Favourite Links Features

[Mark_F]

Further to Rich's post on dips/bumps in fron of greens, what are the other features that are most appealing to you that appear on a links?

The heaving ground?
The oddities, such as the wall on the 13 Nth Berwick?
The blind shots?
The greens - extensions of fairway/punchbowl/plateaux etc?
The bunkers carved into knolls that 'make' the hole - eg 3rd Nairn?
Drives and/or second shots that follow railway lines?

What favourite links holes best encompass many classic links features?

I can't separate two - the 4th at Dornoch, for many reasons, but I love the deception of the dip before the green, and into the green itself, and the 3rd at Macrihanish, for the blind drive, the anxious scurry to the top of the hill, the heaving ground that swells away in front of you, and that green.

But then that leaves 18 Porthcawl, 2nd Old Course, 13 Silloth, 2nd B&B, 16&17 Brora...

[ForkaB]

Mark

16 Brora is a very interesting GCA conundrum.  You hit down a narrow valley and then suddenly take a 90 degree angle right, 60 feet upwards to a blind green.  There are huge amounts of ground straight ahead to make a "normal" hole, but then you would have to climb from that green site up the hill to the magnificent 17th tee.  But, just maybe.....a low tee would make 17 even a better hole, maybe even a great par "4 1/2."  You could always use the present 16th greensite/17th tee as a picnic area, or even a clubhouse with even more spectacular views.............

[Sean Walsh]

Holes such as the dell or the seventh at Barnbougle.  not much over 100yards but have their own unique challenge that changes according to the conditions.

[Mark_F]

Rich,

I can only consider that you are torn between two such magnificent choices in the upcoming election to think clearly.

Changing either of the 16th or 17th at Brora would be an act of heresy. 17 is one of the best holes in the UK, no?

If they wanted a clubhouse with even more spectacular views, they could always hire the barmaid I saw at your club.

By the way, if she wants to immigrate, I can arrange all necessary documentation, gratis...

[Mark_F]

Sean,

You need to provide pictures with Harlech.

All bar 14 and 15 kind of blended into one another with me...

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Mark, This might remind you:

http://www.royalstdavids.co.uk/home.cfm

[Philip Gawith]

Hmm - not sure I think 16 at Brora is a great hole, but I suppose it is a matter of taste!

But Brora is a good example of what draws me to links golf - the rugged splendour of the courses, close to the sea, far from anywhere, with huge open landscapes. It is invigorating and primal - it stimulates the soul.

Indeed, I think the Brora experience is more than the sum of the parts. Put differently, you go to Brora not because of the particular splendour of any one hole, but for the overall experience.

Maybe one should not admit it here, but these are powerful appeals, and in part they are pre-architectural.

[Jack_Marr]

I like the big blue wet thing usually on one side of the course.

[Voytek Wilczak]

I liked the beach in play on the second (I believe) at North Berwick (maybe because I actually got up and down from there after a nasty slice). I've got to believe that depending on the tide your ball is either wet or perfectly playable there.

Another great feature is the cemetery near the first at Ballybunion.

Kinda sets the tone for the round...

[Jason Topp]

A downwind iron shot that rolls 50 yards.  It is fun to hit it that far and to try and figure out where to put it.

I also like topping a shot and having it go 200 yards.

The shots around the greens.

Trying to control the ball in the wind.

Battling in a match where one person makes 8 and the other 9 and then having putts for eagle on the next hole.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Whenever I think of links golf, the first thing that comes to mind, is that unmistakable smell that only true links ever has..and the singularly unique clear skies{when they can be seen} that are experienced on the linksland.

Once I get beyond that all the features that links golf presents come flooding back, including tightening the belt buckle and get ready for a hard days work.

[George Pazin]

The heaving ground?

What a perfect description! This gets my vote.

In fact, the most disappointing aspect of most courses I play, unfortunately almost all parkland, is that the architects seem to work to completely remove this element. Even parkland courses can have more ground movement than it seems they do.

[Bill Gayne]

I love the bunkering. The style of sod wall bunkering such as Muirfield or the look of the whiskered bunkering at Royal County Down. The randomly placed small pot bunker that seems to gather everything in twenty yards around. The road hole bunker. Bunkers on links looks so much more natural than anything you will ever see on a parkland course.

[Doug Wright]

Favourite links feature: Quirk.
Second favourite links feature: Quirk
Third favourite links feature: Quirk

[David Sneddon]

To me it is standing on the first tee, with the smell of the sea on the wind, knowing that you are playing the game as it was intended to be played.

Able to appreciate the fact that your drive down the right side can, and often does, end up on the left side, or channelled into a bunker and that although it may not be fair, it is equitable.

In the middle of the fairway and the ball is nowhere near a level lie.

Having to be creative and using imagination in your approach to the green - fly it or bump and run??  If bump and run then what club, where should I land it, where and how will it run???

And when the ball is in the hole on #18, hoping that you can do it all again the next day.

[jeffwarne]

the pace of play
Working the ball into the crosswind to keep it from blowing off the planet
Riding the crosswind on holes that allow it and hitting it rediculous distances
the first,second, and third pint
breakfast
(not nessecarily in that order)

[Mark_F]

I think what comes across clearly here is the visceral elements are as much part and parcel of the links experience as anything else.

Would Macrihanish be quite the same if it was five minutes from Edinburgh?

Would North Berwick be quite the same if located in bustling Southport, as opposed to laid back Lothian?

[Tom Dunne]

Mark Ferguson,

No question. Part of the beauty of links golf is in the intangibles. For some, the common land aspect is another intangible. On one hand, the courses might be woven into the life of a town--I love the casual galleries of observers on the final holes of TOC. Conversely, links might play over more remote common land. I remember shouting into the wind to have a conversation with a fellow walking his dog high up in the dunes at The Island. No other golfers in sight, just one local out for an afternoon stroll!