Muirfield, which is in Gullane, Scotland, is one of the oldest and most historic courses in golf. It’s in the regular rotation of courses which host The Open and is also home to The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which can trace their roots back to 1744 and can proudly say they’ve been around longer than the R&A (est. 1754). The HCEG, which in addition to having one of the best logos in golf, stake their claim to fame as producing the first thirteen rules of game. I’ll get to the course in a little bit but I’d like to list their original rules below to provide some perspective on how far the game of golf has come.
Articles & Laws in Playing at Golf.
1. You must Tee your Ball within a Club's length of the Hole.
2. Your Tee must be upon the Ground.
3. You are not to change the Ball which you Strike off the Tee.
4. You are not to remove Stones, Bones or any Break Club, for the sake of playing your Ball, Except upon the fair Green and that only / within a Club's length of your Ball.
5. If your Ball comes among watter, or any wattery filth, you are at liberty to take out your Ball & bringing it behind the hazard and Teeing it, you may play it with any Club and allow your Adversary a Stroke for so getting out your Ball.
6. If your Balls be found any where touching one another, You are to lift the first Ball, till you play the last.
7. At Holling, you are to play your Ball honestly for the Hole, and not to play upon your Adversary's Ball, not lying in your way to the Hole.
8. If you should lose your Ball, by it's being taken up, or any other way, you are to go back to the Spot, where you struck last, & drop another Ball, And allow your adversary a Stroke for the misfortune.
9. No man at Holling his Ball, is to be allowed, to mark his way to the Hole with his Club, or anything else.
10. If a Ball be stopp'd by any Person, Horse, Dog or anything else, The Ball so stop'd must be play'd where it lyes.
11. If you draw your Club in Order to Strike, & proceed so far in the Stroke as to be e Accounted a Stroke.
12. He whose Ball lyes farthest from the Hole is obliged to play first.
13. Neither Trench, Ditch or Dyke, made for the preservation of the Links, nor the Scholar's Holes, or the Soldier's Lines, Shall be accounted a Hazard; But the Ball is to be taken out teed /and play'd with any Iron Club.
I’m going to be honest, I’m not even sure what a few of the rules are referring to but my favorite snippets are the fact that they point out how to treat a ball that has been “stopp'd by any Person, Horse, Dog or anything else” as well as pointing out that “Stones, Bones or any Break Club” are immovable objects unless they are within a club’s length of your ball only while on the green! Horses, dogs and bones? Why don’t we see any courses these days where horses, dogs, and bones come into play? The lack of imagination these days is just down right depressing!
If I come away with anything from reading these rules, its amusing how addicting the game of golf is that people used to play with such passion that they would march around through a field dodging animals, bones and stones, tee their ball up everywhere and come back out the next day and do it all over again.
Golf! What a game!
Okay, let’s move on to the experience that I had at Muirfield. To start, Muirfield doesn’t mess around when it comes to privacy and forcing you to abide by the rules. Our car had to drop us off outside of the gates and we were permitted to eat lunch only after we removed our hat, changed into a shirt, tie, and jacket and removed our golf spikes in favor of dress shoes. In the coolest way possible, it’s a bit ironic that they even let visitors play the course given how rigid they are in many ways. Muirfield is pretty restrictive with when visitors can play, but isn’t it refreshing? In my opinion, more private courses should adopt a policy like this. I’m looking at you Cypress Point! Just because my name isn’t Clint Eastwood or Charles Schwab or I because don’t have a boat-load of money doesn’t mean that I don’t love and respect the game as much as your members. Alright, I need to take a deep breath and relax before I get all worked up. Back to the topic at hand, Muirfield.
The course at Muirfield is a great design. Its challenging for the best of the best and it’s still a ton of fun to your average amateur. The turf, which is about as night-and-day different from what I assume Augusta National would be like, was a great introduction to links golf as I’m pretty sure that its simply the original grass that has grown on the land for thousands of years. The course is bumpy and knobby and the grass is a mixture of a few native strands but it couldn’t be more charming and perfect to frame the experience that is Muirfield.
Let’s breakdown a few of my favorite holes were number 2, 9, 11, and 18.
Hole 2
Quintessentially Scottish, the second hole is outlined on the left with a stone wall, that I presume was built about 500 years ago, and comes into play with shots that drift too far offline. The hole itself is relatively straightforward and only plays a mere 365 yards but doesn’t yield as many birdies as you might think. Depending on your length off the tee take something between a driver and a long-iron (for the longer hitters) and aim at the second fairway bunker on the left as its 316 yards from the tee. Once you’re in the fairway I’d recommend aiming to the right portion of the green as it slopes right to left and you want to avoid the OB left beyond the stone wall. Be careful though as a trio of greenside bunkers are lurking, anxious to punish wayward wedge shots.
Hole 9
A relatively short par 5 tempts golfers at every intersection of the hole. Your tee shot gets squeezed into a small landing area that gives you an option of hitting a driver or laying back to stay away from trouble. Let’s say you hit a drive and center-cut it, you’re now tempted with going for a risky green in two to maximize the reward in the risk vs. reward equation. A long second shot into the green has to walk a fine line between OB left and a smattering of pesky bunkers right that start at about 60 yards into the green and lead all the way to greenside. My recommendation would be to smash a drive down the middle and then crank a big dog into the green like you just ran into Dustin Johnson in the men’s room (sorry, I just got done watching some Bob Menery videos).
#sorry #notsorry #rippermagoo
The fun irony is that there aren’t many courses that would appreciate Bob Menery’s sense of humor less than Muirfield.
Hole 11
This hole is simple. It’s actually quite easy. The only real challenge is the relatively small size and contour of the green. The fun part though comes in the form of a completely blind tee shot. I love it when architects put wrinkles like this into the course. Without the blind tee shot you’d be looking at hitting a fairway wood or long iron and then a wedge into a very short hole. But with the unique twist of a blind tee shot the hole becomes exponentially more fun and a bit more challenging as the intimidation factor that builds from the unknown makes you sweat a little bit over your tee shot.
The hole starts with you aiming at a marker planted on top of a 20 feet tall hill that blocks out your view of the rest of the hole. If you hit a decent 5-wood, you’ll probably get 250 yards out of it with roll leaving you a PW or less into the green. The green is small and heart shaped and is protected by a swarm of deep pot bunkers. If you can get past the mental hurdle of a blind tee shot the only shot that should be tough is your approach into the green. Accuracy is key. Get your ball on and get yourself a birdie or par.
Hole 18
Set against the backdrop of the clubhouse, the 18th at Muirfield is a world-class finishing hole for a world-class course. Golfers who have hopes of closing with a bang are required to be accurate and powerful to maximize their chances. Played from the tips, the hole plays 471 yards and usually against a prevailing crosswind, which makes the search for accuracy that much tougher. Driver is usually the play off the tee as aiming right should allow you to take the bunker on the right out of play, as its close enough to the tee box to be carried. Even with a well-struck tee shot the approach shot into the green is treacherous. Surrounded by two of the nastiest bunkers on the course, the 18th green is a tough one. The two bunkers short shouldn’t really come into play if you’re a high ball hitter but can be hazardous if you’re opting for a lower that that runs into the green.
Grades (where 1 is significantly below average and 5 is significantly above)
Scenery: 4 stars
Design: 5 stars
Condition: 5 stars
History: 5 stars
Practice Facilities: 4 stars
Experience: 5 stars
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how I think about course ratings.
Closing thoughts: Muirfield is one of the truly great links courses in the world. Hell, it's one of the great courses in the world. It’s also steeped in history that is really second to none. From start to finish the course offers a fun but fair layout that can be enjoyed by golfers of all skill levels. Do be sure to bring their requisite change of clothes if you plan on enjoying lunch. They’re not too keen on rule breakers!
