One of my favourite golf books is the simply titled ‘Links Golf’, written by Malcolm Campbell (former Golf Monthly editor) and George Peper (former Golf Magazine editor). In the book they explain the origins of links golf and defining factors that go into making a links golf course: Sea views or close proximity to the sea, sandy dune like terrain and fast running fairways buffeted by changing maritime winds.
According to their criteria, at the time the book was published in 2010, there were actually only 246 true links courses in the world with very few genuine links being added to that number each year due to the stringent criteria and lack of accessible sites on which to build true links courses.
To those new to links golf, it might seem like the courses can be one-dimensional, flat and often featureless with many having a routing that features nine (or thereabouts) holes playing in one direction before the course makes an about turn and plays back towards the start point.
Inland courses, by comparison, have much more potential variety, with changes in elevation, water hazards, different types of trees, flora and fauna and routings that often take you on two loops of nine that each return to the clubhouse.
However, to dismiss links golf as one-dimensional is to miss the bigger picture. The five courses that we played on this trip underline the devil is very much in the detail when it comes to links golf.
The differences between the five courses were both subtle and striking at the same time, most notably from the total lack of sea views at our first stop on England’s North West coast, Southport & Ainsdale, to magnificent views of the Firth of Forth and every single hole at our final stop, Dumbarnie Links in Fife.
For a road trip of this magnitude, a large, comfortable car is essential, and in the Genesis GV80 we had the perfect ride. The GV80 is the largest SUV in the Genesis range and is a stunning looking vehicle, especially from the front with it’s big diamond grille and split headlights – and it regularly turned heads on the trip.
The layout of our GV80 featured up to three rows of seats. We could have had seven people in the car, but for our trip we needed the cavernous boot space to accommodate four sets of golf clubs, luggage and paraphernalia. It did a…
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