What is a Links Course?
by Mike Parker
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 11:11am (PST)
Last Monday during a day off from my job at Wolf Run Golf Club, I did what one might consider the unthinkable…I played golf! In fact, I had the pleasure of playing with Danny Lee, Wolf Run Outside Services Manager. It was a beautiful day and the course at Wolf Run was in fantastic shape. And like any two friends playing golf on a day off from their jobs in the golf business…we talked about golf.
From our conversation came an idea for this week’s blog. Sitting in the cart beside the 7th tee, Danny mentioned term “links” as it relates to golf. I quickly realized that, while we both knew that a links course had unique characteristics, it seems that golfers now use the term “links” interchangeably with “golf course”. While it is perfectly acceptable to use the term “links” the way we do in The Links at Kiley Ranch, I thought it might be interesting to our blog readers for me to research and share the characteristics of a true links course.
A traditional links course will have many - perhaps all - of the following features:
• The course is built along the seaside
• The soil is sandy and drains easily
• The course is laid out naturally, so that unusual bumps and slopes in the fairways and greens remain, rather than being smoothed over
• The rough features natural seaside grasses
• Bunkers are numerous, very small and very deep (to keep the seaside breezes from blowing the sand away)
• Fairways are rarely (if ever) watered and play firm and fast
• Links courses usually have few if any trees
• The course routes out and back. The No. 1 hole begins at the clubhouse and the front nine plays straight out so that No. 9 is farthest hole from the clubhouse; the direction turns back in at No. 10 and the course ends with No. 18 back at the clubhouse.
So there you have it. We all know a bit more about a links course.
And please don’t worry…Danny and I have a few interests outside of golf!
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