Gifford Golf Club

Gifford Golf Club is a 9-hole parkland course in the village of Gifford, 5 miles south of Haddington in the Lammermuir foothills. The course occupies the agricultural land at the edge of the village, with the Lammermuir ridge rising immediately to the south and the characteristic East Lothian farmland spreading north towards the coast.

Par 33, around 2,700 yards, played out and back across gently sloping land between the village and the Lammermuir rise. The terrain is softer than the coastal links 12 miles north but firms up in summer to produce a surface that runs truer than many parkland equivalents. The 4th and 5th, played uphill with the ridge framing the approach, are where the elevation tells most; the short par-3 7th back toward the village looks straightforward and isn't. No handicap required, no advance booking necessary on most days.

The village of Gifford itself is one of East Lothian's more attractive inland settlements — a planned eighteenth-century estate village with a central square, several pubs, and an excellent local bakery. For visitors staying on the East Lothian coast, Gifford is worth a detour as much for the village as for the golf.