‘For a true taste of golf, you can’t beat playing a round on a links course,’ says our in-house golf pro, Neil Docking. ‘They’re the oldest style of course in the game and because they’re sand-based you can play on them all year round.’ Links courses originated in Scotland, being traditionally on or near a coast with plenty of bunkers and very few trees, as they are designed to embrace the natural contours of the land. Now the term ‘links’ is often used to describe a style of course, rather than an actual set of specifications, and courses emulating those in the UK can be found worldwide. We’ve asked Neil to choose a few of his favourites from around the country, but call a lifestyle manager if you’d like to talk about courses in your area or to discuss booking a golfing break abroad.
Carnoustie
‘For a complete test of your golfing ability, Carnoustie provides players with a real challenge,’ comments Neil. It has hosted the British Open on numerous occasions, seeing the likes of Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Tommy Armour, Paul Lawrie and Henry Cotton become champions on its grounds. It will also be the course used for the 2011 Women’s British Open, and will no doubt see improvements made to it over the coming months. It officially dates back to 1842 but golf has been played on this tract of land since the 15th century. Non-members can get a round on any of the three courses.
Muirfield
Links courses are popular choices for the Open Championships and this one has hosted the tournament on 15 different occasions. The course was designed by Old Tom Morris, the first golf professional, and is rich with history and golfing anecdotes. While the club was moving around in the 1800s, at one stage there was no clubhouse so the members had to store their clubs under the racecourse grandstand. ‘Sir Nick Faldo won two of his majors at Muirfield and Tiger Woods shot his highest score as a professional golfer there, posting an 81,’ says Neil. ‘So be careful when you head out there – you’re playing a tough course.’
Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
This course has incredible pedigree. It has hosted 10 Open Championships (with another one scheduled for 2012), two Ryder Cups and numerous other top tournaments. It’s also the course where Bobby Jones went to the Majestic Hotel between the two rounds on the Friday (the final two rounds) and was refused re-entry unless he bought a ticket. He paid the entry and went on to win the tournament, making him the only player in history to have paid to play The Open. ‘There are 800 bunkers on the course and they are pretty deep,’ says Neil, ‘so if you don’t fancy yourself as a bunker player, be sure to hit it straight.’ This is not strictly a links course, but it is in terms of style.
Kingsbarn
This modern links in the bay of St Andrews is a nice addition to the old courses in the area, and is one of the venues used for the Alfred Dunhill Pro-Am Cup. Unlike most links courses, there are a few trees on this one and the greens, which aren’t as big as on some traditional links courses, are particularly tricky. There are a lot of tee boxes, making the course versatile and playable for most levels of golfer. ‘It’s got a USGA course rating of 75 from the tips,’ says Neil, ‘so be sure to bring your A-game.’
St Andrews
‘There isn’t much that I can say about St Andrews that hasn’t already been said,’ Neil comments. ‘It’s the home of golf and has hosted more Open Championships, including this year’s, than any other course. What I would add is that there are seven courses and all of them are of a very high standard, so if you can’t get on to The Old Course, it’s still well worth making the trip to the famous Scottish town.’ Unique features include the shared greens and a tee shot where you have to take aim over the Old Course Hotel – if you dare.
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