Muirfield Golf Course (Gullane)

Muirfield Golf Course: the fairest test in golf

There is a reason players speak of Muirfield with something close to reverence. Stand on the links above the Firth of Forth, with the Fife coast shimmering across the water and the wind never quite still, and you sense you are somewhere the game truly matters. This is the home of the world’s oldest golf club, and it wears that history lightly but unmistakably.

Muirfield Golf Course is a championship links in Gullane, East Lothian, on Scotland’s east coast. Home to The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, it plays to a par of 71 at just over 7,200 yards and has hosted The Open Championship sixteen times. Its distinctive layout — a front nine looping clockwise, a back nine running anti-clockwise inside it — is prized as one of the fairest and most complete tests in the game.

Key Details

• Location: Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland
• Length: around 7,200 yards (championship tees)
• Par: 71
• Designers: Old Tom Morris (1891); Harry Colt (1925); Tom Simpson (1930s); Martin Hawtree (2011)
• Established: 1891 (Honourable Company founded 1744)
• Notable Events: The Open Championship (16 times, most recently 2013); The Amateur Championship (10 times); Ryder Cup (1973); Walker Cup (1959, 1979); Curtis Cup (1952, 1984); AIG Women’s Open (2022)

History and significance

In 1891 The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers — a club whose roots reach back to 1744 — moved from the crowded links at Musselburgh to Gullane, and Muirfield was born. Old Tom Morris laid out the original course, extended to eighteen holes for the 1892 Open, the first Open played over 72 holes.

The course took its modern character from Harry Colt, whose 1925 redesign created the famous circular routing of two concentric loops. Tom Simpson refined it in the 1930s, and Martin Hawtree added new championship tees and enlarged greens ahead of the 2013 Open.

Muirfield’s roll of honour reads like a history of the game: Open champions here include Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and, most recently, Phil Mickelson in 2013 — the only man to break par that week. Nicklaus admired the place so much that he named his own Ohio course Muirfield Village after winning the Open here in 1966.

Image credits: Images: Richard Webb / geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The course and how it plays

Muirfield’s genius is its routing. Because the front nine circles clockwise around the perimeter and the back nine runs anti-clockwise within it, the wind never sits behind you for long — you meet it from every angle, and no two holes play alike. On a links where the breeze is rarely still, that variety is the whole examination.

The turf is firm and running, the fairways relatively flat save for the blind tee shot at the 11th, and the land is honest: what you see is broadly what you get, which is why players call it fair. The defence lies in around 150 bunkers — most of them clearly visible, deeply revetted and severe — together with fast, subtly contoured greens and thick, punishing rough.

There is balance everywhere, two par 5s and two par 3s on each nine, and no weak stretch to relax through. Muirfield does not trick you; it simply asks every question in the game and rewards the player who answers most of them.

Signature holes

Muirfield is celebrated more for relentless quality than for one signature hole, but several stand out.

Hole 2 (Par 4, ~420 yards)

A tempting birdie chance that demands respect: a stone wall marks out of bounds tight down the left, while greenside bunkers on the right wait for the cautious miss. A well-placed drive and a confident approach are the way to profit.

Hole 13 (Par 3, ~190 yards)

Tom Simpson’s short hole is among the best in Scotland — an uphill long-iron to a green nearly fifty paces deep, ringed by bunkers that punish the slightest inaccuracy. Depth of green and choice of club make it a real test of nerve.

Hole 17 (Par 5, ~570 yards)

The longest hole on the course, reachable in two downwind but heavily defended. The left side is guarded all the way, and cross-bunkers threaten the second shot — a hole that has decided Opens.

Why play Muirfield

Muirfield offers the rare chance to measure your game against the very best on a course renowned for fairness and balance. There are no gimmicks and no hidden tricks — just a superb, honest links that has tested champions for well over a century. To walk where so much Open history has been written, on a layout many players and architects consider the finest in Britain, is reason enough to make the trip.

Clubhouse and facilities

Built in 1891 and sympathetically renovated, the clubhouse is a treasure house of golfing history, with modern locker rooms for men and women and a formal dining room where the traditional three-course lunch is an institution. A terrace looks out over the links, and the club shop carries Muirfield merchandise.

Practice facilities include a driving range and a large putting green, and experienced caddies are on hand to read the course’s subtleties. The focus is squarely on golf and tradition rather than resort extras — and that is exactly the point.

Green fees and booking

Muirfield welcomes visitors on limited days each week, typically Tuesdays and Thursdays outside public holidays, and only during its open season. The visitor green fee is a single flat rate of around £395 for eighteen holes, with a thirty-six-hole option that includes lunch in the clubhouse at around £605.

Places are limited and much sought-after, so applications must be made well in advance, and visitors need a recognised handicap (broadly 24 or less), checked at the time of booking. For current green fees and tee times, check the official website.

Getting there and parking

Muirfield sits in Gullane, an easy run east of Edinburgh along the East Lothian coast.

• By car: around 40 minutes east of Edinburgh via the A1 and A198; roughly 45 minutes from Edinburgh Airport. Turn for Gullane and follow Duncur Road to the club.
• By public transport: trains from Edinburgh on the East Coast line to North Berwick or Drem, then a short taxi ride to Gullane.
• Address & parking: Duncur Road, Gullane, East Lothian EH31 2EG. On-site visitor parking is available.

Where to stay

Gullane is the obvious base, a smart golfing village within a few minutes of the links.

In the village itself, country-house hotels and guesthouses put you on Muirfield’s doorstep, with Greywalls among the best known. Nearby North Berwick, a lively seaside town a few miles east, offers a wider choice of hotels and B&Bs and its own excellent golf. For a city-and-golf trip, Edinburgh is only about 40 minutes away and opens up hotels of every kind.

What to pack

This is exposed coastal links golf, so the wind and weather dictate the kit. Bring good waterproofs, warm layers, a windproof mid-layer and a spare glove, plus golf shoes with dependable grip for firm turf. Note that a jacket and tie are required for lunch in the clubhouse dining room, so pack accordingly if you plan to eat in.

Nearby attractions

Conclusion

Muirfield does not shout. It simply presents you with the fairest, most complete links it can, turns you into the wind from every direction, and waits to see how well you play. For many of the game’s greatest names, this is the finest test in Britain — and a round here, however you score, is a round you will measure others against for years.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Muirfield golf course?

Muirfield is in Gullane, a village in East Lothian on Scotland’s east coast, overlooking the Firth of Forth. It lies about 40 minutes’ drive east of Edinburgh via the A1 and A198, in the heart of a stretch of coastline so rich in courses it is often called Scotland’s golf coast. The full address is Duncur Road, Gullane, East Lothian EH31 2EG.

How many times has Muirfield hosted The Open?

Muirfield has hosted The Open Championship sixteen times, from 1892 through to its most recent staging in 2013, when Phil Mickelson won and was the only player in the field to finish under par. Champions here span the history of the game, from Harry Vardon and Walter Hagen to Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo and Ernie Els. The course has also hosted the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup and, in 2022, the AIG Women’s Open.

Who owns and runs Muirfield?

Muirfield is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the world’s oldest golf club, whose origins date to 1744. The club moved to Gullane and opened Muirfield in 1891, with the course laid out by Old Tom Morris and later reshaped by Harry Colt into its famous two-loop routing. It remains a private members’ club that welcomes visitors on limited days — check the club’s official website for current arrangements.

What makes Muirfield’s layout unusual?

Muirfield is built as two concentric loops: the front nine runs clockwise around the outer edge of the property, while the back nine circles anti-clockwise inside it. Because the holes constantly change direction, the wind comes at you from every angle over the round rather than sitting behind you for long stretches. That design, largely the work of Harry Colt in 1925, is a big part of why players regard Muirfield as such a searching and fair examination of golf.