One of the earliest golf pro's to emigrate from the town was Harry Gullane who laid out the courses at West Chester Golf and Country Club and St Davids in Pennsylvania. Robert Johnstone opened up golf in the North West, laying out the course at Seattle, while George Turnbull who often played in a 'Palm Beach Suit' was hired by more golf clubs than any other pro in his short but colourful life. Jimmy Thomson at the age of sixteen began to compete on what was to become the US PGA Tour. He was runner-up in both the 1935 US Open and 1936 PGA Championship and appeared in the movie 'The Caddy' with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. His father Wilfred Thomson was the last of the traditional teaching professionals on the West Links in the 1950s.

Like many of the great holes in golf, first impressions of the 192 yard, par 3 15th are deceptive, and only by playing the hole several times does it reveal it's hidden subtleties. The mounds, ridges and depressions left after the sea receded gives the West Links it's natural contours and the 'Redan' was part of that evolution. In those days the constraints of the feathery ball determined the length of each hole and the green was positioned on the nearest flat ground. Often a ridge crossing the path of play was used for the green and that is how the 'Redan' was created by nature. The green is laid out on a diagonal sloping plateau with bunkers on the face of the ridge and under the shoulder of the green, on the left and right. The 'Redan' came into play as the 6th hole in 1869 when the course was extended over a stone wall known as the March Dyke to make nine holes.

The name 'Redan' comes from the Crimean War, when the British captured a Russian held fort or in the local dialect, a redan. A serving officer John White-Melville is credited on his return as describing the 6th like the formidable fortress or redan he had encountered at Sebastopol. Conquered only after nearly a year of attrition which left over 20,000 British soldiers dead and four times as many French. The word 'Redan' is now part of the English language, and the definition given by the Oxford Dictionary is 'Fort - A work having two faces forming a salient towards the enemy.'

During the 1880s the bunkers were strengthen with railway sleepers (railroad ties) to allow the green to be enlarged, and in 1895 when the course was lengthened the 'Redan' became the 15th hole. Since then only the position of the teeing ground has been altered. The green is blind from the tee and the player has to shape the shot into the prevailing wind, allowing for the ball to finish below the flag stick. The slope of the green runs diagonally from right to left, and anything above the hole is in three putt country. The bunkers on two sides, deep enough for the player to disappear from view add to the difficulty of securing par. The wind direction plays an integral part on every hole and the 192 yards can be covered from an eight iron to a driver, depending on the conditions.

The North Berwick Ladies' Golf Club was formed in 1888, although ladies golfed in the town long before that date on the nine-hole Ladies Links, first mentioned in 1868. The Ladies course was altered in 1888 and is known today as the Children's Course, situated adjacent to the West Links and Marine Hotel. The ladies play all their competitions over the West Links and in 2005, became full members of the North Berwick Golf Club.

Lord Elcho donated a medal in 1868 for competition among the children of visitors to the town. The earliest recorded Open Junior Golf Tournament at North Berwick took place in October 1868. When boys over ten, but under fifteen years, competed in a stroke play tournament over the West Links, while those under the age of ten competed on the Ladies Links. The prizes were donated by William Cree and Andrew Bryson, both medallists of Tantallon Golf Club. William Cree was the first captain of North Berwick New Club in 1881. This competition for boys under fourteen years developed into the Cree Trophy, which is still contested today and is the oldest open junior golf competition in the world.

David Huish is the professional on the West Links, a position he has retained for over forty years. A former British PGA Captain and from 1987 a member of the Ryder Cup committee. In 2002, he was appointed a director of Ryder Cup Limited. Huish competed on the European Senior Tour with wins at the Collingtree Seniors Classic (1996); PGA Scottish Seniors Championship (1998); Lawrence Batley Seniors (2000) and Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open in Switzerland (2000), which he successfully defended in 2001. In 1973, Gregor Jamieson was assistant pro to David Huish and since 2006 he has been coaching former US Open champion Retief Goosen.