The 18 Greatest Links Greens

[Thomas Dai]

There are a couple of greens at Royal Porthcawl that are pretty good. The 9th on top of the hill (don't miss) and the 18th I think had a pretty impressive set of internal contours. Tough to get the ball close to the hole. Sorry i don't have any pictures.

9th and 18th at Royal Porthcawl are both good choices. The 18th at Ashburnham, not maybe the greatest hole, has a horrid green to hit and hold and putt on.

10th at Royal St Georges, Tom Kites green, a right bugger to play, rolls-off everywhere.

Which holes now have no nominations?

atb

[Mark Pearce]

Tony,

The only way for most golfers to get anywhere near  a back left pin position on 13 at Elie is to land a draw front right and let it feed back using the slope.  A fade will stay front right and almost guarantee 3 putts.

[Mark Pearce]

Ian,

The 4th at Elie is a wonderful green though as Tony says, the ridge that makes it runs almost the length of the fairway.  Brilliant use of a simple natural feature.  It must have been tempting to set the green off to one side or the other but to place it over the ridge makes the hole.

[jeffwarne]

16 at Pennard
It's in your head from the tee shot on

[Thomas Dai]

Only a tiddler par-3......but don't miss the putting surface.

Oh, and and it's not quite what it seems at the front either

atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

Ally

On reflection, since you have the 16th fairly well covered can I replace the 16th Moray Old with the 18th at Moray Old. Not nearly as interesting in terms of the internal contours but a cracking green to approach in the context of the hole.

Niall

OK,

I'm just back from a tour of the highlands where I certainly saw some great links greens with great internal contouring.

Niall,

Regards Moray Old, I loved the course which I might talk about elsewhere. 16 is definitely a great green but I may go for 14 ahead of it.... On reflection and keeping to a minimum (i.e greens that could actually fit in to the best 18), here are some nominations from my trip:

Royal Dornoch - 4th
Moray Old - 14th
Golspie - 2nd
Brora - 6th
Nairn Dunbar - 18th

I saw some wonderful greens at Castle Stuart as well. Some highly individual greens at Jon Wigget's Brahan too. But I'm keeping this to the classics.

Nairn Dunbar was possibly my least favourite course of the trip (Boat of Garten is the only other course I played not mentioned above) but it had some great moments and that 2nd shot and approach to 18 is a cracker.

[Niall C]

Ally

Re Nairn Dunbar - not so much a game of two halves but of three thirds. Loved the first half dozen, quite enjoyed the next half dozen which had some of the new holes however the last third was a bit blah although nothing really offensive. Yes, the 18th is a nice green but think there's better in the first third.

Re Moray Old - I agree the 14th has some really strong internal contours however I always thought it sat awkwardly the way it was tucked round the corner and sitting at at an angle. Probably fine when it was built and assuming it was a 3 shotter. I also assume the green is a later revsion with the original green being the area just over the ridge beyond the landing lights. If you were to make a tee in the gorse to the left of the fairway beyond the left hand landing lights it would be a great par 3.

Anyway, look forward to getting some chat on Moray Old on a seperate thread. Any photos to show ?

Niall

[Ally Mcintosh]

2nd green at The Old Course:



1st Green on the Eden:



4th Green on the Eden:

[Emil Weber]

Prestwick #9 and #15 are two favourites...

[Cristian]

Fraserburgh 13 and Cruden Bay 6 come to mind,
RSG 4, 6 and 13 as well. Deal 3, 12. Royal Hague 6.
Old Mac 5, 13. Pac Dunes 2.   

[Rich Goodale]

I recently played Panmure twice, and 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 were as good as any I have seen.

[Mark Chaplin]

Christian 4 at RSG is an interesting one, its one of the games great drives, the green is quite big and has a massive slope but the top section is quite small and there are finite pin positions. When you play the course a lot the pin is nearly always in the same place.

I wholeheartedly agree with 13 it's the green that makes the hole especially from the boring Open tee which makes the hole straight and takes away the blind the shot.

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

Sorry, there is no perfect answer to this question.

Perhaps, again, the Gate at North Berwick West.

Malcolm

[Mark Pearce]

13 at Elie.  A flattish inclined green but brilliantly benched into the hill at an angle to the line of play.  4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 at Elie are also great greens. 

[Ru Macdonald]

The restoration of Old Tom Morris' green on Hole 5 at Cruden Bay brings the hole to life. Has anyone played it recently? https://mobile.twitter.com/CrudenBayPro/status/456004234937643008

[Wade Schueneman]

Ally,
In answer about The Machrie, best greens are 7,8,17

Is this just Europe, Old Macdonald didn't make the cut? I know it's your contest

The 3rd green at The Machrie is special IMHO.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Ok there’s some great 14th holes in this list but when I played my first round at Leven I wondered why I’d never heard talk of their hole.

http://www.leven-links.com/course-guide.php

The green is on a raised promontory that comes out from the left – sort of a reverse Foxy.
It has a slight tilt from left to right, but the most extraordinary feature are the ‘sides’ are raised with a valley in the centre, like an oblique version of Deals 12th.
It’s long, maybe as long as North Berwick’s 16th.

The hole is only 340 yards but the pro’s note says this is the most difficult approach on the course.  Difficult yet fun, meets my criteria for great.


Does anyone have photo's?

[Robin_Hiseman]

Montrose 16th has to be on this list. An extraordinary green on a course with generally flat greens.

[Ally Mcintosh]

From Ed Tilley's Dooks thread.
 
The 13th Hole (RIP)
 


Here's the old hole from about halfway I think:

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[Niall C]

I recently played Panmure twice, and 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 were as good as any I have seen.

Rich


I played Panmure for the first time earlier this year and agree totally about the greens. Not overly big but some fantastic contours.


Niall

[Bill_McBride]

Ally

earlier Peter asked if we were choosing a wide variety of different types of links greens.  Most of those selected don't fit a type as they use unusual land movement and bunkering is not the key feature?

As well as the two additional holes at Princes I referenced an example of an underused 'type' I love is also found on the 13th at Elie

http://www.golfhouseclub.co.uk/the-course/hole-13/

This is a green benched into a dune with a large fall off to the front, but approached from an oblique angle.  Thus you have to play to the high side of the green or roll off down the slope.  AS you are not hitting directly into the slope the ball will roll on landing and it's hard to predict where it will finish.   The 9th at North Berwick almost pulls this off, but being a par 5 most shots in are with a short club and there is the opportunity to position yourself on the LHS of the fairway making it a much simpler shot.

 Maybe this becomes easier with multiple plays and is why this 'type' is not so famous, but I have always enjoyed the challenge they present.  I have never understood why this 'type' is not used more.  I can't decide if they play more difficult than they look, or it's the other way round!

Definitely my favorite hole at Elie, although I do love driving the 7th green! (2/2!)

[Sam Andrews]

Rye 7

It's a great hole but it is more about getting aboard than the putt on the green. How about the 16th? It flows all over the place, has generous pin positions and absolute swines — like the little flattish ledge to the right that I know they will use for the upcoming club championship in two weeks' time.

[Thomas Dai]

Revisiting this thread has me wondering how much higher most, if not all, folks handicaps would be if we had to play a composite course made up of the various green complexes (holes) nominated herein. Great fun it would be though!
Atb