“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.
