Muirfield Golf Club
Gullane
Muirfield Golf Club is one of the great names in world golf and a superb headline course for a Scotland golf holiday. Located in Gullane on East Lothian’s famous Golf Coast, it is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, with written records dating back to 1744 and the club based at Muirfield since 1891.
For UK golfers, Muirfield is a proper bucket-list links experience without needing to travel long-haul. The course has hosted The Open 16 times, first in 1892, and is widely known for its unusual two-loop routing, where the front nine runs around the outside and the back nine sits inside it. That design means the wind changes direction throughout the round, so golfers rarely face the same shot twice.
The course itself is a classic test of links golf: firm turf, deep bunkers, fast-running fairways, thick rough and greens that reward clever positioning. It is demanding, but not tricked up. Good drives, sensible approaches and tidy short-game work are usually rewarded, which is exactly why Muirfield has such a strong reputation among serious golfers.
Muirfield works beautifully as the centrepiece of an East Lothian golf break, with Gullane, North Berwick, Luffness, Dunbar and The Renaissance Club all nearby. Visitor golf is available on selected days, with handicap requirements in place, so advance planning is important.
For a Scottish golf holiday built around history, tradition and world-class links golf, Muirfield is hard to beat.
Edinburgh Airport
35km
England’s best golf tour operator 2026 winner
Time Zone:
GMT+0
Currency:
£ (British Pound)
Temperature:
1°C - 21°C
Cost of a Beer:
£5.50
Cost of a 3-Course Meal:
£35
Hashtag Guide
About The Area
Aberlady sits at the very heart of Scotland’s celebrated “Golf Coast,” a stretch of East Lothian shoreline that packs an extraordinary concentration of championship links into a compact and easily navigable area. For travelling golfers, it offers one of the most efficient and rewarding multi-course itineraries in the UK — world-class golf within minutes of your accommodation.
Most famously, Aberlady is home to Muirfield, the historic home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and a multiple Open Championship venue. Muirfield is revered for its immaculate conditioning, strategic bunkering and demanding but fair routing that tests every facet of your game. Within a five-minute drive you’ll find Gullane Golf Club, offering three outstanding links layouts — Gullane No.1 in particular delivers elevated tees and sweeping views across the Firth of Forth. A little further along the coast lies North Berwick Golf Club, one of the most characterful and historic links courses in the world, famed for its quirky Redan hole and unforgettable closing stretch along the shoreline.
Golf here is classic Scottish links — firm underfoot, wind-influenced and wonderfully strategic. It rewards imagination, trajectory control and patience rather than brute strength.
Off the course, Aberlady itself is peaceful and charming, with welcoming country pubs and coastal walking trails around Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve. Edinburgh is just 30 minutes away, adding castle views, whisky tastings, fine dining and vibrant nightlife to any itinerary.
The prime golf months are May through September, when daylight stretches late into the evening and the links play fast and true. For golfers seeking pure championship pedigree in a compact, accessible setting, Aberlady is hard to surpass.
