PeperCare: Affordable Course Act
When I’m appointed Czar of Golf, my first order of business will be to address the game’s three big weaknesses—its glacial pace, extortionate expense, and damnable difficulty—and I will do so with my signature decree: the Affordable Course Act. The ACA will at last bring high-quality golf to the millions of U.S. citizens who currently […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Burnham & Berrow
Burnham & Berrow. It’s a quintessentially British name, tripping off the tongue all toffee, treacle, and tweed. It could be—should be—the name of an elite firm of London barristers or perhaps the official haberdasher to the Royal Family. Instead, it’s a golf club, nestled in a quiet corner of southwest England and blessed with a […]
George Peper: 750 Courses and Counting
About a month ago, I played for the first time a fine links course on England’s Somerset Coast called Burnham & Berrow. Now, normally this would be an occasion of no particular significance—certainly not worth trumpeting in the first line of a LINKS column—but in this instance it meant something. You see, B&B happened to […]
Yes, You Can Win the U.S. Open
I have this recurring dream. It’s the eve of the final round of the U.S. Open, and I’m in the lead. For three days, I’ve played unconscionably flawless golf (this is a dream, after all) and now, with 18 holes to go, the National Championship is within my reach. Then, unlike Kafka’s Gregor Samsa—who awoke one morning to […]
George Peper on Par 3 Courses
I’m afraid I have no interest in Par-54 courses… but I love the holes that comprise them Our Spring 2018 issue’s cover story focuses on the spate of high-profile Par-3 courses that have sprouted during the last couple of years. It got me to thinking about the love-hate relationship I’ve always had with the par […]
These Golf Course Names are Less Than Inspiring
A pair of first-time major-championship hosts will soon step forward, with the U.S. Open coming to Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis., and the PGA to Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. Granted, each has been the site of some previous high-level competition—Erin Hills having hosted the U.S. Amateur, Quail Hollow a slew of PGA Tour events—but this […]
George Peper: Mental Case
A widely held theory claims that one’s golf game—like one’s personality—is heavily influenced by one’s earliest experiences, the first years of development. As evidence, consider the shotmaking genius of Seve Ballesteros, born of a childhood swatting rocks with a makeshift 3-iron along the beach in Pedrena, Spain; or Sam Snead’s balanced yet powerful swing, a […]
George Peper: The Last Tee
What the game needs now is more Codger Courses
George Peper: Are Caddies Integral to Golf?
Like elevator operators, caddies are really an unnecessary tradition in this day and age
Letter from St. Andrews: Trump Tales
Talk about COINCIDENCE. I’m in the middle of writing this very column—about Donald Trump—when the phone rings and who is it? Donald Trump. He’d just seen the LINKS 100 lists of the top courses in the world and U.S and he wasn’t pleased. “I can’t believe none of my courses are on those lists,” he said. […]
