North Berwick West Links
North Berwick West Links is a famous golf course in North Berwick, Scotland. It sits on a long strip of land by the sea, stretching more than two miles from the town center to the Yellowcraigs nature reserve.
Golf has been played on this land for centuries. The West Links opened in 1832 with six holes and later grew to 18 by 1877. By 1895 it reached a full length of about 6,095 yards; today the course is about 6,420 yards.
The course regularly hosts championships and is used as a qualifying venue when The Open Championship is held at nearby Muirfield (for example in 2013). In 2025 it hosted the Scottish Men's Open Championship.
Four clubs are based at West Links: North Berwick Golf Club (founded 1832), Tantallon Golf Club (1853), Bass Rock Golf Club (1873), and North Berwick Ladies Golf Club (1888). North Berwick Golf Club is one of the oldest in the world, with only St Andrews having a longer continuous history on the same course.
The signature hole is the 15th, the Redan. It is a par-3 with a blind tee shot over a valley to a green perched on a hill. The hole’s design has inspired many others around the world, including at Shinnecock Hills in the United States.
The 16th hole, called the Gate, is another famous feature with a green split into two raised parts by a deep valley.
Both North Berwick and Tantallon clubs have clubhouses with changing rooms and dining areas. As part of The Sayers Project, NBGC plans to expand its clubhouse to add more leisure facilities, move the David Huish Pro Shop into the main building, and create modern practice bays and swing analysis technology.
At the far end of the course there is a practice area behind the 8th–11th holes, offering a driving/iron field (no automatic ball retrieval) and a multi-hole putting green.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:45 (CET).