 It all started here 10 years ago, and I feel like it's time, time to reflect on what has changed and what the future holds. A journey back in time to revisit the golf course and a hotel that changed so many things for me. You see the West links at North Berwick was the first golf course I played in East Lothian, an encounter that would have an extraordinary impact on what was to become an eternal love affair with links golf. During that time I have been on a journey to discover some of the finest examples of links golf, but ultimately all roads lead back to my first love, and what is the 13th oldest golf club in the world. Little has changed on the West links, it isn't too different from the layout golfers played here at the end of the 19th century. And today I'm going to show you why this place is so special. Right, super excited to get this one underway, first tier is always a weird one, it's a strange old 322 yards, that's off the blue I think was slightly forward, anyway 322 yards, I'm going to drive a bit of left to right and hopefully I don't get too near to that beach, but I've got to admit it kind of always wants to hug it over that way. Ah, short. So I reckon we could just end the video here, you've seen enough already, how good is this? What a backdrop, even though I did come up a little bit short. That's a good start. The front nine is classic links at its finest, rolling fairways, expansive greens, riveted bunkers, fairways split and lined with stone wall and an endless sea view. And of course no links track would be complete without the appearance of a burn, and in this case a hidden one. Right, I wore the warning on the 7th and I've played here quite a few times as well and I still forgot. I feel like it's like gone fishing, I've just caught some of it. There's a big brook that you can't see for the second shot, which the flag is just 10 yards on the other side. I thought it was a really good shot and I didn't. Now North Berwick is almost the typical 9 out 9 in, but it's in fact 8 out, 1 across and then 9 in. And the prevailing wind I think is very much into you for the front nine, that's how we've played it today and we've got plenty of help and assistance all the way in. And I can tell you from now on in, it's been amazing, but from now on in it's pretty spectacular. That's the best of day as well. Stay out those bunkers. From May Reading, we shouldn't just miss this bunker by the way, I've got a reading off of a water sprinkler over there. I think we've got about 230 in, we're going to go three wood. It'd be nice if we can get something in and around there. Okay, come on, be good, be good, kick up. Have we got enough of it? Oh no. I think the only good news is we might have come just short of the bunker. I was perhaps thinking I'm a little bit better than I am, I thought we were reaching there. I didn't sail the bunker, I'm afraid, and I wasn't that far off reaching, but this is a tough one. Get up, a bit more. Do you know what? That's a pretty decent effort. Yeah well, that's a decent par I suppose. Now as much as I like to narrate, I'm going to keep quiet and let the images do the talking for a minute. Enjoy. Now the 11th tee box, which we just stood behind actually, but it's been moved forward because of a bit of renovation work going on, but the views they've established from up here, there's a lot of trees and bushes being removed, which has revealed a far better view than I've ever seen before from up here. It really is a pretty special stud on the 11th tee, and I'm going to have a wee nip as they say, which is the perfect Scottish little half-way break. How nice is that done? Tell me who else in the comments section below pinches stuff from the breakfast buffet, puts it in the golf bag, and as in mid-round, that's a cinnamon swirl and it's delightful. In life change is inevitable. As golfers we change over the years, our swings evolve, which is a polite way of saying we get slower. Our priorities change. Maybe our outlook towards the game itself is viewed differently, and in the case of today's accommodation, it has also changed. The Marine Hotel has undergone a major refurbishment in recent years and has been returned to its former glory. This is THE hotel in East Lothian, and the one thing that hasn't changed is its location. The changes at the Marine Hotel are incredible and somewhere I would highly recommend, and aside from its proximity to North Berwick Golf Course, let's not forget its central location, provides access to East Lothian's Golf in Mecca, and a short 20-minute train journey has you in Edinburgh. Now whilst I enjoy every inch at North Berwick, there are three holes for which the Westlinks is best known for, and it all kicks off on the 13th, a hole known as Pitt. And that is as good as I've got. Don't go in the bunker. Oh my word. It might be too good. That's right up towards the wall I think. That looked good for a long, long time. That's a decent four though. Next hole is called Perfection, and that's what it needs. Well, that's what it is as well, because this is my favourite golf hole on the course. You can have a little extra nip of whiskey just before we play this one. But oh my word, what a golf hole. Wish me luck. Yeah, I think that could be good. I'm certainly benefiting from being down-breeze, because that drive has gotten me, well, so so far down the fairway. And what you're looking at right now for a camera perched up on top is one of the best views there is. And I need something like 80 yards into that flag, but it's a bit of a blind one. And the question is, that's at the marker, is it? Now the sprints up there hill revealed an average golf shot, but a way above average visual. Ah, never mind, our par's good. What a backdrop. I've played my three favourite holes really well, but we won't know where that one's finished until very much the last minute. And the reason for that is a rather large bunker, which has recently undergone some change. Yeah, so on 15 we've got the bunker left of the green that over a period of a number of years has kind of shrunk in size over the years. So we spoke to Chris and Clyde, Chris Johnson and Clyde Haspel, who we deal a lot with for shaping works and construction. And they did a bit of homework as to what the bunker used to look like. And the plan was to try and take it back to similar to how it used to be. So now we have the bunker's totally shaped, it's been re-reveted. The bunker's actually been pulled closer to the green and probably doubled in size, if not closer or tripled in size. The big objective was to get that back, looking how it used to be. The changes that we're making, we're not doing it because we're wanting to blow the course up and start again and making something that it's not. It's very much bringing some of the historical features of the course back to how they were. The 17th bunker, the long bunker on 17, we rebuilt that last year and that was very much part of that mindset as well. It wasn't we're wanting to do something completely out of the ordinary, it was looking to bring back something that was maybe here at a point in time. We're very lucky that a lot of people come from all over the world to play our course and we don't take that for granted. And I don't look at the course and say we have to do this, we have to do that. It is a case of why do people come here, what do they expect when they come here, what is the North Berwick experience and we want to try and add to that. So it's all very much in keeping with that idea, it's enhancing what we already have. Now if you're not blown away already, Photo of the Week is pretty special. Take your pick and comment down below. Good luck. I don't really think you can appreciate just how good a course like North Berwick is. You've got to sort of immerse yourself in the middle of it because from the sidelines at least it looks almost flat from a distance. But you start to see the change in elevation, those undulations which are quite significant like I said when you're walking in amongst them. And it's the type of golf course to fully appreciate I think you've just got to come along and experience it for yourself. I do hope we do it justice on the camera but I'm not sure you can ever understand unless you've got it here and give it a whirl yourself. Our massive shout out again to Como for sponsoring this last few episodes of this series. To be honest with you the product has been fantastic, you've seen me use it in, well this is now the fourth episode they've sponsored. I'm using 301CBs in the shorter rounds and 101Ts in the longer rounds and as I've said before using their fairway woods as well. And I've got to say sponsorship aside their product has been fantastic. As the light falls and the shadows lengthen my visit to this hallowed turf is coming to an end. Another chapter in my journey is complete. I probably don't have the words to describe why this place is so special. But hopefully my camera can. With so much change it's nice when some things remain unaltered. North Berwick Golf Club may have seen tweaks and restorations over the years. But I walk the same fairways as many trod before me. Great things stand the test of time and the landscape on the west links is untouchable. It is a landmark in golf's historical timeline and one which has to be encountered. Ten years from now I will sit on this beach. Look out to the crashing waves, listen to the seagulls and watch the sun set on the horizon. All of which will remain as I sit here today unchanged. I may look a little different, my swing even slower. But I guarantee the one thing that will remain unaltered. The fairways known as the west links in North Berwick.