Great Places In The Game: 4th At Musselburgh And Mrs. Forman's
This summer I had the privilege of playing a round with hickories at Musselburgh Links, recognized as the oldest course in the world by Guiness. The first documented play was in 1672, though its believed Mary, Queen of Scots whapped something resembling a ball around here in 1567.
;)
I chose to focus in on the fourth hole for now because it's a sensational par-4 that incorporates the surrounding racetrack. There is also the hole's ties to Mrs. Forman's restaurant behind the green. Through the hatch in the wall where she sold refreshments to golfers is now a window, the charming restaurant and pub pays homage to its predecessor with numerous wall photos of the old days along with excellent food. And of course, they still serve golfers on the back patio.
Musselburgh and its race course, to be featured in a separate video and included in a story next July for Golf Digest's Open Championship preview, are must stops for any golfers making the pilgrimmage to East Lothian.
The YouTube video, which I recommend watching at the enlarged size for full effect compared to the embedded version below.
Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 11:22 AM
Reader Comments (14)
It also interesting to gauge distance using the furlong markets along the race course. From that, I know that I am easily able to drive the ball longer than one furlong (1/8 of a mile).
Other than that, the golf experience at Musselburgh is not very satisfying. You really have to remind yourself of the history in order to keep interested at all.
I take it that the "running rail" on the course is OB?
Unfortunately, there is often a lot of trash blowing around the course (maybe it comes from the grandstands) and they don't seem to have the budget to pick it up on a daily basis.
The course certainly has history. It is too bad that things can't be spruced up a bit. I suppose there just is not enough money.
What I remember most about the 4th was that my drive failed to clear the track and landed in the middle of it. The grass was so thick that the ball disappeared. Unlike normal rounds, I became obsessed with finding it not only because it was the only gutta I had but because I had this mortal fear that it would get stepped on by a horse and cause a catastrophe. After 7 or 8 minutes, I finally found it and played on, making bogey. I shot 43 with those bygone tools.
Terrific little course that drips with history. Can't wait to play it again ... only with hickories, of course. It would not be the same otherwise.
Amazingly, they allowed play to tee off until 11:30 am on a day the first race was at 2. I was shocked but they claim to have a machine that vacuums the track before the first race of any debris. I did not see this in action, which is why I, like FWIW, searched for one of my balls until I found it in what is essentially US Open rough.
Abu,
The rails are PVC because they are moved, taken down, etc... for the different events (harness racing, jumping, etc...) and in the case of the 6th tee, to allow people to tee off. They can't be permanent for those reasons and also because it allows them to give in case of a accident. One of the perks of plastic. And I hope they don't "spruce" it up. I found it to be a perfect mix of modern maintenance and old style playability for the hickories.
Man I hope I am not shattering any visions of grandeur, I don't know how old you are, or how long you have been playing- but...a Furlong is 220 yards, to convert it to golf speak. Pretty good carry, not an exceptional overall drive.