10 of Golf’s Polarizing Par Fours
When my parents lived in the golf mecca that is California’s Monterey Peninsula, they were never further than a flip wedge off some fairway, even while moving several times. One of their stops was the secluded Quail Lodge in the Carmel Valley, where I always seemed to head to the back nine with conflicting feelings. […]
Five of James Braid’s Best Courses
James Braid was an immense figure in the game, belonging to a very short and distinguished list of greats who not only won at least five major championships, but also became productive (if not always brilliant) course designers—a list that includes J.H. Taylor, Jack Nicklaus, Peter Thomson, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, and Nick Faldo. Add […]
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 […]
Amid Coronavirus Chaos, How Are Golf Travel Operators Coping?
Every other month, international golf tour provider PerryGolf conducts a 30-minute webinar for potential customers on a different destination or topic, from Scotland and South Africa to cruises or escorted trips. It’s more of an educational opportunity than a sales pitch, explaining their planning and process. Their webinar topic for this month—before a national emergency […]
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 […]
Ranking the World – United Kingdom and Ireland
LINKS presents the start of a four-part series in which we’ll be ranking the nations of the world (outside of the U.S.) according to the quality of their golf. First up: the nations of the UK and Ireland. By Darius Oliver In the first of our four-part LINKS Magazine series, Scotland has emerged as the leading country in […]
Great Courses of GB&I: Dunbar Golf Club
Scotland’s self-proclaimed “Golf Coast” offers some illustrious options for traveling golfers. But while Muirfield and North Berwick get most of the headlines, nearby Dunbar Golf Club more than holds its own. First laid out in 1856, and later redesigned by Old Tom Morris, Ben Sayers, and James Braid, this seaside East Lothian links regularly hosts Open Championship […]
Revetted Bunkers in Mexico? You’ll Find Them at this New Cabo Course
By Erik Matuszewski Revetted bunkers were introduced to golf in Scotland, almost 5,500 miles from the windswept shores of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. They were originally designed as a way to stop wind erosion, helping shore up the face of bunkers whipped by the wind. Anyone who’s visited the ever-growing golf hotbed of Los […]
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 […]
