Introduction 

To

What Might Have Been

While i have recorded all the golfing developments which took place, there were a number of proposals which never came to fruition. Some were minor ventures, reflecting more wishful thinking than reality, but others were major schemes which could have had an impact on golf in Scotland. The proposed development at St Combs in Aberdeenshire would have pre-dated Donald Trump’s current complex by some 70 or so years, and might even have negated it.

  Would the long-debated extension of the Musselburgh Links to eighteen holes have revived its fortunes and restored the `Auld Toun’ to its former golfing pre-eminence, and conceivably back on to the Open roster? 

  The Barnton Hotel project was imaginative and, catering for several sports, was akin to the American Country Club concept

  And what about the Dirleton Estate project? It is 8.75 miles from North Berwick to Aberlady  by the John Muir Coastal Way, and in that stretch there were 10  golf courses, North Berwick Glen and West, Archerfield, Fidra, Muirfield, Gullane 1,2,3,. Luffness and Kilspindie. Clearly there was the necessary space for another one, but was there the demand? More significantly, how long would it have survived, and what effect would it have had on the others on this coast? .

  I have found numerous other instances where an initial meeting was held to determine whether a course should be laid down or a club started, but, as far as i know, these never went beyond the initial suggestion, but in the absence of any further action, i have not included them.