Kilspindie

With its sea and salt marshes, dunes and scrub, Aberlady Bay was proclaimed the UK's first nature reserve in 1952. 

And golf had been played on its banks for nearly 100 years before that.

Kilspindie is one of 22 golf courses in East Lothian, and several of its first nine holes are played right beside the sea. 

Its history is rich, and the links are unusual. They are shoe-horned into a small parcel of land and add up to a mere par 69. 

But don't be fooled – it makes up for its short length with wild undulations, and good men and women can crumple when the wind blows.

It was initially formed as Luffness Golf Club in 1867, making it one of the oldest registered clubs in the world.

Its first course was on the land, now part of the nature reserve. 

After nearly three decades, half the membership formed Luffness New Golf Club, while the remaining members accepted an offer from the Earl of Wemyss and March to lay out the course on the links bordering Craigielaw Farm. 

The current links were designed by legendary locals Willie Park Jr. and Ben Sayers, and the traditional layout has seen few changes over the past century. 

You can even spot two stone structures from when the course was shared with a local rifle club. The Target and The Magazine still stand near the 5th and 12th tees.

Kilspindie attracts visitors from far and wide but still has the feel of a club at its heart. 

So, the traditional clubhouse was very busy when we tucked into a scrumptious Scottish breakfast ahead of our game.

The first hole, with the sea as a backdrop, is typical of Kilspindie: short but very testing. 

We watched players find pot bunkers in front of the green on the 158-yard par-three, so I forced myself to strike past the hole. 

However, I had not accounted for a steep slope from the back to the front of the green. Consequently, I ended up with bogey.

The second, third, and fourth holes are tight to the shore, with out-of-bounds markers right beside the rocks. 

The par-four third is especially tough, demanding a blind drive to the left of one of three marker posts. 

This is followed by a long approach to a hillside green that falls so dramatically to the right that balls may tumble onto the fourth tee or, worse, onto the beach.

The pressure mounts on the fourth; the views are superb, but the danger lurks

menacingly on the right. The green is tucked into the corner of the property, surrounded by rocks, inhibiting the player from making an aggressive approach.

Several par-fours at Kilspindie are reachable from the tee, and after a tough start to my round, I was within putting distance after my drive to the sixth. 

Not for the last time, I missed my birdie attempt, but it was a springboard for much better scores. 

My best effort came on the eighth, a superb par-three over the beach. I took a five-wood, ensuring the ball would not be short; it curved past two bunkers, resting on the back of the green.

It has to be said that the holes in the middle of the course are very tight, with the sixth and 12th fairways running alongside each other in opposite directions. 

The uphill par-four 12th was the beginning of five straight pars for me, so I was not as fazed by other players in my peripheral vision as much as Podcast Partner and Mrs W.

However, their warnings of potential danger were illuminated while we were waiting on the 13th, when one of the chaps behind us was felled by a stray ball. 

The driver had not shouted 'fore' loudly enough, and he had been hit on the thigh and was fortunate not to suffer a long-term injury. 

Mrs W nearly suffered a similar fate while playing out of the rough on the left of the 15th fairway. 

Two drives on the blind third swished just wide of her. Meanwhile, I notched par on this 433-yard par-four on one of my best holes of the day.

The final three holes at Kilspindie are quirky and exciting, and I was on target to beat 80.

This looked unlikely on the 406-yard par-four 16th when I faded the ball off the tee into tangly rough. 

My somewhat hopeful five-wood limped about 75 yards, but I stiffed a sand wedge to six feet and nailed the putt.

Therefore, it was on, going into the last two holes, and both are short par fours. 

All was well when I hit a straight drive up the 17th, which ascends next to an ancient wall to a green just beyond it. 

Sadly, my chip was tentative, leaving me 30 yards to the target. The inevitable three putts on a swirling putting surface ensued.

I needed a birdie on the downhill final hole, which is so short that players on the green are advised to wait for those on the tee before putting out. 

I gathered myself to fire flag-wards, pulled dismally down the left, made a mess of my chip, and three-putted.

Of course, Kilspindie wasn’t responsible for my ineptitude. 

It had merely shown that tight links can bite back, and players need to be smart when they take on the challenge.