The opportunity to work in Scotland is considered the ultimate dream for even the most accomplished of golf course designers. These days, precious few are “called up to the majors” in The Home of Golf, but for Tom Doak, The Renaissance Club was his chance to finally see that dream become a reality.

When The Renaissance Club debuted in 2008 the skeptics were aplenty. There were some that viewed a private club on Scottish soil as an affront to the spirit of the game – “even Muirfield opens their doors two days a week,” they shouted at the wind – while others believed that a modern course could never survive with the numerous historic links of East Lothian just a stone’s throw away. The Renaissance Club no doubt heard these early critics, but rather than address them head on, they simply let their course do the talking.

Doak’s finished product was proclaimed by many to be the latest in his string of masterpieces. The course offered a unique blend of wooded heathland and classic linksland over magnificent terrain that Doak, true to his style, did little to alter. Barely two years after the course opened, however, an opportunity to improve The Renaissance Club even further came from the unlikeliest of sources: The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

The neighbors agreed to exchange parcels of their respective properties, giving The Renaissance Club a sliver of oceanfront land that allowed Tom Doak to return and work more of his magic. The outcome being three spectacular seaside holes that rank among the finest experienced on any golf trip to Scotland. The new 9th and 11th holes are cracking one-shotters, with the green on the latter offering a breathtaking panorama and an ancient stone wall behind as backstop – a feature that appears several times throughout the round a’la the West Links of nearby North Berwick. It’s the cliffside par-4 10th, however, that is sure to get the pulse racing and the shutter on your camera snapping.

The round at Renaissance concludes with a demanding par-4, that plays slightly uphill and usually into a prevailing wind. The setting, complete with another appearance by the stone wall, is an ideal finishing hole for professional competition. One that received its deserved turn in the spotlight when the club played host to the 2019 Scottish Open.

In addition to Doak’s incredible layout, The Renaissance Club has won endless praise for the impeccable service and Good Life found inside their 34,000 square foot clubhouse. Though the clubhouse lacks the history of its esteemed neighbors, as one pulls up a chair in the 19th hole, it is likely that you’ll see it the way most do – as yet another example of how The Renaissance Club stands out in the crowd.

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For more insight on planning your golf trip to Scotland, visit the pages below, read our Scotland golf trip reviews, or have a look through our Yardage Book, where you’ll find answers to many of our most frequently asked questions.

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