Ben Wright: Buttered and Bunkered

  Of all the great golfers I have seen in more than half a century of covering the game, I believe the best never to win a major was the majestic Irishman Christy O’Connor Sr. A two-time winner of the European Tour’s Order of Merit (1961, ’62) and a member of the Great Britain and […]

Best New or Returning Courses on Tour in 2020

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For the most part the traveling circus of professional golf tours visit many of the same venues year after year. On the PGA Tour, January begins in Hawaii, springtime swings through Augusta, and the fall takes golfers to wine country. But each year we’re also treated to a either a few new courses on tour, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Darren Clarke’s Royal Portrush

If Max Faulkner were around to defend his 1951 Open Championship title, he might not recognize what they’ve done to Royal Portrush’s acclaimed Dunluce Course. But 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke has had a front-row seat to all the architectural drama that’s taken place there recently. The jovial Ulsterman has owned a home in Portrush […]

I Was There: 2005 Open Championship

The 134th Open Championship was played in my backyard.  At the time, my wife and I were living in a two-bedroom flat beside the 18th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews, a vacation home we’d owned for two decades and had decided to occupy full time two years earlier. The bay window of […]

I Was There: 1984 Open Championship

I will never forget the last time I had the good fortune to meet the great Severiano Ballesteros. Back in the fall of 2007, I was standing on the first tee of the Old Course at St. Andrews, waiting to start a round, when he arrived unannounced to do some filming and somewhat to my […]

I Was There for Van de Velde’s 1999 Open Championship Crash

By Dave Seanor   Redemption or ignominy. That’s what hung in the balance as Jean Van de Velde stalked a six-foot putt for triple bogey at the 72nd hole of the 128th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links.  Van de Velde needed to hole the putt to join Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie in a […]