Mortonhall golf course is a Par 72 measuring 6551 yards.  It was founded in 1892 and is the oldest course in the City of Edinburgh that golf is still played on.  The course is immaculately laid out and is tree lined with mature greens and whin-covered outcrops.

It’s a lovely summers evening when we find ourselves at Mortonhall and what a delight it was to play.  The course was in magnificent condition, the greens were the best we have played on for a long time and the trees and features of the course were in full bloom.  We played the course off of the yellow tees and therefore never played the 6500 yard monster it is however a 6273 yards it was still a challenge.

The course opens with a short tight par 4 measuring 350 yards tree lined up the right and well positioned bunkers up the left make for a tough opening tee shot.  Craig hits 4 iron then a gentle 9 to the green pin high and strokes in for birdie.  Stu hits some lovely shots however a 6 finds its way on to the card.  The second hole the toughest on the course and you tee up high playing down to the fairway below, the 17th par 3 is to the left (signature hole) and you play through some gorse to the green that’s well protected.  The 3rd is a short par 3 that requires accuracy and then a long par 5 measuring 560 yards follows.  Stu hits three fantastic 3 woods onto the green and just misses birdie.  The 5th is a lovely hole playing a sharp dog leg to the right where both of us make par.  Stu getting up and down from a bunker (get the history book out first time I think!!).  The 6th is a short par 4 which is not a driver off the tee and Craig manages to make a birdie after hitting a 6 iron into position followed by a close approach.  This is followed with a good putt at 7th for par after being just off the back of the green with no shot.  The Par 5th 8th sees Craig hit a 4 iron and then 7 iron to the heart of the green and making another birdie and then the 9th a sharp dog leg up to the right sees a par to finish 34 to the turn (-2).  Stu put in a sterling effort making pars at the 3rd, 4th and 5th however the two doubles at 1st and 9th see Stu turn in 43 (7 over).

The back half opens with a really short but extremely tight par 3.  Craig makes a two and Stu a three.  A poor tee shot by Craig leads to a bogey at 11th however this is followed up with an eagle at the par 5 12th.  The 12th measures 483 off the yellow tees and a long drive and wedge to twenty feet sees Craig stroke in for eagle.  A solid par 4 at the 13th is then followed by a poor bogey at the 14th and then a poor par at the 15th which was a very good chance to pick up a shot and then a missed putt from four feet at 16th sees another good opportunity go a begging..  Stu manages to go level 5’s from 11th to 16th.  The 17th the signature hole sees Stu short but making a good four and Craig drop short plugged in the bunker however managed to somehow get up and down for par.  The last sees great tee shots down the left (well its dark so we didn’t really see them…but we did find them followed by two good approaches and two putts a piece to see the scores Craig 69 (-3) and Stu 85 (+13).

In summary, course was just perfect and played very short due to the fairways being fast and fiery.  The greens were superb fast to putt on and very receptive.  A course all golfers must play.

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