Links v Parkland

[CP1]

Hi all

Im thinking of joining a club and there is a links course here and they have a good deal on
I have never played links courses so being a player of 100 a round and getting better,

Are links easier or harder to play than parkland. any pros and cons?
thanks

 

[cm_qs]

They are completely different animals.

Links courses tend to be exposed to the elements and the trouble that awaits is caused mostly by the elements, the unpredictable terrain and very often punitive rough comprising heather / gorse / other assorted jaggy plants.
Parkland Courses tend to have more gentle terrain and trouble looms in the form of punitive bunkering, water and millions of bloody trees.
It's horses for courses which you prefer.
Links golf demands a greater range of shot making than parkland golf to cope with the elements. Do you want your golf to be a relaxing stroll which allows an element of playing it safe v taking risks ? ....or do you want a challenging battle against nature? You decide.
I prefer links golf but live a wee bit too far from the sea to play it with any regularity. I am a member of a parkland course. Giventhe option, I would play links golf every time.

 

[CP1]

It sounds to me like I should really play there before putting my money where my mouth is, we have a couple of nice courses in the area so may check it to see if it defeats me. Thanks for the opinion.

 

[birdieman]

I think links gives you a wider range of shots to play, generally greens are a lot quicker too so you're short game will be better on links. Controlling the ball in a wind is a great skill to have that us inlanders don't develop.
Saying that the constant wind can get very wearing, especially if the back nine is all into a headwind!
Variation is key, I love links but that's because I live miles from the sea and don't often get a chance to play them.
Managed games at Royal Dornoch, Brora, St Andrews Jubilee and Nairn this year, enjoyed them all immensely, far more than my local parkland track over and over again.
If I could move to the seaside I probably would.
Go links, you'll be a better golfer for it.

 

[RGuk]

As someone who's never lived even close to the sea and loves links courses, the answer is simple. LINKS.

Unless the links is a bit rubbish and you also live near a great parkland.....

 

[OldWindy]

At the risk of ticking a few folk off on here, links golf is the better test and IMHO will make you a better player overall. There, said it.

 

[RGuk]

At the risk of ticking a few folk off on here, links golf is the better test and IMHO will make you a better player overall. There, said it.

As much as it pains me....I have to agree. Without imagination and the skill to pull things off, you can't play well around links courses. Not so much the long game (although it's important) but the short game....reading putts, using the contours etc. all so damn INVOGORATING to your enthusiasm.

I sometimes play against a guy who's home course is Formby.
He plays off 12 also. He's a GREAT player and puts my safe and steady style to shame. OK, he gets in trouble, but he's beaten me without hitting a green......respect.

Sadly, it reveals a colossal glitch in the handicap/SSS system.......I've never beaten him EVER. The best I've done is to play to 9 and we tied a matchplay and decided to have a beer rather than play extra holes.

Where did this happen.....two 80s?
.
.
.
.
.
Aberdovey!!!

I sense a retirement plan hatching......

 

[bunkered]

real, what do you mean by it reveals a colossal glitch in the handicap system

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have to say parkland. Not because I don't enjoy the challenge of a genuine links course and the need to manufacture shots to combat the elements and terrain, but because week in week out my game is simply not good enough. I've struggled enough this year on my own track in benign conditions. I think the same form over a links track would have had me signed off from here and the clubs sold or in the shed.

 

[RGuk]

real, what do you mean by it reveals a colossal glitch in the handicap system

"Sadly, it reveals a colossal glitch in the handicap/SSS system.......I've never beaten him EVER"

Basically, if you let him loose on a parkland course, he'll play to single figures every time. Around his home course he plays to about 14 or 15 with an extraordinarily high SSS off the back tees. It's a very difficult course and pars are hard to come by......that's why it's hosting the English Amateur next year.

No matter what you do with the scratch.......a short parkland is ludicrously easier for him compared to home.

 

[USER1999]

Given the choice this is a hard choice. I have not played much links (soon to be remedied) but have the following view.

If there is a local choice, it is likely to be biased one way or tother. If the links is good, it is likely that the nearest parkland is not in the same class. If the nearest is a good parkland (or heathland), the nearest links will be miles away, or rubbish.

Therefore the choice will be simple. If there is a good links nearby, it is links type country, so buy a good set of waterproofs and a tight fitting hat, and go enjoy.

 

[OldWindy]

No matter what you do with the scratch.......a short parkland is ludicrously easier for him compared to home.

Is this another argument for the slope system...?

 

[Herbie]

It depends what makes you happy and what psychological benefit you get from one or the other as a regular or member.

Personally I dont mind what I play,golf is golf. Lincs courses can be very difficult but some can become easier when the conditions are calm.

Inland courses can be very varied in design and difficulty and can pose real problems for the new player or the less experienced. The conditions can be difficult on lincs courses but tend to have less danger to the wayward as the weather can be the big pain enough, woodland courses can be a real pain to those who have wayward shots.

If you join a club you have a base for cheap regular play,if its a decent course the cheaper membership the better you can always visit others.

 

[Cernunnos]

I like Links & Parkland & woodland & heathland & Clifftop or any other type of course you might care to mention. However I've always had a soft spot for links courses & coastal courses in general full stop.

I think the main reason is, the subtle way most of the best links courses lend themselves well to hiding danger & suprising you at every brow & ridge, or tuft of marraam if you don't think your way round like a chess playing genious.

Now don't get me wrong I've played some parkland courses that jump up & bite you in the bum just as often as links courses & where you need to think your way around almost as cunningly, in a vain attempt to get inside the designers head. But with links courses you are also playing against the big guy upstairs, as he (or she) & the golfing gods in general have laid out the linksland well before Braid & co' got anywhere near these stretches of land & essentially discovered them, coaxing them out of the dunes, marram & goarse.

I was born by the sea & I see links & heathland golf as the purest form of the sport where big yellow JCB's have never ventured or needed to. Where the likes of Old & Young Tom & Co'showed us the way, where Kings & Princes from as far back as the middle ages both North & south of that Little wall Haddrian threw up without the need of McAlpines Fuserliers to row accross the pond.

I've so far only found one links course I don't like & it was not the fault of the grand Master himself James Braid, as at Sandilands he had bugger all to work with, on the other hand I've played plenty of Parkland courses that are more than a little dubious & have numerous holes that make you wonder why a designer even bothered.

Today I played a great Parkland course along the side of Uttoxeter Race course & I've rarely played a Parkland course with quite so many marker posts or lies that are so far from level it begger belief, & that's before I start talking about ravines & other odd hazards. But even this course has its faults. Some ponds places without rhyme nor reason & the shortest no nothing Parr 3 you could care to imagine. It was almost as if the designer thought.. "Hell I've only put in 17 holes, what do I do, where can I put another" & then shoehorned in this afterthought of a hole..... Still its a great & frustrating course & even with 23 points in the works society day I still managed a 5th place.

Links or Parkland its a personal choice & each course is different. So there is no simple answer.

But as an addendum, when someone asks me to describe a links course, you really can't as there are so many different types, with so many differnt hazards & ground conditions, grasses & plant-life. Some are flat, some rolling. Some with goarse & heather intermingled with the marram, others, almost featureless appart for the addition of pot bunkers & a sea view. Then ther are those with burns, or streams, depending upon which side of the wall you happen to be standing on at the time. Maybe thats why I love links so much, as you really don't know what you are going to get & that's the magic.

 

[CP1]

Thanks for all your comment. I seems links is the way with visiting others in the area, although my game needs vast improvement it seems that even if my game is poor then maybe links is the place to learn to then bring the rest of my game together. There is only one links course in my area. Newbiggin by the sea in northumberland we do have plenty of parkland etc around which are nice to play to, but the price is also right for the links course. I have also hear its ok to play, I Just hope my wayward driving improves. cheers chris

 

[thecraw]

I too have to go along with links. I love the way that links golf rewards your imagination, the true roll of the greens, the natural swells, humps bumps and hollows of the fairways and greens. The crisp fealing of ball and turf, the smells and vistas. Everything about links for me is superior in just about every area to that of an inland course.

And best of all I love walking off after a round in winter and not having to wash your shoes and change your trousers which have mud up past your ankles. I also enjoy putting on "big" greens all year round. I like many other wish that I stayed near to a great links layout!