The argument for Links Golf

[SpinMill75]

Maybe I'm just a sadist.....

Greetings everyone,


I got into a friendly argument with a buddy about course design. He is a fan of Parklands with their tree-lined fairways, shrubs, flower beds, manicured everything, etc. I am and have always been/ will be a fan of Links courses. ( Scottish Blood helps?) I love the gnarly rough, uneven lies, wind, bunkers, gorse and more natural settings. I think they are a more true test of man versus mother nature as well as golf the way it was intended. But maybe I'm just a sadist or glutton for punishment......ha,ha.



What course design inspires you and why?



cheers, spin

[MadGolfer76]

Spin, I love links golf as well. I just don't get to play it very often. My favorite so far is the Links at Crowbush out on PEI. That was an eye-opener. Hit a shot in the fairway only to find it in the bunker. I think links golf forces people to think and be honest, and actually hit targets. I think having a good caddy for links golf is essential. I would have scored much better with a little more local knowledge, which I also think becomes more important.

If you are still thinking about coming out to Maine this summer, there is a links course over in NB we could play.

[jaskanski]

Good call on the links golf. Eveyrone should try it at least once in their lifetime if only to find out they don't really favour it. A different approach isn't certainly needed with navigating your way around a true links, taking into account the way the ball moves once it's on the ground is equally important as when it's in the air. Heathland probably is my second favourite for similar reasons, but each course has it's own unique qualities in it's own right. There is an argument that links and heathland courses can't really be designed - they're more or less natural topography spruced up. Parkland is inherently manufactured from start to finish in most cases, but that doesn't detract from the quality of the course, but sometimes it looks a bit contrived to my eye. There's certainly nothing 'natural' about the 17th at Sawgrass for example, but that doesn't make it any less appealing to some.

[Tupperwolf]

I love links golf. It takes imagination and creativity. You will use every club in your bag, and on any given shot you might choose between 5-6 different clubs. Around the greens you could use any one of the clubs in your bag. I relate to the OP, one of my good friends that I played with hated links golf. He wanted to look at pretty trees and flowers. I feel like I'm battling the natural landscape instead of a designed course when I'm playing links golf.

[SpinMill75]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1336339258' post='4860420']
Spin, I love links golf as well. I just don't get to play it very often. My favorite so far is the Links at Crowbush out on PEI. That was an eye-opener. Hit a shot in the fairway only to find it in the bunker. I think links golf forces people to think and be honest, and actually hit targets. I think having a good caddy for links golf is essential. I would have scored much better with a little more local knowledge, which I also think becomes more important.

If you are still thinking about coming out to Maine this summer, there is a links course over in NB we could play.
[/quote]


That would be awesome MG.....I will let you know for sure.
Likewise, Bandon is calling you..........

[lovethelinks]

[quote name='SpinMill75' timestamp='1336338530' post='4860350']
Greetings everyone,


What course design inspires you and why?

[/quote]


my WRX moniker says it all. . . .


the rumply ground, the skill of often running the ball where you need it to go, knock down shots, stitched sod face bunkers, the firm feel of the turf when you drive the sole of the iron into the shot, the sand is even different and nice to play from, and ahhhhhhh, the HISTORY of who all has trod the same sod you are on, from some of the greats to just regular golfers from well more than a century ago who share your love over time for this game!! Spread my ashes on a links course and I know I shall be happy forever in eternity.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

The heck with design...give me firm, sandy soil with tight lies of fine-bladed cool climate grasses. I could care less how many trees there are, what the holes are routed like or how long they've been playing golf there as long as I can hit shots off good links turf.

Conversely give me a windswept, rumply, low-profile "links like" design with over-watered, over-fertilized Bermuda grass on it and I'd just as soon be playing at the parkland course down the street.

[puttingmatt]

I like both course styles, but it is a rare treat when
I get the chance to play a links style course !!! Too
few of them around !!!

[Sean25rp]

I am a member at a parkland course because it's close and cheap as a student. However, I probably prefer links golf and to some extent heathland. There is something very satisfying about the raw nature of a links course on a crisp sunny winter morning!

[ruascott]

Links are fun.....i just hate playing in high winds....sure it's a fun challenge occasionally, but it's exhausting if it's the norm.

[farmer]

I play in open, windy conditions nearly all the time. I like parkland courses for the difference.

[Tony_Ireland]

Played Portmarnock links last month in Dublin and absolutely loved it!! Was my first links and cannot wait to hit some more! I struck the ball well but didnt score great, found up and downs very tough due to some funny lies

[SpinMill75]

[quote name='Tony_Ireland' timestamp='1337375714' post='4939492']
Played Portmarnock links last month in Dublin and absolutely loved it!! Was my first links and cannot wait to hit some more! I struck the ball well but didnt score great, found up and downs very tough due to some funny lies
[/quote]


So...jealous Tony! Thanks for the picture.


cheers, spin

[eers2u]

[quote name='QWKDTSN' timestamp='1336339796' post='4860488']
I love links golf. It takes imagination and creativity. You will use every club in your bag, and on any given shot you might choose between 5-6 different clubs. Around the greens you could use any one of the clubs in your bag. I relate to the OP, one of my good friends that I played with hated links golf. He wanted to look at pretty trees and flowers. I feel like I'm battling the natural landscape instead of a designed course when I'm playing links golf.
[/quote]

Exactly. That's what I tell everyone when they ask about links golf. It engages your imagination in ways that parkland golf courses cannot. Walking up to a shot around the green, you can literally choose whatever club you want and hit the shot. One trip to Scotland and I was forever hooked. People ask if I would go back - I tell them if my wife would have let me, I'd have got off the plane and went straight to the ticket counter to buy a ticket to go back!

[robert horneman]

Links hands down!!
The beauty of links courses , is you play the ball on the ground, not in the air. You can putt from 100 yards or use a 4 iron from 100 yards.
Portmarnock is one of my favorite links courses. Ballybunion,Waterville and Lahinch are also great links courses in Ireland.

[Beatupfender]

I'd have to try them again, now that my game is a little better, but I used to hate the links because they ARE a true golf test, and will hand you your a** in a shopping bag if you don't play well.

I prefer the comforts of an over-sized mini-putt...

[Shemp]

I love everything about links golf, but man it is hard. Between the wind, rain, cold, layers of clothes, hard fast fairways, bunkers from hell and the amount of scotch whiskey I consume while over there it's enough to kill a man and his ox.



Royal County Down is probably the most beautiful and difficult course I've ever set foot on.