The Brilliance of Old Tom Morris
June 16, 2021, was Old Tom Morris’s 200th birthday. While almost every golfer knows his name, few know much about him, golf’s first true Renaissance man—the best golfer in the world, the go-to expert in setting out a course, the first course superintendent, maker of golf equipment. Royalty, golf course architects, and journalists knew that […]
The Most Underrated Holes at Famous Courses
Each year when Masters week approaches, the golfing world transfixes its attention on Augusta National Golf Club. Golf enthusiasts picture the fairways and greens of Amen Corner or perhaps the club’s idyllic 16th hole. Similarly, when other widely acclaimed courses like TPC Sawgrass or the Old Course at St. Andrews come to mind, they conjure […]
What Makes A Green Great?
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of interesting greens to the rank, renown, and reputation of a golf course. It would be similarly tough accumulating all the telling quotes the great architects have submitted on the subject—but here are a few: “Putting greens constructed with relation to the length and topography of the […]
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 […]
My Courses: Gary Player
Very few golfers have played such a global variety of golf courses as Gary Player—the nine-time major champion shares his answers here in “My Courses” MY FAVORITE COURSE: If you were asked to choose your favorite rugby player and your child happened to be a star, you would have to pick him, right? So, I’ll […]
Blades Golf Club: Houston’s Office Putting Course
You might be reading this on a typical day at the office, daydreaming of slipping out to the nearest muni where you can roll a few putts instead of shuffling through emails. It will probably take a drive, or short walk if you’re really lucky. At JH Blades, a Houston, Texas-based insurance company specializing in […]
George Peper’s Golf Bucket List, Updated
LINKS Editor George Peper As a reader of LINKS Magazine, you’ve likely played golf for more than a few years—and with better than average skill. You’ve played on numerous courses and under all sorts of circumstances. You’ve made shots—and made friends—that will be with you forever. You’ve repeatedly experienced both the pure joy and utter […]
Creating Alternatives to Original Golf Templates
The word ‘template’ is, of course, part of modern-day golf architecture speak. It’s not quite clear when the term was first used to describe certain hole designs, but we do know it has its origin in golf pioneer C.B. Macdonald’s trips to Britain and France between 1902 and 1906 when he sought to identify the […]
Dumbarnie Links
On a trip to Scotland last fall I had the opportunity to play a sneak-preview round at Dumbarnie Links. Clive Clark, a member of the 1973 Great Britain and Ireland Ryder Cup team, has taken a relatively undistinguished landscape and created 18 fun, testing, and memorable holes. About nine miles south of St. Andrews on […]
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 […]
