Lothian courses to fore

Published on Monday 15 June 2009 22:16

FOUR of East Lothian's most prominent courses will host local final qualifying for the Open in 2013 when the championship returns to Muirfield.

The Royal and Ancient have announced that Dunbar, Gullane No1, the Musselburgh Golf Club and North Berwick will all participate in four years' time.

It's a fresh honour for Musselburgh, which has staged regional qualifying for the Open since 2006 and will do so again this summer and next. In 2013, however, it will host LFQ for the first time.

The No1 Course at Gullane has hosted Open Championship LFQ six times. It opened for play in 1884, though golf has been relished around Gullane Hill for over 150 years.

The links at Dunbar were laid out in 1857 before being redesigned by Old Tom Morris in 1894. When Open qualifying was held at Dunbar in 2002, former PGA champion Steve Elkington played his way into the championship at Muirfield where he finished among the runners-up to Ernie Els.

Golf has been played in North Berwick since the 17th century, though the shaping of the West Links wasn't completed until 1932.

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