Archerfield (Fidra)

Golf has been played on the Archerfield estate for a number of centuries and the original 6-hole course was extended to 13 holes in 1869. James Law, former owner of the Scotsman newspaper, enlisted Ben Sayers, the North Berwick professional, to expand the course to a full 18-hole layout around 1910 before the grounds were taken over by the Ministry of Defence during the Second World War.

The Archerfield estate subsequently fell into more than fifty years of decline before Caledonian Estates, Edinburgh businessman Kevin Doyle’s company, finally purchased 500 acres of land and commissioned senior tour professional David “D.J.” Russell in association with David Williams to design two courses as part of a reputed ₤55 million development which included the restoration of Archerfield House and the construction of 100 luxury homes.

The Fidra course measures almost 7,000 yards though there are four sets of tees at every hole to allow for varying abilities. Greens are large and receptive, with subtle borrows to test the best of putters. Many putting surfaces have run-up areas in front, enabling golfers to play a traditional bump-and-run shot along the ground.

Pine trees are the defining feature over the early holes, offering seclusion from the outside world as the course picks its way through the woodland routing. The links aspect of the course comes into play from the 12th hole onward when the Bass Rock, Firth of Forth and coast of Fife come into view as these holes wind their way out to the beach at Yellowcraig then return back to the clubhouse.

In the summer of 2006 the Fidra course at Archerfield Links was joined by the new Dirleton course in offering members and their guests a very special Scottish links golf experience. The Ladies Scottish Open was hosted at Archerfield on five consecutive occasions between 2010 and 2014, and in 2015 the Fidra staged the Scottish Senior Open, which England’s Paul Broadhurst won on his European Senior Tour debut, beating Austrian Gordon Manson in a play-off.

In 2016 the Scottish Senior Open returned to Archerfield (won by England's Paul Eales), but ahead of that event, the club hosted the 2016 Paul Lawrie Matchplay, won by another Englishman, Anthony Wall. There’s no doubt that Archerfield Links has genuinely come of age.