VISIT SCOTLAND'S EAST LOTHIAN GOLF COAST
AND SEE DUCKS!
SCOTLAND'S East Lothian Golf Coast is a true hidden gem.
Along a 20-mile stretch of stunning coastline you'll find no fewer than 22 courses dotted almost back-to-back on some of the world's finest golfing linksland.
Among them some famous names such as Musselburgh, Muirfield and North Berwick along with some fabulous new creations such as the magnificent Renaissance Club at Archerfield and the Archerfield Links.
A trip to this part of the British Isles takes you into the heart of Scotland's rich golfing history and you can almost smell the game in the sea air of the countless picturesque villages along the coast.
Our base for our visit to the East Lothian Golf Coast was the wonderfully quaint Ducks at Longniddry. If you want a real authentic Scottish golf break, this is the place to stay.
Ducks is perfectly placed within a 15-minute drive of all 22 of the East Lothian Golf Coast's courses - while several are just minutes away - and only a 20-minute train journey from Scotland's beautiful capital, Edinburgh.
Duck's is a 3 star Hotel / Bed and Breakfast with a 5 star heart. If you're looking for ultra-polished bells and whistles this isn't the place for you but if, like us, you want to sample some true Scottish hospitality in idyllic surroundings, right in the thick of the golfing action, Duck's is the place to do it.
The rooms are cosy and clean with everything you need for a comfortable stay. However, Duck's isn't really about the rooms upstairs - it's downstairs among the welcoming staff and regulars at the bar, or in the two terrific restaurants that this place really leaves its mark on visitors. Duck's regularly attracts guests on golf tours staying at top resorts like Turnberry and the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews. People come because they want to relax, perhaps watch some golf on the big screen in the bar, smoke some fine cigars, drink some whisky and enjoy the wonderful food on offer. No airs, no graces, just good times.
"People are beginning to understand that it's the service and hospitality that counts, that's the feel of the place," says owner Malcolm Duck, the larger than life former Royal Marine who looked after us throughout our stay and who acted as the perfect host to all his guests while we were there. "We're very much food led, we think of it as a restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel."
The restaurants in question really are a delight. There's Donald's Bistro - named after Malcolm's father rather than the more famous cartoon character - serving delicious locally sourced food in an informal setting. We tried the langoustines, which had been caught from the Forth of Firth - directly opposite the hotel - that very morning and they were sensational. As was the Belhaven Best battered haddock with hand cut chips, peas and roasted chicken breast with wild mushroom risotto. The more formal of the two eateries is Duck's Restaurant situated an intimate little area of the hotel away from the bustle of the bar with just 10 tables, ensuring first class personal service during your meal. Head Chef Johnnie Dunbar has put together an exquisite menu here and Ducks has one of the best wine lists in Scotland. We drooled over starters of scallops and tiran of crab, hot smoked salmon and brown shrimp, followed by mains of fillet of matured Buccleuch beef (which came with potato, kale, celeriac puree, glazed baby onions, wild mushrooms and haggis fritters) and wild sea bass fillet (with crushed potatoes, samphire grass, wild leeks and tomato beurre blanc).
"When we took over the place seven years ago we wanted the emphasis to be very much on food," says Malcolm. "We have a great head chef, Johnny Dunbar. We use as much local produce as possible - asparagus, potatoes, kale, broccoli, venison, langoustine. Something like a third of all Britain's supermarket vegetables are grown in East Lothian so we're very lucky in that respect and we've got the sea on our doorstep.
"We're a three star establishment but we get a lot of five star guests - people on tours from Turnberry stop off here all the time. Because we've got a great restaurant, people can have a very good meal in less stuffy surroundings actually relax and enjoy themselves.
"If we had two or three million pounds when we took over we probably would have ripped the heart out of the place but because we've had to grow it slowly we've managed to retain the character of a small family run place."
Longniddry Golf Course
Just a sand wedge away the front door of Ducks is Longniddry Golf Course, a beautiful combination of parkland and links that while not the longest of tracks, still provides a stern and enjoyable challenge to players of all standards. The 6,260 yard par 68 course has a great variety of holes and while fairways and greens are quite large, a good spattering of trees and some unforgiving rough places a premium on accuracy. When the wind gets up off the Firth of Forth, staying straight is easier said than done!
Archerfield Links
If you can bag yourself a tee-time it would be well worth checking out Archerfield Links, situated between the historic Muirfield and North Berwick venues. The members only club features two wonderful links tracks. Dirleton Links, designed by European Senior Tour player in 2006 DJ Russell is a traditional links in every sense of the word with wide sweeping fairways punctuated by deep pothole bunkers and undulating dunes which has been graced by the likes of Gary Player and Ian Woosnam. There's also the original Fidra Links layout, opened in 2004 - an idyllic setting in which to play the game amongst a mixture of pine forest and open links holes.
Kilspindie Golf Club
Kilspindie Golf Club is situated just quarter of a mile from Ducks and is the world's 35th oldest golf club. Built in 1867 and sited within a nature reserve at Aberlady Bay this ancient links, surrounded by abundant nature and wildlife on the East Lothian coast, is everything you imagine Scottish links to be.
Musselburgh Golf Club
Play where the forefathers of golf played. Musselburgh hosted The Open six times in the 1870s and 1880s and is now an Open Final Qualifying venue. Standing at 6,725 yards off the back tees, it's a picturesque and testing par 71 parkland layout with plenty of trees while the meandering Craigie burn slithers across several fairways adding a temping risk/reward aspect.
Muirfield
Muirfield is one of the oldest clubs in the world having started life in Leith in 1744 before moving to Musselburgh and then settling in its current site in 1891. The course, originally designed by the Father of Golf, Old Tom Morris, has played host to 15 Open Championships, including the first to be played over 18 holes in 1892. It's a classic links layout and if you want to play golf the way it was originally intended to be played then it doesn't come much better than Muirfield.
