“The true links were molded by divine hands. Linksland, the fine grasses, the wind made bunkers that defy imitation, the exquisite contours that refuse to be sculpted by hand.”
—Robert Hunter, The Links (1926)
Wind. Sand. Turf. Contours.
The great American golf course architect and writer Robert Hunter succinctly captured the key ingredients necessary to create a links. While these elements are not all that constitute a true links—quirky contributors such as pot bunkers, gorse and broom, walls, clubhouses in play, and roads also play roles—wind, sand, turf and contours are the staples.
Hunter noted that Great Britain and Ireland have been “lavished” with long stretches of natural linksland—indeed, those seaside tracts gave birth to the game itself—while we on this side of the pond have not been so fortunate in our “dispensation” of natural links.
For most American golfers, “links” equates to a treeless course. During our restoration projects, I often have been accused of trying to create links courses via tree removal. If only it were so easy!
In fact, building a links course is not as simple these days as it was in the late 19th century, when most of the great links were established. For one, there is little natural linksland left. Second, building a links requires overcoming rigorous environmental standards and significant land costs. As a result, course architects need to ask themselves what constitutes a true links experience and how can that experience be created on non-linksland sites, which are more readily available for course development.
If you accept, as I do, Hunter’s recipe, it becomes easier to create a links on ground that is not naturally linksland. Such is the case on our current project, Castle Stuart in Inverness, Scotland, where we have set out to transform a windswept site on the shore of the Moray Firth into the closest possible thing to a true links.
Wind
Wind is the greatest variable in the design of a links, and it is certainly not lacking at our site. The dreaded “prevailing wind” is a term we have grown to both love and hate. This wind’s direction refuses to be ignored; however, to rely on it for all our design considerations would be folly. The truth is that the wind changes constantly, sometimes during a round. Such is the importance of wind in any design that we must construct holes that will work in a three-club tailwind, headwind and crosswind.
One such hole is our 18th, a downhill par 5 that plays into the prevailing wind (left). Taking into account the angles of play for the second shot, as well as the contours, the green can accommodate a wide variety of wind conditions.
Mark Parsinen, my co-designer at Castle Stuart, and I have attempted to provide for this by offering width off of the tee corresponding with preferred angles of attack for any wind condition. The green approaches have also been prepared with varied wind conditions in mind and are generally free of any required carries. This should allow run-up shots to be played through and over a set of contours that will provide challenges under a variety of conditions.
Sand
At the base of all true links courses is the one constant, the free-draining nature of sand. At Castle Stuart, one of the fundamental needs of the site selection was sandy soil, as well as a reserve of sand. Although the sand was not distributed over the entire property, we have been thrilled to find that our reserve has been more plentiful than originally thought. As a result, we have been able to provide a deep cover of sand—about three feet deep—over the more marginal soils. Just as in a true links setting, we have the base to provide the requirements for our next ingredients.
