Gil Hanse Explains the Importance of Fairways
Most golfers don’t think of the fairway as an architectural feature, instead believing it’s just there for maintenance. However, we spend almost as much time marking out fairway lines in our new construction as we do anywhere else on the course. Why? Because the fairway is the first target every golfer aims for and where […]
Top Golf Courses in National Parks: From Washington, D.C., to Yosemite
“I think all our parks should be opened for golf unless there is some specific objection in public needs.” -President William H. Taft During the Golden Age of Golf in the early 20th century, eight public golf courses were built within the nation’s capital. Three of those historic facilities remain today, among them East Potomac […]
Top 10 Old Tom Morris Courses
Old Tom Morris designed or redesigned more than 100 courses, including some of the best known and loved in Great Britain and Ireland. He may not have been skilled with a map and pencil, but he knew very well how to create wonderfully scenic holes with unprecedented drama. OLD COURSE, ST. ANDREWS Front nine, new […]
LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 88: Restoring the East Course at Oak Hill
Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course, host of the 2023 PGA Championship, six previous major championships, and the 1995 Ryder Cup, recently reopened for play after the completion of a 10-month restoration project led by architect Andrew Green. Digital Editor Al Lunsford sits down with Oak Hill golf course superintendent Jeff Corcoran who details the […]
10 Fabulous 4th Holes
By the time the Fourth of July rolls around each year, golf in America is in full swing. On the PGA Tour, three of the year’s four majors have been decided. In cities and towns across the country, clubs are getting ready to host their club championships. Playing conditions are ideal, the days are long, […]
The Old Course, Stonewall: Tom Doak’s First Private Design
Surrounded by some of America’s seminal courses, this Tom Doak design near Philadelphia more than holds its own For a young golf course designer looking to accelerate his career, Philadelphia is a tough town. Within 20 miles of Center City you’ve got Pine Valley, Merion, Aronimink, and others. When Tom Doak got the chance to […]
Characters: Bunker Shaper Jeff Bradley
Bunker shaper Jeff Bradley plays the excavator with a musician’s touch You’d better be good at your craft if your job is to make Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw look like geniuses in the field. Jeff Bradley shapes the bunkers that have made courses like Cuscowilla, Talking Stick, Old Sandwich, Friar’s Head, Bandon Trails, Chechessee […]
The Best Golf Courses to Play at Twilight
After-dinner golf tastes sweetest at Scotland’s Royal Dornoch One of the underappreciated joys that the summer solstice yields is golf in the early evening. Some days are so much fun you simply don’t want to stop. In June and July, every golf course offers supplemental sunshine, an artist’s palette of changing colors, and fewer golfers […]
6 of Golf’s Top Youth Programs
If it seems like there have been more kids on the golf course recently, well, you’re right. The number of junior golfers (ages 6–17) rose by 24 percent in 2020 as fairways and greens became safe refuge amid the pandemic. It was the industry’s biggest junior jump since 1997, the year a 21-year-old wunderkind named […]
LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 87: In-Depth on Baltusrol
Gil Hanse breaks down the details of his restoration work on the Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club in a conversation with Digital Editor Al Lunsford on this episode of the LINKS Golf Podcast, presented by Ashcroft Capital. Lunsford also takes listeners inside his round and overnight stay at the historic club. You can subscribe […]
