Golf Travel: Rating the Islands of Hawaii
A Polynesian-flavored archipelago in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii provides a unique setting for the game—from vibrant green jungles to toasted black lava. But there’s far more to Hawaii than golf, and here is a ranking of the five major islands, taking into consideration the golf courses, resort hotels, off-course attractions, scenery and mana, […]
Woodstock Inn Golf Vacation
It’s easy to get your Woodstocks confused, so full of them is the Northeast. For the record, the one the music festival is named for is in upstate New York. The one where rich Bostonians all have ski chalets is in New Hampshire. And the one where you can tee it up on a […]
Castlerock Golf Club, Northern Ireland
Castlerock Golf Club has long resided in the shadow of its illustrious neighbors along Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast— Portstewart and Royal Portrush—but it would be a mistake to overlook this gem, which embodies all the essential charms of links golf. Its fine points include a pure seaside routing, firm greens, ferocious rough and an unmistakable […]
Brora Golf Club, Scotland
In 1995 Peter Thomson and his wife, Mary, made a four-and-a-half-hour drive from their home in St. Andrews to the Scottish Highlands. Intrigued by a glowing recommendation from a former caddie, the five-time British Open winner traveled to the seaside town of Brora to play the eponymous course. Without informing the club in advance […]
Cascades Course at Omni Homestead Resort, Virginia
It‘s widely touted as America’s finest mountain layout, but the Cascades course at the Homestead actually lies in a valley surrounded by the densely wooded hills of the Alleghenies. Regardless of how it’s labeled, most golfers would agree with the legendary Sam Snead, who calls it “the most complete course I know of.” William […]
Where to Play Golf in Dubai
The moment I stepped off the plane in Dubai, I knew I was in a surreal place. Staring at me was a billboard from a firm called Damac, the largest real estate developer in the Middle East: “Buy a condominium and win your own private jet, your own private island. Free Bentley or BMW […]
Our Top Tips for Golf Travelers in China
Because of China’s size and its often confusing regulations, a tour with a company like Haversham & Baker, which can handle the myriad logistics, is the best bet. The company’s founder, Sam Baker, offers some tips on negotiating the Middle Kingdom: The best golf is in the south, where it is very hot and […]
West Virginia: Golf at The Greenbrier
“Taking the waters.” It’s a notion that harkens to another time, when the rich and famous went to the country for the restorative effects of the mineral springs found there. The spirit of modern spas and resorts owes much to these springs, one of the first of which was the one at White Sulphur […]
The Evolution of Golf Course Architecture
Quite literally, the landscape of golf course architecture has evolved since LINKS began publishing 20 years ago. Since 1988, more than 3,500 courses have been built in the United States. Some, like Sand Hills, are among the greatest ever built. Others, like Shadow Creek, were unlike anything that golf had seen before. While overall quality of courses built […]
Belvoir Park Golf Club, Northern Ireland
In the early ’90s, when Yanks began descending en masse on Ireland’s mightiest links, they first gathered at the magisterial courses of the southwest (think Ballybunion and Lahinch), then east coast wonders like Portmarnock and the European Club, and more recently, the raw and secluded northwest. But without direct flights to Belfast and scared […]
