History of Duddingston Golf Club

The closing decade of the 19th century was something of a golden era for the development of golf in Scotland with clubs springing up all over the country. In Edinburgh, the financial community were anxious to create their own course and this they did in 1895 by setting up the Insurance & Banking Golf Club at Duddingston.

The estate at Duddingston, owned by the Duke of Abercorn and set on the east flank of Edinburgh, beneath the spectacular backdrop of the 823 feet high extinct volcano that is Arthur's Seat, was considered by the club's founding architect Willie Park to be of a size that would make a "first class course".

The land, part of a former deer estate, has many links with Scotland's history including in 1745, prior to the Battle of Prestonpans, the encampment of the cavalry of Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, in an area adjoining the course and known today as Cavalry Park.