Wide fairways, but avoid the bunkers to score well.
Summary: Cost £65 (midweek). Par 73. Score 96. Value (out of 5) – 2.
Outstanding view of Edinburgh Castle from the 16th hole
Detail. Marriot Hotels run the Dalmahoy Hotel, Golf and Country Club, which is on the South East of Edinburgh about a 10 minute drive from Edinburgh Airport. The resort has 2 courses; the East course is a championship layout designed by James Braid and hosted the Solheim Cup in 1992, the West course is a much shorter later addition.
Moly and Andy adjacent to the 18th green.
This was my first 18 holes played since a back injury in early March, so quite a special day, especially accompanied by my son, Andy, who plays off 17. Despite never being up, I came back from 4 down at the 10th to halve the game; I was 9 over par after 3 holes, having found the sand in very good condition!
Dalmahoy East is a nice, but quite repetitive course, with many holes feeling much the same – i.e. straight, generous fairway, no carry hazard, trees with limited impact, very light rough, well positioned fairway/greenside bunkers, true and flat-ish green. There was only one real dog-leg, the 9th. It is surprisingly accessible to higher handicap golfers playing from the yellow tees, which takes 650 yards off the championship length.
Approach to the 9th over the country house “ha ha” wall, the most picturesque hole
The warm summer had also taken its toll when we played, with several parts of the fairway being brown and a couple of the greens were very dry. However, one can imagine the course a different challenge when wet and playing its full length.
At £65 for a weekday round and £75 for a weekend round, I had expected a bit more conditioning and challenge, and I would strongly recommend seeking to play using a voucher if available, otherwise you might be disappointed. We used a Golfcare insurance voucher which made it good value.
Andy teeing to the 17th, “the wee wrecker”
With a good group discount this would make a good venue for society days, as the Marriot has great changing and eating facilities.
Key Facts
Course Type: Parkland
Green Fees:
Summer Weekday, £65 per round; Weekend, £75.
Par 73 (4 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 3 par 3s)
Distance(yellow): 6684 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 96. (9 over for first 3 holes; 14 over for other 15 holes!)
Dalmahoy Scorecard – a disastrous start!
As a womens club, the “back tees”, are the LGU Red tees, with the white tees being in front, therefore this is one of the few courses where my tee shots were guaranteed to land in front of the ladies tee!
