Musselburgh golf history · Which to play
Musselburgh Old Links vs Royal Musselburgh Golf Club
The oldest playing golf course in the world against the fifth-oldest golf club — two different things, two miles apart.
| Musselburgh Old Links | Royal Musselburgh Golf Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Green fee (2026) | £20–£25 | £45–£65 |
| Location | Musselburgh, East Lothian | Prestonpans, East Lothian |
| Region | East Lothian | East Lothian |
| Type | Links | Parkland |
| Holes / par | 9 · par 34 | 18 · par 70 |
| Designer | Pre-modern; play documented from 2 March 1672 (Sir John Foulis of Ravelston's lost match) | James Braid with F.G. Hawtree (1925) |
The verdict
Which should you play?
These two get confused constantly and they are not the same thing. Musselburgh Old Links is a nine-hole course inside the racecourse where play is documented from 2 March 1672 — Sir John Foulis of Ravelston recording a lost match — which makes it the oldest playing golf course in the world. It is now a council course, it costs about the price of lunch, and hickory clubs are available if you want the full experience.
Royal Musselburgh Golf Club is the club, founded in 1774 and the fifth-oldest in the world, and it left the old links long ago. It plays at Prestongrange House in Prestonpans, two miles east, on a parkland course James Braid laid out with F.G. Hawtree in 1925 — par 70, 6,237 yards, mature trees, and a proper clubhouse.
If you are here for the history, the Old Links is the one that matters and nine holes is enough: this is the ground the game was played on before anyone thought to write the rules down. If you want an actual round of golf on a good course, Royal Musselburgh is the better golf by a distance and still one of the cheapest eighteen holes within half an hour of Edinburgh. Doing both in a day is easy and is what most people should do.
Pick this one if…
Musselburgh Old Links
You want to stand on the oldest golf course on earth, nine holes and a hickory club is exactly the point, and you are paying under twenty-five pounds for it.
Pick this one if…
Royal Musselburgh Golf Club
You want eighteen holes of good Braid parkland near Edinburgh at a budget rate, and the 1774 crest on the clubhouse is a bonus rather than the reason.
Green fees are the clubs' published 2026 visitor rates, shown as a range from the cheapest to the dearest tee time. They change; always confirm on the course profile before you book. We don't take a cut of your green fee — the verdict above is ours, not the pro shop's.
More: which should you play?