Why Every Golf Course Needs a Silly Hole
Wacky, weird, crazy, dumb—call them what you will, silly holes help make good golf courses better, writes Geoff Shackelford.
9 Best Par Threes on the Open Championship Rota
Ever since eight competitors first encountered Prestwick’s 167-yard 3rd hole—called Tunnel (Red)—at the inaugural Open Championship in 1860, par threes have played a significant role in the outcome of golf’s oldest major tournament. Only 12 holes then, Prestwick expanded to 18 holes in 1882, then fell off the Open Rota after 1925, but its challenging […]
Assigning Personalities to the Open Championship Venues
Examining the courses of the Open Championship, let’s view them not from best to worst but rather as unique examples of different personalities In a recent interview, rock icon Nick Cave revealed an unexpected interest in the Enneagram, a system of inter-connected personality types linked to the early-20th century mystic Gurdjieff. This interest in psychological […]
Golf’s Most Exhilarating Courses
Ireland’s Old Head is golf’s most exhilarating experience There are moments in golf that you wish could be frozen in time: Stepping onto the first tee of the Old Course at St. Andrews; emerging from the trees to greet 15, 16, and 17 at Cypress Point; staring down the daunting approach over the Pacific at […]
Golf Course Architect Bill Bergin – LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 168
Professional player turned golf course architect Bill Bergin joins the LINKS Golf Podcast to talk about his design of the Highlands Course at McLemore, and the new course he is building for the Georgia resort/community with Rees Jones called The Keep. The hosts also chat with Bergin about finishing 14th in the 1984 Open Championship, […]
Test Your Knowledge of St. Andrews—Take Our Quiz
American fascination with St. Andrews as a golfing destination has been evident for more than 150 years and is most memorably attributable to Bobby Jones, who fell in love with both the Old Course and the town when he said, “I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St. Andrews and […]
Must-Play Courses Near the Old Course at St. Andrews – LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 117
Joe Passov shares his list of top golf courses you can play in the St. Andrews area other than the Old Course. The hosts provide insight behind each choice and chat about the diverse golf scene in Fife. The episode of the LINKS Golf Podcast is presented by Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. You can subscribe […]
Tom Doak: What I Learned From the Home of Golf
Forty years ago, the then-student of course architecture received his most important lessons at the Home of Golf The first thing I learned in the golf business was to find good mentors. There is no way Cornell University would have given me a scholarship to spend a year touring the golf courses of Great Britain […]
10 Other Things to Love About St. Andrews
Sure the reason you’ll want to go is the golf, but here are the reasons, once you get there, you’ll want to stay Long Summer Evenings The hardest part of living through a winter in St. Andrews isn’t the weather: It’s the daylight, or lack thereof. In mid-December, the sun rises after 8 a.m. […]
George Peper: 50 Years in St. Andrews
My half century of memories of the world’s greatest town The 150th playing of the world’s oldest golf event, the Open Championship, is now upon us as the competition returns to the Old Course at St. Andrews for a record 30th time. I count among the greatest blessings of my life that I’ve been able […]
