How historic Scottish school has made its mark in golf and there's more to come

Some decent cricketers have also been unearthed over the years and now historic Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh is aiming to become a hotbed of golfing talent as well in years to come.

It already has an alumni flying the flag on the DP World Tour, where Cameron Adam is five events into his rookie season after securing a card as the winner of a Global Amateur Pathway last year.

Archie Cook, who was also a member of the Golf Academy programme during his spell at Merchiston, is now playing on the US college circuit as a freshman at Georgia State.

The current golf captain, Adam Al-B, is one of Oman’s rising golf stars and is also heading to America later this year to start a golf scholarship at Keiser University in Florida.

All in all, it’s an exciting time for Merchiston when it comes to golf and, thanks to a “generous donation”, a new state-of-the-art Indoor Golf Centre has now taken things to a whole new level.

Opened by Adam as he arrived back in Scotland after playing in events in Bahrain and Qatar to start his 2026 campaign, the on-site facility features Foresight simulator technology used by elite academies and professionals, with its provision being hailed by Huw Jones, the school’s head as a “special day” and understandably so.

Adam recalled that he’d been 12 years old and playing off a 12 handicap when he started at the Colinton-based school, admitting before almost making a hole-in-one with at the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon with his first shot on one of the simulators that his “journey at Merchiston changed a lot of my life”.

Last year alone was one to cherish as the left-hander, who is originally from Edinburgh but now lives in Fife, won the St Andrews Links Trophy, played in The Open at Royal Portrush, represented Great Britain & Ireland in the 50th Walker Cup at Cypress Point and made his presence felt as an amateur in the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry.

“It’s nice to see the school go from strength to strength,” Adam told The Scotsman. “The care and treatment I got here prepared me incredibly well for the experience I had in the States at uni out there,” he added of a subsequent spell at Northwestern in Illinois. “I think coming back to open this facility is another addition to that. I never really had any of this when I was here and it’s what I kind of got in the States. It’s creating a kind of college atmosphere, so that is exciting.”

Fraser Hutchison is Merchiston’s director of golf, with the 25 boys currently part of the Golf Academy being guided by someone who cares passionately about his role. “Yeah, the last 20 years golf and education has been central to everything I have done,” he said of having taught on the golf degree programme at Scotland’s Rural College at Elmwood in Fife for the bulk of that time after previously being involved in the same thing at UHI’s Dornoch campus.

Though admitting he still likes to see a “ball flight with my own eyes”, it was no surprise to see a glint in Hutchison’s eyes as he spoke about the new indoor facility. “I think it is a real game-changer for the whole Merchiston community,” he said. “Not just for the Golf Academy because there was always going to be an access programme for the wider boarding community who are not necessarily in the Golf Academy. It’s not just a hub or a house for the Golf Academy - it’s really for everybody.”

Al-B already felt he’d made the right choice by selecting Merchiston as his best route as a “clear pathway” to an American college and he’s feeling even more excited now about how much he can keep improving before making that step later in the year.

“It is very exciting for us to have this facility,” he said, though, at the same time, he now knows why Hutchison talks about how playing in tough conditions can “make champions” after needing to wear lots of layers for a recent match in cold and windy conditions at Craigielaw.

Rugby, in particular, will always be Merchiston’s No 1 sport while pupils also have access to an indoor tennis dome, but there’s a chance that Adam, who was broadly wearing the school badge on his return this week, could be the first of many golfing alumni.

“I think a school or an institution is only as strong as its alumni and Cameron was in his school year with Jamie Dobie, who now plays for Scotland at rugby,” said Hutchison. “There’s been a bit of a legacy, a tradition of internationalists and professional athletes coming through Merchiston and we want to keep connected with our community.

“They are always so willing to come back and, when I made contact with Cameron about this, it was a no-brainer for him. He didn’t need to have his arm-twisted and I think that’s because he saw the pathway that offered him the opportunities he now has.”