Occupying a spectacular clifftop position at the eastern end of the East Lothian coast, Dunbar Golf Club is raw, wind-exposed, and completely exhilarating. Several holes are played directly alongside the North Sea, with waves crashing below and the full force of Scottish coastal weather arriving off the water without warning or mercy. It is links golf in its most elemental, unfiltered form — the kind of round you talk about for years. A stunning new clubhouse is the latest addition at Dunbar.
Dunbar Golf Club was founded in 1856, making it one of Scotland's oldest clubs. The course has occupied its current clifftop site for over a century, with the layout shaped as much by the dramatic coastal terrain as by any architect's hand. Its remote position, east of the main East Lothian cluster of courses, keeps visitor numbers naturally lower — a genuine benefit for those who seek it out. The town of Dunbar itself, birthplace of John Muir, adds historic and cultural interest beyond the golf.
Dunbar rewards golfers who are willing to travel a little further east along the coast. The raw, elemental feel of playing directly beside an open sea — with no shelter, no concessions to comfort, and wind that can change a hole from birdie opportunity to bogey battle in minutes — is exactly what links golf is supposed to be. It is a course you feel as much as you play.