A links question for former professionals

[Mark_Rowlinson]

When playing in tournaments on European links courses you must have had the odd ball bounce unkindly after what seemed a perfectly good shot. Did you say to yourself, 'That shot has cost me £5,000 but I accept that. It's what links golf is all about, and I like it,' or did you curse it for its unpredictability and unfairness?

[Mark Chaplin]

Mark. Good question I'd like to add "how many times did you hit a poor shot that skipped around the edge of a bunker or bounced back into the fairway from the rough"?

My guess is people quickly forget the breaks a links gives back to the player and only remember the hard luck stories!

[JESII]

Mark C,

That's the nature of the golfer though, isn't it?



Mark R,

Never played professionally on a links course but did play two Amateur Championships on links and saw plenty of funny bounces. I've always had the attitude they'll even out in the end so I'm looking for an unbelievably fortunate back half of my golf life...expecting my ProV1 to walk on water!

[Gary Slatter]

I wait until the ball quits rolling before deciding if it was a good shot!  In all honesty the "lucky" bounces or breaks probably happen more often than the "not so lucky" bounces.   Some bounces are there to test the mettle of the player. 

Mark, you were correct in asking your question "for former professionals" , the ones who take the good with the bad are probably still playing as professionals.  I would bet that links courses take more out of professionals as they age, than say courses with Bermuda grass.  Sam Torrance was one professional who always got sore wrists from playing links courses. 

[Bill McKinley]

Excellent question indeed.  My tournament experience only comes from PGA Section events, but I've often thought of and talked about the good brakes and bad breaks that happen in tournament golf.  Unlucky breaks and "quirk" are things that guys whose livelyhood depends on the score that they shoot do not have much patience with.  I also think this is why Firestone South gets talked about so fondly by the Tour players.  Its in immacualate shape, the holes are right out there in front of you, and the event is very low stress in that there's no cut.

But back to the question at hand, I would say there would a fair number of tournament players who would "poo poo" links golf because of the unpredictability.  It doesn't make them right or wrong, but their reasons for liking a golf course are different than that of most of us on this board.  But I would say that the overwhelming majority of players let their own score determine how much they like or dislike a course upon a first play waaaaayyyy too much. 

[Mike_Clayton]

Mark,

I played a few links on the European Tour - Portmarnock, Royal Dublin,all the Open courses expect Lytham, Porthcawl the dune courses of Holland and Falstebro, Flommens in Sweden - and I honestly cant think of many horrible bounces that shocked me. I do recall one really well hit drive that ran forever down 11 at Portmarnock and into a pot bunker that was pitch put material.

What bothered pros way more than bad bounces was getting the bad side of the draw. I remember playing late on Saturday at Royal Dublin when a big wind came out of nowhere. 16 is a short four that the field had been driving but by the end of the day it was driver, eight iron.

Certainly for me I loved the tournaments on the links because they were by far the best courses we played. You can handle a bad bounce here or there at Portmarnock - but Crans sur Sierre?? That was painful.

[Jon Wiggett]

Mike C,

I tend to agree with your assessment of bad bounces. Indeed, as you tend to expect the random nature of links play unexpected bounces always tends to be less than you think. Do not recall bad bounces at Crans-sur-Sierre except that the greens were often poor. I always found that judging pitch shots between 50 and 120 yards harder as the ball flew further.

Jon

[Mike_Clayton]

Jon

There were no bad bounces at Crans - the course was way too dull for that.
Often I think pros - and amateurs - misrepresent bad bounces. Just because it doesn't bounce where they think it should or where they hope that doesn't mean it's a 'bad' bounce. It's just not what they expect - and they moan about it if it turns out badly.

And they never see the good ones.

[Jon Wiggett]

Mike,

have you seen Crans post Seve renovation? I think you would find the very natural, blind water hazard in front of the 18th green has really improved the course

I would recommend playing the newer 18 hole course at Leuk just up the valley which is a good test though I would say that as I helped in the build and start up there.

Jon

[Mike_Clayton]

Jon

My last tournament there was 1996 - the final year of the old course. It would have been really difficult not to improve it even a bit.
At this point it's unlikely I am ever going to get back to that part of the world - unless of course you want to do another course!!