I like LINKS GOLF---do you?

[Jack_2251]

Have a look at these,

Yeah, I know of some of them within general area, but I meant like close as in 30 mins. And I have played Belmont, it is a great course to but I didn't really classify it as full links.

Also, I've heard that NSW and St Michaels are both very expensive.

[RaLos18]

One of my goals for 2008 is to play on a Links course. Being stuck in the midwest it's kind of tuff. There are couple decent links here in Chicagoland, but many of them are private clubs, very expensive and hard to get in. One of my co-workers played last year on a links course somewhere in the Washington State, and he says that the feeling and the play is completely different then the courses we are playing around here. Can't wait to try!!!

[shortgame85]

I have played only one links style course: River Bend Country Club, in Robinsonville, Ms. It is near the Mississippi River and was built to service the very large casino industry located in that region. Its design intent was to simulate a links type course found in the British Isles. Never having played golf across the pond, I cannot attest to the success of the designer. I can say that it is one of the most challenging, fun courses on which I've played and it has many of the characteristics of links courses I've seen on television or read about.

It has given me a taste for that style of golf. While I don't think I would want to play on that type of course two or three times a week, I know I would like to have a links course in my regular rotation.

[chingali]

Yeah, I know of some of them within general area, but I meant like close as in 30 mins. And I have played Belmont, it is a great course to but I didn't really classify it as full links.

Yes St Michaels is a bit expensive as is NSW if you can manage to get yourself a game on either of them. If your handicap is just over 7 as in your profile, get rid of another 3 or 4 strokes and have a go at playing in some of the Vardon and Open events around Sydney. Just about all of them are accessible by public transport (I did it over 20 years ago!) and you get to play at some of our better tracks you'd otherwise never get on, and usually at a reduced price too. Plus you know the competition is going to be good, no 27 markers in these events

Here is a link to the 2008 NSWGA Fixture list - http://www.nswga.com.au/files/7FOMBN...ure%20List.pdf

[PEZGolf]

I don't HATE links golf, but I'm more of a 'woodlands' course type of guy, you know, Augusta type of layout and stuff...just my personal choice. I can play golf pretty much anywhere with nice conditions.

The nice thing about golf courses in Upstate New York is that we have a variety of types and layouts---woodlands, mountain, links, you name it---Lake Placid, Cooperstown, Saratoga Springs, the Turning Stone Resort, and the Adirondacks and Catskills give us whatever type we are looking for, and in the summer, the temperatures are moderate---75 to 85, and there is almost no humidity. Most of them are public courses, and that is why "Golf Digest" and the National Golf Foundation have rated the Mohawk Valley 7th in the country in terms of good public courses that are in good condition (number of public courses per capita population).

[GaijinGolfer]

One of my co-workers played last year on a links course somewhere in the Washington State, and he says that the feeling and the play is completely different then the courses we are playing around here. Can't wait to try!!!

The biggest thing about playing on a links course is that accuracy is very important. The fairways are much narrower and the rough is much deeper, so if you miss the fairway its almost impossible to make par on that hole.

Granted, Ive never played in the UK on a true links course, but from what Ive experienced playing at Bonnie Meade and what Ive learned about links golf from watching the British Open, you pretty much want to leave the driver in the bag and hit 3-wood off of the tee. I dont know what it is, but links golf facinates me. Perhaps its because thats what the game evolved from or perhaps because its a much greater challenge or perhaps its just the natural beauty of that part of the world. One of my biggest goals/dreams in life is to someday play golf on the old course at St. Andrews. Im not sure if I will ever get there or not, but Im sure as heck gonna try.

[Kltdefer]

One of my co-workers played last year on a links course somewhere in the Washington State, and he says that the feeling and the play is completely different then the courses we are playing around here. Can't wait to try!!!

I assuming it was

Chambers Bay I played it earlier this month. It was great! I played poorly but had a wonderful time. I would do it again in a heartbeat

[Kevin04]

All the courses round my area are pretty much Links golf courses as I live on the coast near the sea. There are inland, parkland and woodland courses nearby too which I try as often to play also but reguarly play links golf and I have alot to thank to that, my golf is improving.

I'm beginning to learn how to hit certain types of shots and also the ability to hit a shot and keep it under the wind is priceless on a links golf, although I'm a high handicaper, it's coming down but there's nothing more daunting that getting on the 1st tee and a hole that's only 340 yards away is blowing 30mph into your face..

[PEZGolf]

All the courses round my area are pretty much Links golf courses as I live on the coast near the sea. There are inland, parkland and woodland courses nearby too which I try as often to play also but reguarly play links golf and I have alot to thank to that, my golf is improving.

You are right about the wind. We do not have a strong wind every day, but often enough to force us to learn to play in it. It can be daunting. I remember last year, when a friend and I played in a tournament at a course that I grew up on. We were partners, and on the 4th tee, I warned him to take a good look at the 9th hole, since that green was right next to us. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just a nice wedge----115 yards". "You will see", I told him. When we got to that hole, I went first, with the cold October wind in our face. "What iron are you going to hit---a 9?" he asked.

I did not answer, but put the shot 8' away. "No, it was not a 9. I told you the hole is playing 146 yards." "Oh, an 8 iron then?" I showed him the club and told him that it was a 6 iron, with a 3/4 swing. He proceeded to hit an 8 iron, and ended up on the front fringe, 35' short of the cup. "You were right---146 yards. I should have listened to you." I am not afraid to take 2, 3, or even 4 clubs if necessary to get the job done. It makes for some interesting developments, and not all of them with a favorable outcome.

[Cody]

I think my home course is links, but I'm not sure.

The sign on the course says "Cinder Ridge: Golf Links and Practice Center"

http://www.cinderridge.com/

[PEZGolf]

I think my home course is links, but I'm not sure.

It might be a links course, BUT sometimes people mistakenly use the word "links" to mean "golf course" even though the layout is NOT a true links course.

[BSweet]

I played a links style course in a tournament back in May. It ate me up. I shot 98. I had absolutely no control of my golf ball. In particular the par 3s killed me. I hit the proshop on one hole the wind was blowing so hard. It is not easy that's for sure.

[PEZGolf]

I played a links style course in a tournament back in May. It ate me up. I shot 98. I had absolutely no control of my golf ball. In particular the par 3s killed me. I hit the proshop on one hole the wind was blowing so hard. It is not easy that's for sure.

You are right. Links courses are designed to be VERY PENAL for errant shots. They are NOT for eveyone. Some people get frustrated, lose many golf balls, and do NOT have a good time. Golf is supposed to be a fun recreation, but we all know there are times it produces only a headache.

[whip_it_out]

In a Texas winter, and if the course isn't over-seeded and all the grass is hard and dormant, it can get as close to links golf as ive played. But i know, It's nothing compared to the courses on the other side of the pond. they have to be so much more difficult than anything in the U.S when the wind is blowing.

One of my dad's friends went to england and played carnoustie, St. Andrews and the whole deal, he said you had to have a caddy. you would look down the fairway and its just a field. the caddy would say,"just aim at the less brown".
They tried to go out without a caddy, and made it to the third hole before they had to get one.

[PEZGolf]

In a Texas winter, and if the course isn't over-seeded and all the grass is hard and dormant, it can get as close to links golf as ive played. But i know, It's nothing compared to the courses on the other side of the pond. they have to be so much more difficult than anything in the U.S when the wind is blowing.

FROM THE CADDY SHACK near the Irish Sea: "AYE, ya truly need a guide. Three of the "we know it all" American crowd went out without some of us last week. Their last words to us were, "We have golfed all over the States, and we KNOW what we are doing." They are still missing, and the dogs followed their scents to the edge of the "Bottomless Pit", so we fear the worst. BUT----we warned them---Golf without caddies is like trying to walk through the bogs where the Hound of the Baskervilles roamed. Ya are damn foolish to venture there without proper guides. God rest their souls, those poor, poor lads."

[GaijinGolfer]

In a Texas winter, and if the course isn't over-seeded and all the grass is hard and dormant, it can get as close to links golf as ive played. But i know, It's nothing compared to the courses on the other side of the pond. they have to be so much more difficult than anything in the U.S when the wind is blowing.

Yup, on those course they usually require you to have a caddy.