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When is linksland not linksland

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Neal_Meagher:
Very good thoughts by all, including the ever elusive Bye who so eloquently asked "What difference does it make?"

The answer to that one is it makes not one whit of difference, I was simply polling the audience for their opinions and hoping to gain a better understanding of what golfers in general THINK linksland is.  

And to Dick Daley, yes, the current developers are calling it links and I am second-guessing that decision because it isn't 100% correct.  As Jack Marr said in his post, one expects a certain thing of a course advertising itself as links, especially one who has played true links.  There should be a certain sanctity to the use of that word, almost a trademark, and anyone abusing it should suffer.

I'll just go with the fact that it may be links-like but too far removed from open ocean to be links-land.  I know, we'll call it
 "Bushwood Links-Like".

Jim_H:
Rich Goodale--
Why do you say that Mullen, Neb. is land reclaimed from the sea?  My understanding from geologists is that the Nebraska Sand Hills are not remnants of an old inland sea, because the land is convex, not concave.  No one can say (or at least agree) for sure what caused this geologic phenomenon.
The course may be links-like in nature, but it is not reclaimed from a sea.

By the way, my understanding of the term "linksland" has always been that it is any land that links the sea with the useable farmland.  Hence, it was not useable for farming, and only suitable for dumb things like golf.  Am I wrong?

Bill_McBride:
Neal, from some of the courses I've played over the last 20 years which are eloquently described as "links" courses in the promotional material, you would think that all that's needed to be "links" land is no trees!  Maybe a "linksy-feeling" disclaimer would be the best way to present such property, at least to golfers who understand there just really isn't that much true linksland left!

I am still enjoying memories of the outstanding time we spent at the KP in March.  

ForkaB:
Jim H

I was told as a kid that the whole midwestern US used to be under water.  Perhaps I was misinformed.....

From what I have been told, any relation of linksland to farming is sociological rather than geological.  Yes, the land generally sucks for anything other than golfing, archery or walking your dog.  Fortunately......

Forrest Richardson:
Neal, my dear Neal. I will so miss you during my trip back East as you and I have shared many plastic glasses of wine and I believe your wife was even there on one or more of these occasions. Correct? If it is OK with you I will speak for you in your absence. Please get back with me on that.

Linksland is land located proximal to an open sea, or bay which is connected directly to an open sea, and which possesses the characteristics of naturally rolling sand dunes or land features formed by the wind, the ocean and the receding tides; whether the land is traversed by a river or estuary associated with the land is superfluous and it may be noted that the presence of a river or other tributary or body of water differing from an ocean or sea is in and of itself not justification for land to be called bona fide linksland; land approximating linksland in this event is, in slang, "linksish" in nature, but clearly not true linksland

[From "On Course – A Dictionary of Golf Course terms"]

But, I agree — it doesn't matter. A "Links" is certainly any golf course exhibiting linkish qualities, and I suppose, any golf course by the sea or open body of water which sports the design characteristics of a true linksland course.

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