According to a recent pronouncement by Guinness World Records, you can play the world’s oldest golf course on a Scotland golf vacation, but you can’t do it in St. Andrews.
No, the oldest golf course on earth (or at least the one that currently has the most convincing evidence of such) is located approximately 60 miles farther down Scotland’s east coast, outside the capital city of Edinburgh, in the town of Musselburgh (easily reachable by bus and/or train).
Guinness reinforced Musselburgh's claim of being, "the oldest golf course in the world."
It’s called, simply enough, Musselburgh Links (musselburgholdlinks.co.uk), and if St. Andrews is the permanent “Home of Golf,” Musselburgh apparently is its first apartment.
This nine-hole course, which has the charmingly quirky distinction of being laid out inside a racetrack, holds that, “Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played here in 1567.”
Musselburgh Links (hole 1 pictured) is laid out inside a racetrack.
Of course, the real question is, if you’re on a Scotland golf vacation, should you?
Well, according to the editors of Golf Odyssey, there are Edinburgh-area courses you should make a point of playing first on a Scotland golf vacation (namely, Muirfield, North Berwick, and Gullane), but Musselburgh does have a lot more going for it than merely its age.
It held six British Open Championships between 1874 and 1889, and the editors noted that many of its holes have stood the test of time.
They wrote: “There are no fewer than five good holes, including the fourth, a mighty two-shotter that doglegs around the racetrack and finishes squarely in front of Mrs. Forman’s whitewashed old pub. Any golfer worth his salt who gets a chance to play this nine on a Scotland golf vacation ought to seize it.”
The fourth hole at Musselburgh Links finishes beside Mrs. Forman's tavern.
By the way, Golf Odyssey’s editors also told me that if you’re planning on playing a few courses in this area on your Scotland golf vacation, you should consider purchasing the Golf East Lothian Passport, which offers 15%-30% discounts on green fees.
This is a great example of the money-saving advice contained in each monthly issue of Golf Odyssey. Try it for free and you’ll see exactly what I mean. As part of your free trial, you’ll get instant access to the current issue AND the online archive so you can discover the secrets about and the discounts on the golf vacations you’re considering….before you whip out your credit card.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
The first golf course I played in Scotland on my first trip in 2003 was Old Musselburgh Links. My friends & I rented hickory shafted clubs & used gutty balls (provided by the golf shop). It was a blast from the past! We were smiling & laughing from the 1st tee to the 9th green. This is a must do experience if you have any interest in the origins of the game. By the way, I believe that the racetrack came after the golf course, so technically the racetrack was laid out around the golf course. According to the plaque in the golf shop, “Initially it was a seven hole course, extended to eight and then nine holes in 1870. The length of the Championship Course was 3,000 yards. The Open Championship was first played here in 1874 and subsequently held here every three years until 1892 when it was played at Muirfield for the first time.” This course is a great introduction to links golf. Play nine in the AM, have lunch, & play 18 somewhere else in the PM. Great fun!
Nice to hear that you enjoyed it so much. You are correct about the racetrack — it wasn’t built until 1816, a full 54 years after Musselburgh became 9 holes.
I’ve played Royal Musselburgh (lovely course), which claims to include the oldest tree in the northern hemisphere within its boundaries, but I have never played the course at the race track. I’m sure i’ll get round to it sooner or later though. My full attention is currently on Harbour Town Links on Hilton Head Island (i’m going this September) I’m proud to to reside in “the home of golf” (Bonny Scotland) but i’d give it all up for a wee house in South Carolina. You guys have great courses and great weather. What more could an obsessive golfer wish for!! Any offers on a house swap anyone??
Ha, the grass truly is always greener. We love the history and “purity” of your courses. And the weather? Well, that’s just part of the fun that comes with the authentic experience. Can’t help you with the swap, unless you want to go from the ‘home of golf’ to the ‘home of baseball’ (and Frank Sinatra) — good ol’ Hoboken, New Jersey.
Regarding your Harbour Town trip: are you aware of the “unlimited golf” special? 3-night stay in a villa, 1 round on all 3 courses (Harbour Town, Heron Point, Ocean Course), and free replay rounds for about $200 per person, per night. Here’s the link: http://www.seapines.com/vacation-rentals/packages/golf.asp
Thanks for the seapines tip Craig. I have decided to go for the all out, no expense spared, once in a lifetime experience. I’ll be staying at the Inn at Harbour Town for 2 weeks and will be playing Harbour Town links, Heron Point, and the Palmetto Dunes courses. Very expensive but as I said it’s once in a lifetime experience. Our courses are lovely, very historic, and at the higher end of the scale, pristine. Not just the links courses either. St Andrews, Gleneagles, Turnberry, Muirfield, and Loch Lomond are all within 1 hour’s drive from my house, sounds ideal, although you can’t get on Loch Lomond for love nor money. I’ve never been to the States but at this moment in time i’m totally obsessed with this upcoming trip to Hilton Head. New Jersey sounds great too. Pine Valley ‘n all that. Tony Soprano lives there too doesn’t he! I’m sure I saw him play golf in one episode too. Thanks again for the heads up on the special offer.
Just wanted to add a couple of “must see” Scottish Links courses for anyone planning a trip over here. Outwith the usual suspects, Turnberry, St Andrews, Muirfield, etc blah blah, there are countless hidden gems, such as Lundin Links and Leven Links (Fife), Gullane #1 and #2 (east Lothian), Kingsbarns(Fife)is often touted as the best links course in Scotland, Dundonald (near Troon) is the sister course of Loch Lomond, the Kintyre course in Turnberry is very nice and a lot cheaper than the Ailsa. All of the above are great courses to play and the 35 miles per hour wind is a wee extra at no added cost!! If you travel thousands of miles to Scotland to play golf then you may as well make room for a wee 30 minute flight over to Ireland for a couple of days and sample some of their great links courses. They have loads of them. Hope this info is of use to somebody. Feel free to throw some questions my way. I’ll have some questions of my own regarding some of those lovely sunbleached US courses. Davie from Glasgow.
Adding to David’s list of courses to play are Crail’s Balcomie course & Elie in the SA area. Also Muirfield & North Berwick near Gullane. I’ve played all but Muirfield & most enjoyed Crail (rumored to be the model for the mystical Burning Bush GC from “Golf in the Kingdom”–Duff’s cave on the walk between 14 & 15?) followed closely by North Berwick (home of the original Redan hole). As to the wind I recall a Scot once said to me, “Nay wind, nay golf.” David–when you plan your next trip to the US for golf, there are several fine golf courses on the West Coast also. So many courses, so little time. Enjoy your trip.
How could I have possibly forgotten Elie, with its world war 2 periscope looking up the first. I really enjoyed that course. Crail was nice too, but the weather was horrible (even by Scottish standards) that day and spoiled the experience for me. I’m impressed with your knowledge of our courses Richard, hopefully i’ll get the opportunity to become as familiar with some of the US ones. I looked at the west coast and it looks amazing. Maybe my next trip to the US after Hilton Head will include California. Arizona looks great too,(Boulders resort and Scottsdale) i’m not sure a red head like myself could cope with the heat though. The Hilton Head thing all started 2 months ago whilst playing Harbour Town on Tiger Woods X Box game. Since then i’ve been trawling the internet sites of all those lovely courses you have over there. That’s how impulsive I can be. The prospect of going to America has totally overshadowed the fact that I am going to Turkey to play in 3 weeks. That’ll be a nice wee warm up. As for the “nay wind nay golf” comment, it’s probably true. If you’re walking down the fairway of a Scottish golf course and there’s no wind, then you’re not on a Scottish golf course,you’re probably dreaming. HaHa!! Only jokin’ The inland courses have their calm moments but very rarely will you experience a wind free round on the Scottish links. As i’m sure you’re already aware of.
David R….skip the palmetto dunes courses at hilton head…rent a car and drive a short distance to kiawah island,play the ocean course in the morning(ryder cup course)then play turtle point that afternoon…or if you dont want to leave hilton head…ride the ferry to daufuskie island..Tim C
Thanks Tim, i’ve already arranged car hire and I am hoping to get to Kiawah island to play the courses there. Is there a particular reason why I shouldn’t play Palmetto? I was led to believe that the Hills course was very good there.
I think Tim was advising that Kiawah’s Ocean Course is better than those at PD, and we’d agree. But if you already have Kiawah scheduled, certainly play the Hills Course at PD, too (search our site for “palmetto” for more tips). Alas, we’re not sure of the status of Daufuskie — we just heard the resort was shut down. We’ll investigate and update everyone soon.
I’d heard a lot of good things about the ocean course at Kiawah Island and had hoped to get a chance to play it. I wasn’t sure how far it was from Hilton Head. If I get comfortable driving on the “wrong” side of the road i’d definitely like to take a drive up there. I’m sure my non golfing girlfriend would appreciate the lovely scenery at least. Thanks for the info guys. It’s invaluable to me to have some guidance from people in the know. If any of you are ever in Bonny (West) Scotland give me a shout. I’d be only too glad to get you on my pretty wee course. d.revie@addaction.org.uk
This Scotland Golf Vacation was seems to be very nice. Now a days too i really like to prance the peoples there.
Prance? I’m not familiar with that one.