,and
the world’s third oldest club, North Berwick. The game was
first played on this headland course in the middle part of
the17thcentury,andthekeenbreezethatblowsofftheFirth
of Forth has been baffling golfers there ever since.
EastLothian’scollectionofhigh-calibrecourses—Muirfield,
Gullane, and North Berwick, all within an eight kilometre
stretch—alsoincludesafewnotablenewcomers.Archerfield
LinksGolfClubopenedin2004withtwoformidablecourses,
and next door, the Renaissance Club debuted in 2008 with
an epic layout by the American architect, Tom Doak. Last
autumn, the latterclubcrackedopenitsdoorstonon-mem-
bers with the introduction of its One Time Experience, an
offering that allows guests to play the private course and
stay at its newly built clubhouse for as long as a week. The
programme provides visiting golfers with an ideal base for
exploring East Lothian’s elite layouts, among which Doak’s
Renaissance design has quickly established itself as a wor-
thy member.
Doak, who spent a year after college living and working
at St Andrews, was at first wary of building a course on the
300-acre coastal site. “To be honest, I was concerned that
people’s expectations for a course between Muirfield and
North Berwick would be impossible to meet,” he says.
“However, I warmed to the idea once I remembered that
the Scots would appreciate the course for what it was.”
The Renaissance Club’s new
One Time Experience offers
non-members the chance to
play the course and stay at its
newly built clubhouse.
Gallery golf
S
DoakrecentlyreturnedtotheRenaissanceClubtobuildthree
new holes on land that previously belonged to the Honourable
Company of Edinburgh Golfers, also known as Muirfield. The
additionsincludeastrongpar-3ninthholethatplaystoagreen
framed by the Firth of Forth. “When you arrive at the green,
the vista around the point to Fidra lighthouse comes into view
when you don’t expect it,” says Doak, referring to a landmass
that was said to be the inspiration behind Robert Louis
Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
The club has turned the original three holes into a practice
loop and an expansive academy area and driving range. The
remaining 15 holes play around a pine-and-sycamore-studded
coppice and feature large contoured greens, fescue-lined fair-
ways,andrivetedhumpbackbunkers.Theremnantsofancient
boundary walls run alongside four of the holes, including the
18th, and enfold the imposing three-storey clubhouse.
Completed in 2013, the clubhouse offers 24 guest suites, a
spa,agym,afine-diningrestaurant,abar,andabilliardsroom.
In addition to arranging rounds at the Renaissance Club, the
staff will help secure starts at Muirfield, North Berwick, and
other East Lothian layouts. —farhad heydari
The Renaissance Club, +44.162.0850.901, www.trcaa.com
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