Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Saunton
All the elements of links golf are on wonderful display at the two 18-hole courses of Saunton Golf Club in England’s West Country.
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Royal Dornoch Golf Club
History and mystique distinguish the most natural links in the world Dornoch is a supernatural place. It was here in the 18th century that Janet Horne, “the last witch in Scotland,” was summarily executed. Ever since, Royal Dornoch has cast a spell over golfers. Situated in the far north of Scotland, Dornoch is 600 miles […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Ballyliffin
Side-by-side courses at the very top of Ireland present two contrasting versions of links golf In his marvelously evocative book, The Magic of Ireland, H.V. Morton ventured: “Donegal is surely the most enchanting place in Ireland. Connemara is tribal and epic; Donegal is softer. If anything lies buried beneath the stony acres of Connemara it […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Royal Porthcawl
Yet to host an Open Championship, the brute of Welsh golf boasts many hallmarks of great British courses Only a few die-hard advocates of Royal St. David’s and Aberdovey would dispute Royal Porthcawl’s claim to being the finest golf course in Wales. Moreover, many knowledgeable commentators would go further and argue that it is one […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Pennard
Often called the “links in the sky,” this Welsh rarity is a windy test of quirks and curiosities Located close to Swansea, Wales’s second largest city, and stretching westward from the intriguingly named small resort town of Mumbles, is the Gower Peninsula, a wonderfully scenic corner of Great Britain. It is a land of beautiful […]
6 Lesser-Known Links on England’s Lancashire Coast
Come for the three Open Championship venues on England’s Lancashire coast, but stay for six lesser-known links There are nine courses currently on the R&A’s Open rota, and three of them—including Royal Liverpool, the venue for this year’s 151st championship—are within an hour-and-a-half’s drive of one another amidst a glorious stretch of linksland between Liverpool […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Slieve Russell
Think you’ve discovered all of Ireland’s charms? Not unless you’ve played “Merrigan’s masterpiece” For years, golfing visitors to Ireland tended to linger in the capital, then travel in a predictable direction. After sampling the array of fine courses located close to Dublin, they’d head to the magical southwest. It’s time to change direction, as Ireland’s […]
Modern Classics: Lofoten Links
Inside the Arctic Circle. 24-hour-a-day summer golf. Awe-inspiring scenery. Norway. Need we say more? According to Rudyard Kipling, “only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” A latter-day version of Kipling’s observation might be, “Only Norwegian golf course superintendents and bucket-list-chasing golfers venture out beneath the midnight sun.” Lofoten Links is fast […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: County Louth
Overshadowed by big-name neighbors, Tom Simpson’s Baltray links deserves more attention Whenever golf course architecture enthusiasts discuss the contributions of the so-called “Golden Age” designers, a handful of names invariably come to the fore. Tom Simpson is rarely one of these—although he surely deserves inclusion. And whenever those who rate golf courses debate the finest links […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: West Sussex
Despite its understandably low profile, this is English heathland golf in all its glory The majority of England’s outstanding heathland courses are to be found within a 50-mile radius of London. You’ve probably heard of the region’s three most famous venues—Sunningdale, Wentworth, and Walton Heath—and you may also be familiar with another excellent heathland trio, […]
