The course lies on the eastern slopes of Blackford Hill which was formed of lava and moulded into its present crag-and-tail shape by an easterly flowing ice-sheet. The ice laid bare the rocky crags round the west side and, deflected round the sides of the hill, gouged deep hollows now occupied on the north side by Blackford Pond and on the south side by the alluvium of the Braid Burn. The gently sloping tail on the eastern side of the hill supports the Royal Observatory before continuing on through the golf course, dropping some two hundred feet from the tenth tee to the lowest point where the Braid Burn leaves the course near Liberton Dams. To the west of the dyke which crosses the course the higher ground bears unmistakeable signs of cultivation ridges. The original 9 hole course at Blackford Hill was laid out on that higher ground and later lengthened by the acquisition of ground to the east of the dyke and the area which contains the eighth green. Several features of the original lay-outs can be seen including the winter tee at the fourth hole, which was the tee to what is now the second green, and in the remains of a bunker in the rough in the elbow of the ninth fairway. Several of the original holes were incorporated into the extension into the 18 hole course.