The last English links course

[Robin_Hiseman]

It's funny what can occupy your mind when you wake up in the middle of the night, but at 3:15 this morning it occurred to me that whilst Scotland and Ireland have enjoyed continued links development in recent years, England's ground to a halt an indeterminate time ago and I lay awake wondering what was the LAST new links course to be developed in England?


Could it really be the Channel nine at Burnham & Berrow or Hawtree's Hillside? Both were 40 years or more ago.


Do any of you know?


Don't count clifftop courses, or tweaks. It has to be new, true links.

[Sean_A]

Wasn't Hillside a major tweak?

How old is Rye's Joob 9?

Happy Hockey

[Thomas Dai]

How about the Headland-9 at Trevose? From the 1990’s I believe.
Maybe the Holywell course at St Enodoc which was extended from 9-18 in the 1980’s.

Atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

There must be a few younger brother nine hole additions.


But what’s the last brand new 18 holer on a new site?

[Thomas Dai]

Would the re-opening of Saunton West in the mid-1970’s count given that it’s original forebearer hadn’t been played since WWII?
Atb

[Jon Wiggett]

Formby reroute could claim a few holes but not sure exactly when.

[David_Tepper]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

[Jon Wiggett]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

Maybe around Southport but there is very little links land if any in England that would be available. There was a links course that shut down recently but the name escapes me. Buying something like that and remodelling would probably be the best bet.

[Thomas Dai]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

Maybe around Southport but there is very little links land if any in England that would be available. There was a links course that shut down recently but the name escapes me. Buying something like that and remodelling would probably be the best bet.

If I were such a developer I might be inclined to investigate - especially if remoteness were seen as an advantage -


Seaside holiday camps/caravan sites that are in decline (even more so if they had/have a short course/pitch-n-putt on site)
Ex-WWII airfields/firing ranges etc. There are a lot of them all around the coastline many in flattened duneland.
Former munitions factories. These were often built in sand dunes.
There are also some small private clubs in remote area that could be ripe to be 'taken over' and developed (one in Lincolnshire just closed and there's a 9-hole links north of Barrow that allegedly may be going the same way soon).


atb


PS - my commission for anyone adopting such suggestions will be very modest!

[Jeff Schley]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

Maybe around Southport but there is very little links land if any in England that would be available.

Agreed. Availability is the issue as the UK, as is in the US, coastal land is in many cases protected either via public ownership that can't be privatized or environmentally.  I don't think either of those two concepts is bad btw, although the golfer in me laments those realities.

[Robin_Hiseman]

Would the re-opening of Saunton West in the mid-1970’s count given that it’s original forebearer hadn’t been played since WWII?
Atb

It's exactly a year ago since we played there! Yes, that's a possible, but how much was an existing golf site?


That Trevose nine-holer is just fields, albeit near the sea.


You have to go out to the Cumbrian coast north of Barrow to find copious virgin duneland of the sort developed elsewhere, but good luck in getting a permit or making a go of anything all the way out there.

[Thomas Dai]

You have to go out to the Cumbrian coast north of Barrow to find copious virgin duneland of the sort developed elsewhere, but good luck in getting a permit or making a go of anything all the way out there.

Don’t disagree with you Robin. Permits and permissions must be an issue everywhere though (unless you want to build a supermarket!) and the area isn’t exactly highly populated nor easy to get to/from.
Maybe that’s why Silecroft GC, a links course a few miles north of Barrow in South Cumbria, is presently for sale for £350k.
Atb

[Adrian_Stiff]

You have to go out to the Cumbrian coast north of Barrow to find copious virgin duneland of the sort developed elsewhere, but good luck in getting a permit or making a go of anything all the way out there.

Don’t disagree with you Robin. Permits and permissions must be an issue everywhere though (unless you want to build a supermarket!) and the area isn’t exactly highly populated nor easy to get to/from.
Maybe that’s why Silecroft GC, a links course a few miles north of Barrow in South Cumbria, is presently for sale for £350k.
Atb

I already looked at it, I got 18 holes on it as well but it is not straightforward. You are not buying the golf club. Some great land on a spit, I reckon 500 acres just off the road into Barrow, must be the same...there is a way round the problem but not for discussion here.

[Duncan Cheslett]

There is a fabulous piece of virgin linksland between Formby and Southport that I am surprised was not turned over to golf many years ago.

Presumably it would be politically impossible to do so now.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Formby,+Liverpool/@53.5953619,-3.066209,2337m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487b3a556c743801:0xd2cb906cc05ffa73!8m2!3d53.558271!4d-3.068743

[Tommy Williamsen]

Devon and Cornwall have many sites that could work, both true links then cliff-top.
When was the last links course in Wales built?

[Jeff Schley]

There is a fabulous piece of virgin linksland between Formby and Southport that I am surprised was not turned over to golf many years ago.

Presumably it would be politically impossible to do so now.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Formby,+Liverpool/@53.5953619,-3.066209,2337m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487b3a556c743801:0xd2cb906cc05ffa73!8m2!3d53.558271!4d-3.068743

You don't mean Pleasureland I assume. 

[Jon Wiggett]

There is a fabulous piece of virgin linksland between Formby and Southport that I am surprised was not turned over to golf many years ago.

Presumably it would be politically impossible to do so now.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Formby,+Liverpool/@53.5953619,-3.066209,2337m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487b3a556c743801:0xd2cb906cc05ffa73!8m2!3d53.558271!4d-3.068743

Most of that land as well as much of the three courses are SSSI's so what would be the chance of getting permission? Oh wait, the last two did get permission.


Seriously, the land is good though the dunes are mostly very big so it would create some difficulties. Having said that, I am surprised that part of the UK is not a bigger golf resort destination.

[Thomas Dai]

Devon and Cornwall have many sites that could work, both true links then cliff-top.
When was the last links course in Wales built?

Machynys opened in about 2005. It’s imediately adjacent to the sea/estuary but whether or not you classify it as a links is a different matter.
Atb

[Ben Stephens]

Robin,


Sandilands north of Skegness where Jim Payne (former tour player and now pro at S&A) closed down earlier this year - it is on a sandy base and a bit of shaping a la Kingsbarns will deffo help to elevate it to a 'proper' links course.


Cheers
Ben

[Pete_Pittock]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

Maybe around Southport but there is very little links land if any in England that would be available. There was a links course that shut down recently but the name escapes me. Buying something like that and remodelling would probably be the best bet.

   It was on the east coast north of The Wash. Ah, it was Sandilands.

[Ronald Montesano]

#2DAI4


          [size=78%]  [/size]

PS - my commission for anyone adopting such suggestions will be very modest!

[Adam Lawrence]

Devon and Cornwall have many sites that could work, both true links then cliff-top.
When was the last links course in Wales built?

Machynys opened in about 2005. It’s imediately adjacent to the sea/estuary but whether or not you classify it as a links is a different matter.
Atb

Machynys is in no sense a links

[David Davis]

You have to go out to the Cumbrian coast north of Barrow to find copious virgin duneland of the sort developed elsewhere, but good luck in getting a permit or making a go of anything all the way out there.

Robin,


"making a go of anything all the way out there"...yes, because these days golf courses are never built hard to get to? 


Bandon
Barnbougle
Tara Iti
Ardfin
Santapazienza


....and the list goes on.


Maybe there is a correlation between "hard to get to" and the ability to sway the authorities into allowing someone with enough money to make a go of it.   

[Jon Wiggett]

This thread begs the question, if a Mike Keiser-like figure was interested in building/developing a links course in England, where would he start looking for a suitable piece of linksland?

Maybe around Southport but there is very little links land if any in England that would be available. There was a links course that shut down recently but the name escapes me. Buying something like that and remodelling would probably be the best bet.

   It was on the east coast north of The Wash. Ah, it was Sandilands.

That was it!!! Thanks Ben (& Pete)

[Ally Mcintosh]

You have to go out to the Cumbrian coast north of Barrow to find copious virgin duneland of the sort developed elsewhere, but good luck in getting a permit or making a go of anything all the way out there.

Robin,


"making a go of anything all the way out there"...yes, because these days golf courses are never built hard to get to? 


Bandon
Barnbougle
Tara Iti
Ardfin
Santapazienza


....and the list goes on.


Maybe there is a correlation between "hard to get to" and the ability to sway the authorities into allowing someone with enough money to make a go of it.   

In fairness though David, I’d be pretty disgusted if the “next links” built in England followed the model of those bottom three. And it won’t be able to follow the model of the top one.


Barnbougle remains very high on my want to see list.


Slightly off-topic but can’t wait to see what Tom does at St.Patricks. That too is remote but if he delivers a top-10 Ireland course (and I fully expect he will), then I think that will really turn round the fortunes of Rosapenna. But only because there are another 2 excellent courses there and because the Doak name will attract many visitors, at least in the short to medium term.


It would take something to make a standalone 18 holes in north Cumbria knock out 25,000+ rounds a year.