Dalmahoy Golf Course
There are two golf courses at Dalmahoy, the East course and the West course. Between them they have elements of everything good about the golf courses of Scotland. The courses were designed and built by the legendary James Braid in 1927 and are a part of a thousand acre estate that surrounds the Dalmahoy Manor. The Manor was built in the 1720s and converted in the 1990s into the Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club.
Dalmahoy is few miles from Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh at the foot of the Pentland Hills. Golfers at the two courses, the championship East and challenging West course also have access to a 12 bay floodlit driving range with full PGA teaching facilities. Dalmahoy East golf course has been the venue for Scottish Seniors Open Championship and the PGA Championship of Scotland as well as the Solheim Cup. In fact it is here that the European team recorded a historic win over the American team in a memorable Solheim Cup tournament in 1992.
The rolling parkland layout in a beautiful setting of 1000 acres of woodland with a lake distinguishes Dalmahoy from other golf courses. The par 72 East Course is not overly long at 6638 yards but is a trial even for the most accomplished of golfers. Innumerable legends have played on its manicured fairways with their numerous well-positioned bunkers and large undulating greens. The 5168 yards par 68 Dalmahoy West golf course offers a different challenge, with narrow fairways and smaller greens requiring perfect accuracy during the approach shots.
The backdrop of the elegant Manor House is constant throughout the course. While the front nine holes of the East course are increasingly challenging after a relatively simple start the back nine are tough. The 423 yard 16th hole named Solheim after the 1992 Solheim Cup victory is one of Scotland’s most demanding golf holes.
The 457-yard, par four, 14th hole, is also a very difficult hole where length is not the only factor. A little stream runs across the fairway in front of the green. The 17th hole is ominously named Wee Wrecker and is a test of skill with 5 bunkers – a tough par three.
