REUTERS
Muirfield in Scotland does not allow women to become members at the exclusive club. There used to be a sign in the clubhouse that read: "No women, no dogs".
Gullane, Scotland ? We all know the Scots are mad about golf but these fairway fanatics who wear kilts and drink whisky take things to extremes on a 20km stretch of coastline in East Lothian, east of Edinburgh.
More or less at the centre of this strip of golfing heaven is Muirfield, home of this year?s British Open Championship. And packed into this small area are 13 first-class courses, bumper-to-bumper as it were. It?s like you always have to watch where you?re walking here, in case you fall into a bunker.
Going from west to east, the run of 18-hole gems start at North Berwick?s fabulous West Links, and end at a place called Aberlady (which, as a giggling young woman on the train headed for Muirfield announced for all within earshot yesterday, is known as the rudest town in Scotland. ?A-Bare-Lady,? she said, ?get it ...?
Sitting next to her a man was reading a newspaper, which detailed how Spain?s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has tennis elbow, is recovering from a broken leg, smokes fat cigars, loves dining out, goes to bed late and is 49 years old ? took the halfway lead in the Open on Friday following rounds of 68 and 71. Amazing.
But I digress. Muirfield, home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the oldest golf club in the world, is not only one of the best courses in Scotland, but also the whole of the UK and indeed the entire planet. Very snooty though. No women members and R2 900 a round for you and me.
Muirfield lies in the charming little village of Gullane which is a place of just 1 600 souls. Yet the village has three other outstanding links of its own (women welcome, friendly and play much more affordable than at the club?s famous neighbour). We?re talking Gullane No 1, No 2 and No 3.
Gullane No 1 is good enough to be used as an Open Qualifier, No 2 falls down into dunes and marshy flats, and Gullane No 3 is short but tight.
In his book Playing Through author Curtis Gillespie, who spent a year playing the East Lothian courses, wrote this about the area: ?It is blessed with such an embarrassment of riches (not only golf, but countryside and lovely villages too) that one can be forgiven for questioning the fairness of God?s distribution system.?
Next to Gullane, Gillespie informs us, is the magical Luffness New GC, while Archerfield ? just over the fence from Muirfield ? is posh, with two magnificent courses.
Let me see, now. That?s seven courses ? 126 holes of golf ? surrounding one little village. Talk about an obsession.
People come from all over the world to North Berwick to play the West Links, which dates back to 1832 and is more interesting and varied than The Old Course at St Andrews.
Hmmm. I better stop. Work to do. Charl and Tiger and Jimenez to watch. Maybe a pint or two after the golf at The Old Clubhouse Pub in Gullane, which overlooks the 18th hole of Gullane No 3 and, I?d almost forgotten, the children?s par-3 course. When it comes to golf, they start ?em young in bonnie Scotland. ? Sunday Independent
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/here-be-great-golf-courses-galore-1.1550104
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