The Lothians Championship, first staged in 1947, will break new ground this year when the matchplay phase is staged at Craigielaw for the first time.
Pumpherston and Bathgate stage the 36-hole qualifying on Saturday, May 2, with the top 32 going forward to Craigielaw, where the destiny of the 2009 title will be decided between Monday, May 4 and Saturday, May 9.
Ironically, the last two Lothians champions have both been Craigielaw members - Mark Hillson lifting the title at Bruntsfield Links in 2007 before being succeeded as champion at Longniddry last year by Chris Orr.
Having since returned to his native Lanarkshire, Orr will not be eligible to defend his title.
The Lothians Championship is the showpiece in another hectic fixture list for the Lothians Golf Association. The Team Tournament takes place this year at Turnhouse & Murrayfield (July 25), the Seniors' Championship is at Ratho Park on July 6 and the Junior Championship takes place once again at the Braids, starting with the qualifying on April 31.
One new event is the Ian MacNiven Mid Amateur, to be held at Turnhouse on September 27. This is for players aged between 35 and 55 with a maximum handicap of eight and is in memory of the long-serving golf correspondent of the Edinburgh Evening News.
On the team front, Lothians are away to both Angus and Perth & Kinross in the Scottish Area Team Championship, with a match against Lanarkshire at Mortonhall sandwiched in between those fixtures.

Clothing boost for Lothians juniors

Richard Brian, the professional at Bruntsfield Links, has presented the Lothians with new windtops for the 2009 season.
"I played for Lothians Boys myself at one point and I wanted to give something back as I really had a great time back then," said Brian, who succeeded the long-serving Brian MacKenzie at the Davidsons Mains club nearly two years ago.
"A lot of the officials are still the same faces that I can remember from back then and I have been delighted to help out by providing these windtops."
Ken Wood, President of the Lothians Golf Association, is delighted that Richard has decided to make such a gesture. "It is absolutely fantastic," he said. "Richard came through the Lothians junior system to get to where he is now and we are delighted he's decided to give something back, especially in the midst of a credit crunch.
"We want to give youngsters the opportunity to develop their careers but, at the same time, it's nice that players as well as their parents can see they have also been looked after well along the way."

Mental Skills session proves a hit with youngsters

More than 100 people attended a Mental Skills Awareness Session organised by the Lothians Golf Association at Liberton Golf Club.
The session was taken by Ed McCosh, a life expectancy coach who has been working with the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association as well as Scottish professional star Lynn Kenny, who plays on the Ladies European Tour.
"We had 112 people there - a mixture of boys and their parents - and the session was an outstanding success," said Paul Gibson, the Boys & Coaching Convenor.
"Mental skills are very important in a golfer's development - it's not just about hitting golf balls - and Ed's message was easy to listen to, both for the younger ones there and also the more mature juniors."
John Fraser, Performance Director for the Scottish Golf Union, attended the session and appeared to be impressed by what McCosh had to say.
"It is something that will definitely be repeated and, in addition to buying his book at a special rate, I believe that some of the parents who were there have contacted Ed about the possibility of having one-to-one sessions with their children," added Gibson.