Dalmahoy (East) - Lothians - Scotland

Despite the weather forecast threatening heavy showers we manage to dodge it and had near perfect conditions for most of the round. A real Braid fan this is has to be up there with his greatest work, truly tremendous. The final stretch of 6 holes are near perfect with 13 and 14 as good a holes as I've played. The condition was very fittingly tremendous, greens amazing and throughout manicured provided for a near perfect round. Never really heard many outstanding reviews prior to playing but this is one seriously good course.

It's really long. There are some interesting holes and interesting greens, but a lot of bland holes that all merge into one.

It's been in good condition whenever I've played it. My driving has always been on form too - this is essential because it's really long (I might have mentioned that already).

A pleasant resort course.

I played Dalmahoy East both before and after the renovation. It was in decent condition prior to the renovation but was not a very exciting golf course. The most memorable feature was that I thought the 16th was almost impossible.

After the renovation some years ago, it is a very long golf course but not in great condition. The back tees are now over 7300 yards and the next set of tees is over 6900 so choose your tee wisely!

There are numerous bunkers but I did not feel like they came into play very often. The green complexes are what one might expect for a resort course - just interesting enough but not overly done.

The fairways, although mainly tree lined, are very generous so you can swing away and not worry too often about a lost ball or having tree trouble.

There were a lot of good holes such as the starting hole, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13 16 and 17. They are not exceptional but for a resort course they are good.

If the course is in good condition, this is a good course to play as a warm-up round to a golf trip or for a golf society day.

It has been 15 years since I played the East course this last June and I was interested to find out whether the harsh reviews posted for the course were actually true. I wasn’t a great fan of the East course to start with, but feel the renovations have not adversely impacted the course at all. OK it’s a resort course and the Marriott badge is not very prestigious these days but from a golfing perspective the East is a proper test and I didn’t find it a grind at all. Overall I wouldn’t be put off by scathing reviews from those who simply don’t like change or have an axe to grind. The course condition was good and I played in a two-ball in less than 4 hours on a Sunday. The West course is a little cracker which we also enjoyed. Dalmahoy is not a bad place to stay when in Edinburgh – I’d stay and play there again.

This course was one of the best in the Lothians, regularly hosting European Tour events however it passed from being a members club to eventually owned by an international hotel group. The course was lenthened by some grim changes. presumably with a view to attracting back big events which has not happened. The result is a long uninteresting grind. It is overplayed and the last time I was there in terrible condition, so bad we quitted at the 9th. A first class course ruined.

For a supposed top course charging top prices it is in terrible condition. Virtually every fairway had GUR areas. Some of the tee boxes would shame a council course. There were even several petrol burns on fairways and across two of the greens which is inexcusable. Perhaps they should invest some of their bar price profits into a large sack of grass seed for the greenkeeper.

I was looking forward to playing Dalmahoy East on the Wednesday preceeding the start of the Open Championship at Muirfield. It was no doubt a classic parkland course but was unfortunately in a very bad condition. The fairways were in a poor state, whether as a result of the dry weather, over use or just a lack of maintenance. However, the main problem was the state of the greens - you do not expect to find hollow-tined greens in July. The fairways were quite generous in terms of width off the tee but the greens were very well protected by James Braid's design for the surrounding bunkers. Any approach shot which was not really accurate was punished. I would like to play the course again but would not re-visit until I had an assurance that the condition had improved considerably.

I think it’s a touch unfair to overly emphasise the length of the course. Yes it is pretty long but it is also relatively generous, you can give it a proper bash off the tee without too many worries. I agree with the comments of J. McCann in that this would be a much better place if it was a members club, like all resort courses it feels more like a corporate money maker.Overall I had a decent day out but felt the course was a touch boring, condition was ok, nothing special in my opinion I’m afraid. Worth a look if you can get a deal or signed on by a member but I would not pay full green fee. There are many better courses around that I would recommend before here.

I find alot of the reviews of the East course somewhat unfair. Corporate golf, boring..etc.. I personally have played twice (both of tiger tees, (shot mid/low 80's) and will play again. DO NOT play if you find monster courses a nightmare. This is a LOOOONG course and as such will take the fun out of golf for alot of people. My playing partners here have ranged from +1,2,11,15 and 21 handicaps, and it is no surprise that the 15 and 21 handicapers just found it too long, but they could at least appreciate the beauty and condition. Dalmahoy is a nice course that was probably a better course when it was shorter but still well worth playing. 9th, 13th and 18th are the pick of the bunch.

the layout is ultimately a bit flat and bland, with no single hole resonating in the memory afterwards. However, a bland course with good conditioning like this is preferable to a memorable one with poor conditioning (played Cardrona the follwing day).All clubs in bag tested and greens good. apity one fairway could not be creened from the adjacent ones better as there is plenty of room and the view of other golfers/holes dilutes the experience compared to similar courses abroad where only the hole played is visible