I have fond memories of Sunday afternoon drives along the country lanes and playing with my grandparents and cousins in the Gifford area, back in the early 1960’s.
Gifford is situated in a lovely part of East Lothian. The town began life in the early 18th Century; it seems like the Gifford family wanted to distance themselves from the village of Yester and Yester Castle which Sir Hugo Gifford built in the 13th century. Sir Hugo, naturally, was a wizard. It also seems like the Yester clan were a weird bunch too with dubious goings on. A certain John Knox was born in Yester in 1505.
This is a link which has a bunch of information about the town: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/gifford/gifford/index.html
It’s a pretty cool history for a tiny little place most will never go near. For my American friends, John Witherspoon was born in Gifford; he was a signatory to the American Declaration of Independence. He also become the first president of Princeton University.
The Golf Course was built early 20th century.
This is from the Club’s website: https://www.giffordgolfclub.com: Gifford Golf Club is noted for its quality and layout, a layout that rewards thought and accuracy when approaching the greens that blend with the natural contours of the land. The course was laid out in 1904 and it has benefitted from the remarkable fact that during its first 100 years the club had only four head green keepers, indicative of their love for the course, continuity of maintenance and steady evolution. Today, we can enjoy a pleasant mix of trees and parkland with the Lammermuir Hills as a scenic back-drop.
The course consists of 9 holes with two sets of tees. Costs about L20 to play 9.
The course card.
We really enjoyed playing here in August 2021. I played with Gill and my brother, Alan.
The golf course consists of 9 holes with a set of alternative tees that can mean you are able to play “18”. The course apparently used to have no bunkers, only grassy bunkers. This is not the most difficult of courses; all pretty short holes with wide fairways. The greens were a little tricky as they all had a bit of slope and some borrows, but all were in really excellent condition.
Gifford is a very cute little town. We had lunch before hand at the Goblin Ha’. This hotel has a very nice bar and restaurant and beer garden at the back. http://goblinha.com