Baberton

Baberton Golf Club is located on the west side of Edinburgh in the village of Juniper Green. The club was established in 1893 and they recruited two-time Open champion Willie Park Junior from Musselburgh to lay out a 9-hole course within two months of their formation.

Over time, the course has been extended around a compact ninety-acre site to the full 6129-yard, par 69, eighteen hole parkland layout that it is today. The front nine is routed over undulating terrain along the boundary of the course with the homeward half playing a little shorter due to there being three par threes on that nine.

As part of a recent general upgrading programme on the course, Brian Phillips and Graeme Webster of Niblick Golf Design have replaced a large number of green complexes.

The signature hole on the course is “The Gap,” the 391-yard, par four, 13th where the tee shot is played between the Quarry and the Wilderness Woods. An accurate approach up the hill is then required to hit and hold a two-tiered green that slopes from back to front.

Interestingly, for golf historians, Baberton claims to be the birthplace of steel shafted clubs and the original equipment and patents (of local blacksmith T.A. Horsburgh from 1894) can be viewed in the clubhouse.