What’s in a Name? The 18 Holes of the Old Course
Golf historians may quibble over where the game was invented, but when it comes to charting the origin of the game as we know it today, most will concede that St. Andrews is the acknowledged Home of Golf. Golf has been played there since the early 15th century over common land that today is held […]
How the Old Course Came to Be
While the “Old Lady” we know today is about 125 years old, her bones can be traced back six centuries The Old Course is a marvel. Not only has golf been played over it for close to 600 years, but generations of golf architects have used it as the template for courses everywhere. Like many […]
Great Courses of Britain & Ireland: Kingsbarns
Just six miles from St. Andrews sits a course that combines something old and something new to create something very special In early 1793, George Washington was planning a second term as President of the United States; George III still reigned in Great Britain and Ireland; Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine in France. […]
Ben Wright: Burning Desire
When the Walker Cup Match takes place at Royal County Down on September 8–9, Great Britain and Ireland will try to win the biennial competition for the fourth time in the last five attempts, which is truly unimaginable, given that our record for so long was one of utter futility, save for one glorious moment […]
The Complete Golf Buddies’ Trip Checklist
Playing golf by yourself can be sublime—like when you’re sneaking in a few holes at sunset after work. Going out as a single with strangers can be rewarding, too, especially if you’ve queued from 5 a.m. to get out on the Old Course and exit the 18th green with three new friends. But the best […]
The Hardest Round of Your Life
Of all of the rounds you’ve played in your golf lifetime, there are but a few that seem to be etched in your memory in permanent ink. There’s the story of your career-low round, that your friends and family could recite back to you word-for-word. Then there are probably one or two courses you checked […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Where Bunkers Lie
The placement of bunkers on a course is one of the key elements in creating strategy Having started our examination of golf course architecture with greens—and appropriately ascribing sovereignty to them over all other features—we turn to the most visible feature on any course, the sand bunker. Bunkers have always had two distinct characteristics as […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Greens and Their Complexes
On a visit to The Los Angeles Country Club in preparation for the 2023 U.S. Open, I did something that I rarely do. While walking the course with the superintendent, we putted on every green. And I must say, it was a lot of fun, free from trying to “make” a putt and instead watching […]
Template Holes: Golf’s Most Mimicked Designs
“But don’t let famed holes…such as the ‘Alps’ of Prestwick and ‘Redan’ of North Berwick, lead you into attempting to reproduce them. In trying to make your course fit certain famous hole treatments, you are certain to be doomed to disappointment.” —DONALD ROSS, Golf Has Never Failed Me Sorry, Don. They didn’t listen. The idea […]
One Course to Play for the Rest of Your Life
While many of us are stuck at home, we’ve had plenty of time to daydream about the places we’d like to travel and the golf courses we’d like to play once again, or for the first time. I’ve spent a lot of time refreshing social media, too, and have seen an interesting topic being floated […]
