Swanston Golf Club

Swanston sits on the lower slopes of the Pentland Hills on the southern fringe of Edinburgh, close to the thatched cottage settlement that gave Robert Louis Stevenson's family their childhood retreat. The golf club was founded in 1927 as a course for women only, opening to men the following year when it was extended to a full 18 holes. That layout stood largely unaltered until 2006, when work began on seven new holes; these opened for play in March 2009, alongside a clubhouse completed in 2007. In April 2016 the course took in two further holes from the former Lothianburn Golf Course next door. Alongside the main 18, Swanston runs a nine-hole par-3 course called the Templar, plus a driving range and separate chipping and putting practice areas. The Swanston Golf Academy, with six covered bays and twelve grass bays, is open to members and the public, and shares the site with a club-fitting studio run by Scott Gourlay of Scott Gourlay Golf Technology.