Classic Course: San Francisco Golf Club
By Brian Hewitt A.W. Tillinghast’s only West Coast design has been restored to its original splendor In 1918, when the San Francisco Golf Club unveiled what turned out to be A. W. Tillinghast’s only original design west of Texas, it produced barely a murmur. No one knew the course would set the bar for […]
The Essential: Hugh Alison
Charles Hugh Alison, who was known to the world by his middle name, was born in 1883 in the small English city of Preston, about 30 miles north of Manchester. A powerfully built and athletic young man, he played first-class cricket and earned his “Blue” competing for Oxford against Cambridge in the University Golf Match. […]
The Architects of Pebble Beach
By James A. Frank In the early 1900s, the Pacific Ocean was a long journey from the East Coast, which was the center of American golf at the time. So when Samuel F.B. Morse—in charge of developing part of the Monterey Peninsula for a resort and real estate—approached leading architects including Donald Ross and […]
5 Questions with Golf Course Architect Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson earned a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard in 1999, before becoming Manager of Design for The First Tee, where he oversaw design and construction of 250 facilities. In 2006, he joined Arnold Palmer’s course design firm and, seven years later, was made a Senior Architect and Vice President of the company. […]
The Architect’s Ultimate Golf Trip
By Erik Matuszewski Golfers love few things better than a great road trip, with the opportunity to experience new courses in new locations. With this being LINKS, it only made sense to envision the ideal golf excursion for an aspiring golf course architect or aficionado of course design. Setting aside logistical obstacles—such as costs […]
Does the Golf Course Architect Matter?
Ted Vassallo, a retired civil engineer from Vermont, says the identity of the golf course architect wasn’t a major factor when he and wife Jan were deciding which of the seven communities at The Cliffs to move into. “We originally intended building a house up in the mountains at Glassy, which has a Tom Jackson […]
100 Years of Pebble Beach: The Academy
In 2019, Pebble Beach Golf Links will celebrate its 100th birthday and host its sixth U.S. Open. To commemorate these milestones, each issue of LINKS Magazine and LINKSdigital between now and then will tell the unique story that is Pebble Beach. Those articles will also be shared here on our website. Combining technology with the human […]
Our Favorite 9-Hole Golf Courses in the Country
By Tony Dear These are our 10 favorite 9-hole courses that anyone can play. Sweetens Cove—South Pittsburg, Tenn. Built on the site of an old course called Sequatchie Valley that was about as dull as a golf course could be, Sweetens Cove opened to great acclaim in 2014. The brilliant minds behind the transformation were […]
100 Years of Pebble Beach: In the Beginning
By James A. Frank In 2019, Pebble Beach Golf Links will celebrate its 100th birthday and host its sixth U.S. Open. To commemorate these milestones, each issue of LINKS Magazine and LINKSdigital between now and then will tell the unique story that is Pebble Beach. Those articles will also be shared here on our website. […]
First Green Teaches Kids Environmental Benefits of Golf
When Steve Kealy hosts a First Green field trip, he likes to send the kids home with an incentive to protect water quality in their homes and surrounding neighborhoods. “I teach them about storm water and waste water,” says the 27-year Superintendent at Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Wash. “And I give them four things […]
