Elie - Golf House Club

The History

It has been confirmed from Royal Charter that golf was played over the links at Elie from the 1500’s meaning "it is one of the oldest links in the world". Both a short and a long course are referred to in official documents at around 1770. 

Over the years, a number of different clubs have and continued to use the links at Elie as their base. Foremost of these is 'The Golf House Club' which was established in 1875 and takes it’s name from the stately clubhouse that was commenced in the same year - but completed in 1877.

Elie is believed to be 'the third oldest course in Scotland' behind only The Old Course and Musselburgh.

Elie started out as nine holes, and was extended a  couple of times before Old Tom Morris took it to 18 holes in 1895, but little has changed since.

The Course

Elie is a par 70 course with no par 5’s and only two par 3’s. It is not tricked up in any way, and you know from the start you are playing on a genuine old world links course But this links has real character! It is a tight course, with blind holes, errant balls and walkers to watch out for!

The first hole starts with a blind tee shot over a steep hill. Not so unique, I know.. but the starters box has a submarine periscope installed and when they ‘up’ the periscope they can give the 'all clear' to players on the tee that it is safe to hit. It is a fun, but unusual start.

The Story of The Periscope

As we progressed I found each hole challenging, but playable. Wind is a factor as you would expect, but this links was built for it. There is a brief stratch of coastal holes along the back nine which are quite special.

At this stage I want to mention that I played off the regular men’s tees and although I am a relatively short hitter (off single figures), there were realistically only a few shots where length was a problem for me. However Heather, who is a good golfer with a 10 handicap, regularly found herself unable to make the carry to the fairway because of the wind and length of the carry.  On a few holes she aimed for and hit the walking track through the rough! The mens course plays 6009 yards, whereas the womens tees measure 5768 yards (not much difference). Fair enough the womens course is par 73 to the men’s card of 70, but it is the carry off the tee that is the issue. (an issue we have found on a lot of the older courses in the UK. I guess they were never really built tees for women back then)

I enjoyed all of the old links in Fife - Lundin and Leven Links, Crail, Balcomie - but Elie was my favourite.