Championship VenueLinks Classic

The Renaissance Club

Dirleton, East Lothian · Designed by Tom Doak (2008) · Est. 2008

The Renaissance Club is the modern home of the Scottish Open. A private club on the wooded Archerfield estate between Muirfield and North Berwick, it was designed by the acclaimed American architect Tom Doak and opened in 2008, with later extensions bringing several holes out onto the Firth of Forth shoreline. Since 2019 it has hosted the Genesis Scottish Open, now co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, which draws many of the world's best the week before the Open.

Stretching beyond 7,300 yards, it blends sheltered holes among the trees with dramatic, exposed links holes along the coast, and its conditioning is immaculate. As a private club its access is limited — most visitors play via hotel and stay-and-play arrangements — but it has firmly established itself among the elite courses of a coastline already thick with them.

Doak's brief was an unusual one: build a modern championship course inside the mature woodland of the Archerfield estate, then, in later phases, break out onto the raw links beside the Firth of Forth. The result is a course of two moods — sheltered, strategic holes among the trees and thrilling, exposed holes on the coast, where the Scottish Open is decided each July in front of immaculate galleries.

Holes worth knowing

110th (par-4) — a tight ribbon of fairway to a fiercely tilted green perched on the cliff edge high above the Firth of Forth; the best of the exposed coastal stretch.
212th (par) — where the view opens up and the lighthouse on the island of Fidra comes into sight; the run of 12–14 is the Scottish Open's dramatic finishing stretch.

Highlights

Host of the Genesis Scottish Open since 2019
Tom Doak design on the Archerfield estate
Wooded and coastal holes on the Firth of Forth

Good to know

→It is a private members' club, so plan access in advance — most visitors get on via East Lothian stay-and-play hotel packages rather than a public tee sheet.
→The course splits in character: sheltered, wooded inland holes and exposed, cliff-top links holes on the Forth — the coastal stretch is where the Scottish Open is won and lost.
→It sits on the Archerfield estate between Muirfield and North Berwick, so it is easily combined with the rest of the Golf Coast, 40 minutes from Edinburgh.
→The Renaissance Club has hosted the Scottish Open on the DP World Tour since 2019, played the week before the Open — a modern Tom Doak design on the East Lothian coast.
→It sits amid the golf coast beside Muirfield, North Berwick and Gullane; the seaside town of North Berwick, with its harbour and Seabird Centre, is minutes away.

Visitor Information

Getting There

40min drive

Common questions

Can visitors play The Renaissance Club?

The Renaissance Club is a private members' club, so visitor access is limited. Most non-members play via hotel stay-and-play packages in East Lothian or through a member introduction, rather than by booking a public tee time. It is worth planning well ahead.

Why is The Renaissance Club well known?

It has hosted the Genesis Scottish Open since 2019 — now co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and played the week before the Open — so many of the world's best play it every year. Designed by Tom Doak and opened in 2008, it blends sheltered wooded holes with dramatic links holes on the Firth of Forth.

Where is it and what else can I play nearby?

It sits on the Archerfield estate between Muirfield and North Berwick, in the middle of the finest concentration of links in East Lothian. Gullane, North Berwick, Muirfield and Dunbar are all close by.