The Seven Best Golf Courses That Tangle with Train Tracks

golf train

Until 110 years ago, riding the rails was the preferred mode of transportation to reach golf clubs situated in the countryside. In fact, the building of golf courses often went hand in hand with where the railroad stopped, making it a leisure-time marriage of convenience and enjoyment. While passenger train travel has ebbed significantly in […]

5 Direct-to-Consumer Golf Club Brands to Know

direct-to-consumer

Of the many ways we can go about acquiring a new set of golf clubs, golfers have a wider range of direct-to-consumer club options to pick from than ever. While buying golf clubs has traditionally had a hands-on, tactile component—whether it be getting fitted or buying off the rack at a golf retailer or pro […]

Golf’s Most Beautiful Courses

beautiful courses

Incomparable eye candy: Cypress Point reigns as golf’s ultimate beauty queen In 1920, architect Alister MacKenzie articulated 13 essential features that define an ideal golf course. Number seven stated: “The course should have beautiful surroundings, and all the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from […]

Modern Classics: Ardfin

ardfin

It’s not easy getting to the Scottish isle of Jura, but this dramatically challenging layout—which roams from beach to cliffs—is worth the effort The whispers started in 2010: “Someone’s going to build a course on Jura.” At the time, I was traveling to southwest Scotland often—to the Mull of Kintyre, home of the two fine […]

Top 10 Courses: Hawaii

courses hawaii

Here’s our list of the top 10 courses in the islands of Hawaii 1. NANEA (Kailua-Kona, Big Island) David McLay Kidd’s only Hawaiian design is both the best and most exclusive private course in the state, a testing links-like layout set on the slope of Mt. Hualalai. It’s also the first course in North America […]

LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 106: In-Depth on Golf at Reynolds Lake Oconee

reynolds lake oconee

On a recent trip to Georgia’s Reynolds Lake Oconee, Digital Editor Al Lunsford sat down with Director of Golf Wes Forester to discuss the golf options available to members and the public at the lakefront Georgia community and resort, including six unique courses from five high-profile architects. This season of the LINKS Golf Podcast is […]

Six Tough Questions for Six Top Architects

top architects

A half-dozen of course design’s finest practitioners share their thoughts about dream collaborations, underrated architects, and plenty more The Cast DAVID MCLAY KIDD In a career spanning 25 years, the Scottish-born Kidd has earned every honor possible for designs that include Bandon Dunes, Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley, Nanea, and the Castle Course at St. […]

Great Holes of the British Isles: 17th, Prestwick, “Alps”

prestwick alps

The story of Prestwick Golf Club begins in 1851, when a group of friends gathered at the Red Lion Inn decided to create a golf club. Old Tom Morris was hired to be its first greenkeeper, and he competed in the first 12 Open Championships held on his then 12-hole home course, winning four times. […]