Golfing holiday to Edinburgh

Hi First time poster here , this forum was recommended to me by another golfer so here goes !
4 ladies. (low to mid range h caps ) Flying into Edinburgh in May . We would like to play 4 rounds in 4 days. Wide open to course recommendations. Do we hire a car ? use a transfer co ? Stay in the city ?
We have approx 700 euro per head to cover everything , 200 of that will go on the flight so not sure if 500 e ( approx 415 pounds ) is enough for b and b , golf and transfers
Any help or thoughts would be great .

High Curly and welcome

The City can be expensive for B&B at that time of year. Plenty Travelodges, Premier Inns etc in Edinburgh. Definately hire a car.
Might be worth looking at places like North Berwick or Gullane.
Mallard at Gullane is quite good with decent food [not expensive]. Golf Inn at Gullane and I think it is Ducks at Aberlady also good. All those villages are 30 mins by car from Edinburgh.
The Marine at North Berwick is the main golfing site but I know that they do very good discounted rooms if you book early. Lots of B&B's at North Berwick.
Avoid areas like Mussleburgh, Prestonpans and Tranent. As with most Cities you either want to be in the centre or about 15 miles out.

Courses....you are better off down the Lothian coast. To stay in budget look at Kilspindie, Gullane 2&3, North Berwick Glen [East Course], Haddington, Duddingston.

Good luck.

If you want to explore the courses of east lothian then car hire would be essential. Having the car would also allow a day trip to a course in fife.

The cheaper (but still great) courses in east lothian that I would recommend are;

Longniddrie
Kilspindie
Gullane 2&3
Dunbar
Mussleburgh Old (a great nine holer if you want to play 27 one day)

The more expensive being;
Gullane 1
Muirfield (good luck with that given the despicable policies of the club)
North Berwick (west Links)
Renaissance
Archerfield


I notice doon mentioned the Glen, which is not a poor course, but with only four days there is much better golf to be had.


You could be in St Andrews in little over 1.5 hours from the city or any of the courses on the way (if you stayed in east lothian you might find this a bit of a trek for one day). such as;

Lundin
Leven
crail
Kingsbarnes
elie


Accommodation wise I always think it is a good idea when travelling in a group to hire a cottage or house and I am sure there will be plenty in the area on the usual websites.


May really is a magical time to play golf in Scotland as the light just looks amazing later on in the evening if you time a round correctly.

In the town of gullane I would recommend two non golfing activities.

A wonderful german bakery with an amazing cafe called Falko's.

http://www.falko.co.uk/visit-us


And afternoon tea at greywalls hotel.

http://www.greywalls.co.uk/dining/afternoon-tea/


As to whether it would be better to stay in the city or in east lothian I think that would depend on what you like to do in the evening. The travel times from the city to east lothian are small enough that it really shouldn't be an issue. Around 30 minutes each way to most of the courses, North berwick and dunbar being a little further.

I live in edinburgh so if you would like any info feel free to ask on here or drop me a PM.

I'd stay in Edinburgh - try the Braid Hills hotel. It's close to the clubhouse for the Braids, which despite being a municipal course is very good, especially in the May - Sept period. Definitely play once there.

http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/Hotels/Braid-Hills-Hotel-Edinburgh-83463/Hotel-Info/Default.aspx

There are quite a few other courses immediately round there -

Merchants of Edinburgh http://www.merchantsgolf.com/pages.php/index.html

Mortonhall http://www.mortonhallgc.co.uk/pages.php/index.html

Craigmillar Park http://www.craigmillarpark.co.uk/pages.php/index.html

Slightly further away are

Broomieknowe http://broomieknowe.com/

Baberton http://www.babertongolfclub.com/

Ratho Park http://www.rathoparkgolfclub.co.uk/

Dalmahoy http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/edigs-dalmahoy-a-marriott-hotel-and-country-club/ - there's a spa and pool and all that good stuff if you fancy staying here too.

Play a couple of games in Edinburgh, then try East Lothian for a bit of links golf. For ladies, I'd say Gullane 2 or 3, and either West or East Links at North Berwick are great to play.

I hope you have a great time.

Thank you , there is plenty of great advice there. I am busy looking everything up on the web. Price wise accomodation seems to be in and around the same price ( £55 pp ) whether in Edinburgh or in North Berwick . The cheaper courses recommended look great. I suppose we will avoid the very hilly ones if at all possible, bearing in mind we will probably only have pull trolleys. Seems do able for about € 750 pp which is pleasing.

As someone mentioned, the Golf Inn at Gullane is a good option if you want to save on accommodation costs. It's very nice, and wholesome food, but won't cost you hotel prices. They have a really big room at the back which sleeps about 8 if you fancy a giggly girlie night. Don't mess about with the website, just ring them and ask for the best price.

Thanks . Tried them but they are booked out for the last night we required. The Golf Lodge ( used to be Glentruim ) B and B in North Bewick seem to be good.

Curly

I play at braid hills and as good a course as it is I could not advise playing it over the offerings of east lothian.

I don't know the Golf Lodge. There's the Nether Abbey Hotel, and Blenheim Hotel in North Berwick, and a place called Ducks in Aberlady which is very good apparently.
The Marine Hotel in North Berwick is very good, with a fantastic bar that looks out over the West Links to Point Garry. Sadly it's very expensive these days.

There are any number of nice places to eat in that area, ranging from fish and chip shops to La Poitiniere in Gullane, which was voted one of Britain's best restaurants a few years ago.