West Linton Golf Club

West Linton Golf Club occupies moorland in the Pentland Hills foothills, eight miles south of the Edinburgh city boundary in the Scottish Borders administrative area. Founded 1890, the course plays across open heathland at around 700 feet elevation — higher than any of Edinburgh's city courses, exposed to the Pentland weather, with genuinely wild turf that maintained courses in the central belt rarely offer. The Pentland Hills Regional Park borders the course to the north.

Par 68, around 5,800 yards. The heathland character — gorse, heather, firm turf, minimal tree cover on the upper sections — gives the course a links-adjacent feel that pure parkland cannot replicate. The wind is almost always present at this elevation, and the routing turns the player through enough different directions that no consistent advantage holds for long. Several back-nine holes use the open moorland to present approach shots requiring full commitment to a line rather than the protected angles that tree-lined courses allow.

Visitor green fee is £20–35 — one of the best-value heathland rounds within 30 minutes of Edinburgh. The village of West Linton has good Pentland path access for non-golfing companions, and the A702 drive south from Edinburgh takes 30 minutes from the bypass. For Edinburgh golfers who have played the city municipals and want something different in terrain without a full Lothians links day, West Linton is the answer most Edinburgh golfers don't know about.

Pairs with Peebles Golf Club (15 miles south) for a Borders day that provides 36 holes of heathland and moorland golf at combined green fees that would cover a single round at several East Lothian links courses.