Golf Channel says Bandon Dunes is not true links course

[Ted Harris]

maybe someone knows - is there more suitable land for sale around Highland Links in Cape Cod that could be be developed into an 18 hole true links course ?

looking at google earth the answer would seem to be yes but I imagine there are some obstacles

[Sean_A]

I don't see much point in being too pedantic about the definition of links, but surely history has nothing to do with the issue.  IMO a links is a sandy area linking the sea to agriultural land or what would have been agricultural land if there were no town(s) present.  The area is often quite near an estuary and helps explain how sand collected, but this doesn't necessarily have to be the case.  Course like Pennard and Gullane are at elevation above the sea are still links because of the sand blown up estuaries - in the case of Pennard, The Pill.  At one time, that land was far lower, the cutting of The Pill created sand build up.  I expect the same thing happened at Bandon.  Bottom line, it doesn't matter much what we call a piece of land, what matters are its playing characteristics.

Ciao

[Colin Macqueen]

Tom D,
I had always thought of linksland as being essentially estuarine. Sandy windswept, barren, but beautiful landscapes. Carnoustie/St.Andrews on the Firth of Tay; Brora and Royal Dornoch on the Moray Firth; Gullane and Berwick on the Firth of Forth; Hoylake on The Wirral, River Mersey. Lytham St. Anne’s though several kilometres from the sea presumably has an older evolutionary history.
When I look at Bandon Dunes on Google there is a waterway which enters south of Bandon. What is the name of this stretch of water? Am I correct in thinking that Bandon Dunes has a higher elevation than the likes of Carnoustie/St. Andrews and a lot of the British linksland courses?

Wade, You mention

“The word 'links' derives from the Old English hlinc or 'lean'. “

I have read this description before and I was sympathetic to the whole idea of it. There was a thriving carrot growing industry around the Carnoustie/Monifieth area in the early 1900’s simply because the land was not particularly fertile and of course the carrots would grow long and straight in the depleted, well-drained, sandy soil.

Colin

[Adam Clayman]

As for receding seas, prior to Pangea wasn't it all sea?  I agree labels don't work well and neither do strict definitions. 

[Chris Buie]

Does this photo change your view of the definition of a links course?  I could be wrong, but I would think Donald Ross would have signed off on the label this contraption bears.  Would he have allowed it to prowl along the fairways he cared so much about with a misleading sign?
I always thought (and still do) a links course was a seaside, sandy affair.  I'm not sure what they meant by calling Pinehurst a links course.

[Tom_Doak]

Colin:

Yes, most of Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes are 90-100 feet above sea level, along the clifftops ... just a bit higher than the 7th and 11th holes at Ballybunion.  Which no one argues as being "not a links".

[archie_struthers]

 


Sean Arble .....as to Hoggard's comment on links ....PEDANTIC fits him perfectly  

[Ben Sims]

I'm inclined in this semantical argument to say that I don't give a fig. 

After watching some of Golf Channel's latest Big Break this morning where only attractive women were cast, my guess is that they need all the viewership they can get.  So if calling some of the best links courses in the country not links enough due to their lack of history makes a few of us get our undies in a bunch, the guy did his job for his company. 

That said, links--in my mind--requires sand, cold season grasses, ocean, and wind. 

[Scott Weersing]

I was worried for a minute that Pebble Beach would be called a links course too. While Pebble Beach is a special course, it could be classified into a category of its own. I would say Cypress Point and MP Shore course would be a links course before Pebble Beach.

I would even say Bandon Trails is a links course as the land is sandy and it just happens that a forest had grown over the sand. Same as for Pinehurst.

[Ross Tuddenham]

The question the pose is;

"did it (bandon) really bring true Scottish-style links golf to America?"


No mention to whether it brings the same land with the same geographic or historical characteristics as what we know as links in Scotland. I have not played any of the courses at Bandon so others who have played both at bandon and on Scottish links will have to decide if the golfing experience is the same.  As long as the same shots are needed and the ball reacts in the same way on the turf as on a Scottish links it doesn't matter if the course is next to the see or few hundred miles inland. 

[Jack_Marr]

I suppose it doesn't matter what it is, really. It's good whatever it is.

[Stan Dodd]

Cypress Point is not a links course by any stretch of the imagination.

[Steve Lang]

As for receding seas, prior to Pangea wasn't it all sea?  I agree labels don't work well and neither do strict definitions. 

[Andrew Mitchell]

George Peper and Malcolm Campbell's new book on links golf uses a pretty strict definition, and by their definition the only links courses in the USA are Highland Links on Cape Cod (which is, incidentally, on a bluff 100 feet high), and Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, and Old Macdonald.  I suggested Maidstone as well, but only a few of the holes at Maidstone are true links, not enough for George.

Holding the definition of "links" to the UK is ridiculous.  There are plenty of golfers in Holland ready to fight you over that, with an excellent case on their side.  And honestly, Barnbougle is as much a links as anything in Scotland or Ireland.

Tom
Thanks for the head up re George Peper and Malcolm Campbell's new book.  I wasn't aware of this but it's now on my wish list.