North Berwick Golf Course, East Lothian

East Lothian golf course North Berwick.

North Berwick has never hosted the Open but it is a historic course, part of that great stretch of golfing country along the south coast of the Firth of Forth.

It is famous for several of its holes: the 2nd, the "Sea Hole", where even the slightest touch of a slice puts you on the beach; the 14th, "Perfection", where the second shot is played blind over a large hill to a pole with the green almost in the sea; and the 15th, the "Redan", one of the most copied short holes in the world.

A North Berwick caddie was carrying the bags for a young professional in his first tournament when they came to the 18th tee. He pulled the driver out of the bag.

"I don't need the driver here, I'll go over the green if I hit it," said the young professional.

"You'll no hit it;" was the reply.

Prestwick Golf Course, Ayrshire

Ayrshire golf course Prestwick.

No golf directory should fail to mention Prestwick, where the first Open was played and which was the home of that championship for the first 12 years of its existence.

In 1873 the Open moved to St Andrews for the first time and Prestwick then fell into a rota with St Andrews and Musselburgh until 1894 when the Open was first held on English soil at Royal St George's.

Prestwick is now too short for championship golf and it is too cramped to handle the vast crowds that attend the major championships, but there are few more demanding courses, especially when the wind is blowing. The course is most famous for the 3rd hole, the "Cardinal", a par-5 guarded by the great  Cardinal bunker, the 5th, the "Himalayas", a blind par-3 over a range of sand dunes, and the 17th, where the second shot is again blind over the "Alps" to a small green guarded by a famous sleeper bunker.