The course opens with a long par 4 (its a par 5 off the whites & blacks) which has lots of fairway bunkering to gleefully collect any errant drives, the green is also protected at the front by a burn and therefore a par here must be taken with sense of relief.  It is a cracking opening hole and one that leaves you with no doubt that you will be in for a test.  The 2nd which runs back towards the first tee is another stern test with severe rough on the left and even more severe bunkering on the right; it looks fine from a yardage book but plays much harder from the tee!  By the time you reach the par 3 3rd you are looking for a bit of light relief.  Normally a 152 yard par 3 from an elevated tee box wouldn't phase me - yes the green is extremely well protected but it is a large enough target.  However, on the day I was pushing lots of shots left (unusual for me) and all I could see as I stood on the tee was the Out of Bounds car park and the gleaning Bentley parked in plain view!  You get a cracking view from the tee and if you can tear your eyes away from the car park it should be a fairly straightforward shot. I would suggest being short (not too short as there is a bunker in front of the green at around 115 yards) but short is better than long.  The green is large and is fairly undulating so even getting it onto the putting surface still leaves you with a difficult putt.  You then head through the wall and are faced with the beautiful site of the sea lapping on the shoreline, the smell of the seaweed and the Bass rock in the distance.  This is where Dunbar really came alive for me - all of the holes that played along the shoreline were lovely and the sea breeze reminded you that whilst we had a benign day this course would really bear its teeth with a bit of wind.

I would suggest that the 4th was one of the easier holes with a generous fairway and a green that wasn't offered the same amount of protection as the previous holes. The 5th is a decent little par 3 onto a raised green - dont be long trust me chipping back on to this green was a nightmare!  The 6th is another favourite hole of mine - out of bounds on your left and a burn running along the front of the green.  Most of the guys opted for a wood or recovery off the tee as it is only 338 yards and the OB is a real issue - I didnt take that advice and promptly sliced my golf ball over the wall.  If you tend to hit the ball left to right I would suggest playing the percentage game on this hole and take a hybrid from the tee.  Another good sized green with all the danger at the front - although chipping from the path to the right of the green isn't the best of positions to be in!  

The 7th is a dog leg with out of bounds again down the right.  All 3 of the visitors managed to lose balls here by sending the ball over the wall - in fact I think Jan may have lost 2 here!  The best line is to aim for the bunkers on the left.  The green is in a hollow and even your second shot may be blind, this is a really tricky hole and another where you need to really think about where you want to put the ball rather than just hitting and hoping.  The 8th is a short par 4 with most of the problems being from the fairway where plenty of fairway bunker await your drive.  Again the big hitters will either try to go over the bunkers or hit a hybrid for position.  This was one of the few holes I actually played well.  The final hole of the outward 9 is another par 5.  This time you are teeing off and playing up hill - the best line is to the left of the marker post - please remember to ring the bell after you have played your second shot.  This is a fairway that rises and drops down again.  There is rough on the left and right but it is a fairly straightforward hole and the big hitters may see this (depending on the weather) as a chance for birdie.

My favourite hole on the course is a classic Old Tom Morris long par 3.  At 202 yards the distance alone seems to make this a tough hole but with the fairway sloping towards a deep pot bunker on the left of the green and another bunker awaiting shots that miss on the right it is a very tough hole. Another hole that plays directly along the shore and back towards the clubhouse is next - with a tight fairway to hit and plenty of rough to gather sliced or hooked tee shots this a tricky hole.  At this stage any wind that was with you on the way out will now be your enemy on the way back.  At 406 yard I remember that this seemed to play a lot longer! The 12th is a drivers hole with a decent fairway and some light rough it is one of the few holes were you can feel that you can really hit the ball.  The shoreline doesn't really come into play until your second shot and the two tiered green is a tough green to read.

The 13th is another where you cant see the flag from the tee box, the best line is down the left as you should get a view of the flag from there.  If you are down the right your approach may be blind and with 3 very deep bunkers to negotiate protecting the green it is better to have a view of the flag.  A note on the bunkers at Dunbar they are filled with sand and some sea shells which was lovely and really made the course feel even more natural which I didnt think would be possible!  The 14th is another fairway that has a slight dog leg left, the fairway is pockmarked with bunkers.  The 15th is another of the back 9s reasonable wide fairways - this was one of the easier holes on the course.  However, by this stage we were dormie 3 and needed to win the last  3 holes just for the draw!

The final par 3 is an interesting little hole with the shoreline on the right and out of bounds at the back left of the green and with a large oval shaped green on two tiers - at this hole we lost the game 4 & 2 but it was a good hole to lose on!  The 17th is the final hole along the shore before heading back through the wall to play the 18th.  It has two lots of burns and plenty of well placed bunkers awaiting for any drives that dont stay on the fairway.  The green is another two-tiered green with the bunkering protecting the front part of the green.  The 18th has out of bounds on the right and we all, with the exception of Gordon, managed to lose balls over the wall! It is fairly easy finish to a testing links course.  We retired to the clubhouse to partake in a few drinks to discuss the days events and to allow Gordon the chance to tweet his victory!