Any golf enthusiast will almost definitely be familiar with the term “links” when referring to a golf course. More than likely, this has come up when watching TV, at work, or while listening to your friends discuss the most recent golf tournament. Many of you, even if you are serious players, may not have played links golf before or may not understand exactly what makes a links golf course a true links golf course. We’re going to try to clear the air here once and for all (maybe), because we’ve all been there at some point or another.

Any golf enthusiast will almost definitely be familiar with the term “links” when referring to a golf course. More than likely, this has come up when watching TV, at work, or while listening to your friends discuss the most recent golf tournament. Many of you, even if you are serious players, may not have played links golf before or may not understand exactly what makes a links golf course a true links golf course. We’re going to try to clear the air here once and for all (maybe), because we’ve all been there at some point or another.

True Links Golf Course: What Is It?

Let’s go right to the point before we get too far into the subject:

The course is situated next to the water. Other than tall sea grasses and gorse, it has minimal vegetation and sandy soil (a hearty, low growing, evergreen plant). The golf holes were designed using the terrain’s natural features. The fact that it was suitable for play was a key factor in the origin of the game of golf on this type of land. Many of the bunkers were formerly wind-swept dunes because the course designers had little ability to move the dirt to construct the course.

To truly grasp the concept, let’s go all the way back to the inception of the sport. Golf is thought to have started somewhere along Scotland’s eastern coast. There are a various rumours floating about regarding how the game was first played, some of which are more fun than others, but it appears to have developed from Julius Caesar’s rule.