First golf bunkers appeared when sheep were forced to hide in hollows made of sandy linksland. As roaming animals grazed on tough links grasses, man saw an opportunity for golf to be created.
The dream of playing links golf is still possible today, whether you are in Scotland, Ireland or one the many venues that host the Open Championship. Golfers from around the globe travel to pilgrimage the best links courses.
You’re likely to feel like you are playing another game if you have never faced strong winds or navigated a fairway lined with gorse bush trees.
Matthew Moore is Global Golfer’s Editor. He was a one-handicap golfer who lived in St Andrews four years ago and dedicated himself to the study of links golf.
This is how to play links golf.
How to get the ball off of the tee
Links courses fairways can be narrow, lined with gorse (a dense, hardy prickly shrub), pot buners, and tall thick rough fescue grasses.
Wind blowing hard can make it difficult for the ball to stay in play. This is especially true if you’re used to driving high up the air and with great spin and shape.
Links courses are best played low, straight and under wind. The ball should be driven with less spin to ensure it hits the fairways.
This can be done by pressing the “knuckle ball”Your driver. This creates a spinning low top flight, which then releases upon landing.
Here’s how:
· Tee the ball low, quite tight to the turf
· Choke right down on the grip
· Address the ball out of the middle of your stance
· Stack 60% of your weight on your left side
· Swing with a three quarter length at a smooth tempo, resisting the temptation to hit the ball hard and focusing on making a sweet strike
As with any full shot in the wind: the harder the ball is hit, the more spin it creates and the higher it will be exposed to the wind.
Although the knuckleball drive is shorter than other drives, it will still run on hard links fairways. It’s fast and accurate, and is great for beating wind gusts and keeping the ball in short grass. This almost always equals a penalty fall.
Punch and not Ego, play with Punch
You might find yourself in a position where you are facing 125 yards of wind, on a small green. Here is where you need to forget your ego. You can’t hit the gap wedge 130 feet if you swing hard. Play smart and choose a shorter club. This will keep the flight down, reduce spin, and help you avoid getting caught in the wind.
You must accept that you may hit a 4-iron for 140 yards and an 8 iron when you are only left with 85 yards. This is part of links golf. The punch shot is the friendliest game in links golf.
To punch the shot, you will use a shorter backswing and de-loft the club for lower flight. Your forearms should be joined together so that your followthrough is short and aggressive.
Tips for making punch shots look great
· Grip down the shaft
· Position the ball further back in your stance towards your right foot
· Move your hands slightly further ahead of the ball
· Shift 65% of your weight onto your left side
· Swing ¾ length and punch through the shot with a shortened follow through below shoulder height
Wind can affect flight less if it’s lower.
Adjust the ball to fly in lower. Land it just short of the flagstick, and let it run towards the hole.
Practical Putting
You will most likely use both your lob wedge or your sand wedge when you are playing on either inland courses or golf resorts.
Links courses can be incredibly windy, which can make chipping accurate difficult. It is rare for thick rough to be found around links greens. The most dangerous hazards are bank sides, hollows and bunkers. This allows you to leave the wedge behind and putter off the green.
The Open Championship will see top pros putting 25 yards from the green. They are achieving great results. Because putting off the green can be one of the most enjoyable short game options on the links, Because fairways can be very tight, it is difficult to nip the ball from the hard turf. It’s also easy to slice or skull the shot.
Your worst putt is always better than your worst chip. So consider how the hill slopes and the undulations of the ground, and then use your putter and putter to make the ball go up and down.
Bump and run makes this game more fun
The Scottish bump-and-run is something you will likely have either heard of or witnessed. The shot is low and flies just short or on the green. It then rolls towards the hole as a putt.
Bump and Run is an excellent option if there’s nothing between you and the flag. It behaves almost like a putt once it lands and tracks towards the hole. Links greens are often undulating or sloping, so landing a pitch on a steep downslope may result in inconsistent bounces.
Here’s how to run and bump:
· Address the ball off the right foot
· Use anything from a five iron to a 9-iron
· Weight 70% on the left side
· Sternum ahead of the ball
· Heads ahead of the ball, club sitting upright
· Make a putting stroke and hit crisply down into the back off the ball
· Pick a spot just on the green to land it and let it run towards the hole
Land lie
Troon, Turnberry and St Andrews caddies will tell you it takes time for the player to learn about the links and the bounce. Sometimes slopes or natural features are able to funnel the ball toward the hole, get extra yards out of a drive, or stop a ball going in a danger zone.
A yardage chart is an excellent idea. But it’s not enough to be aware of the contours and slopes when playing on the course. You can observe how your partners’ balls bounce and look at the fairways to see if they slope.
You might have to aim at the flag on some links because it can be difficult to get a shot that directs the ball to the hole.
Hybrid Heaven
When playing links golf against the wind, the worst thing to do is strike the ball on the back with a hard swing. Then you need to apply backspin and push it up in the air. It will cause the shot to balloon, and it will be spun by the wind.
This can be avoided by having a variety of utility and hybrid clubs. You can use a hybrid to get the ball up off the grass with a lower, flatter swing.
Hitting hybrids instead of long irons can make it easier to hit low shots, which have more spin.
Be a friend of the wind
It’s likely that you will have wind on your links course. Make the wind your friend and not your foe. Playing with the wind is better than fighting it. Don’t try to fit a three-iron into a wind direction. Use a 5-iron instead. This will allow the ball to follow the wind. The same goes for drivers. While cutting a ball in a left to right wind can be difficult, it can take 80 yards off of your tee shot. However, if you set up for right-to-left draw, aiming further left can lead to big drives.
You can use the wind to your benefit. Remember that the more you hit the ball, the greater the impact on its flight and spin.
Bunkers: Take your medicine
The last tip we have for links golf players is to know how to manage your medication and be safe in case you get into bunkers. You may have heard about the “Sands of Nakijima”More commonly,?. “Road Hole”The bunker is located at the 17th fairway on The Old Course of St Andrews.
This is typical of deep pot bunkers that have riveted faces, which are common on links courses in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. This is a great example of what can happen when golfers try to pull off a miraculous recovery in deep bunkers. You should not be less than 90% sure that you can get the lip out. Otherwise, you risk getting it stuck in a spot where it will become even more difficult.
If you are able to save a bogey, or score in the quads or double figures, it’s not a shame to go sideways and even backwards at a bunker links pot.
Choose the most conservative shot to ensure you at least have a chance at a decent score. If you fail, you may be named after a bunker.
Global Golfer has again provided the following top tips for playing Links Golf.
· Knuckle ball your drives
· Play with punch not ego
· Be practical putt from off the green
· Bump and run to make the game fun
· Learn the lie of the land
· Hybrids are heavenly on the links
· Make the wind your friend
· Take your medicine in the bunkers