Introducing The LINKS 100
Who better than LINKS Magazine—and golf architects—to rank the world’s top 100 courses? Introducing: The LINKS 100.
The Science of Split Fairways
If designed effectively, a fairway that’s split into two separate sections can create an intriguing dilemma on a golf course.
Mount Rushmore of Golf Course Architects
On our Mount Rushmore of golf course architects, we’re not talking about our four favorites, necessarily, or even the first four.
Golf Courses with the Highest Tree Appeal
When deployed properly, trees adds definition, character, beauty, and strategic interest. These golf courses have the highest tree appeal.
Speed Slots: A Unique Golf Course Feature Explained
Today’s course architects clearly endorse the use of speed slots—regarded as something of a welcome quirk or abnormality in golf design.
Donut Greens: 5 Holes with Bunkers on the Putting Surface
When George Thomas designed Riviera Country Club’s championship layout during the late 1920s, he introduced a unique element that gave the course instant notoriety: a pot bunker set smack dab in the middle of the par-three 6th hole’s putting surface. Since then, the design feature has been replicated in other parts of the country (and […]
Reversible Courses: A Returning Golf Fad?
It’s not like they were the only thing golfers could talk about, but from June 2016 when Michigan’s The Loop opened to July 2017 when Silvies Valley Ranch in Oregon welcomed its first guests, reversible courses certainly enjoyed their moment in the spotlight. Inspired by the reverse, or “left-hand,” routing on the Old Course at […]
How the Old Course Inspired Augusta National
When Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie designed Augusta National, they took much of their inspiration from the Old Course. Can you see the connection? Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, the original architects of Augusta National, had something else in common: The course they admired the most in the world was the Old Course at St. […]
11 Architects Who Directly Influenced Augusta National
Even the most casual golf fan is aware that Augusta National Golf Club was designed by Alister MacKenzie, in tandem with amateur legend and Grand Slam winner Bobby Jones. However, not even serious Masters students realize that nearly 20 prominent figures in the game have effected changes to the course design over the past 90 […]
Geoff Shackelford: Imitation at Augusta National is the Highest Form of Flattery
Augusta National, which has been the inspiration for many courses built since, was itself largely inspired by the game’s classic layouts. At least, that’s what they said at the time. Augusta National started out as a concept course. A greatest hits package in spirit. Co-founder Clifford Roberts bought into Alister MacKenzie’s vision and then sold […]
