playing links courses

garyinderry

garyinderry

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... so i played a links course today. it was my second time there and had a bit of an up and down day to say the least. i was moving along nicely for the first 6 holes then we turned around and the wind was blowing left to right. blanked the next 3 holes and took me a while to recover. only scored 27 points. alot of wasted shots.

you always hear that you should land the ball short or play bump and runs at links courses but i play them that infrequently that its hard to change your style of play. countless times i flew the ball to the pin only to see it bounce then run off out the back of the green. tooke me 12 holes or so make myself adjust my game to this.

i also like to take biggish divots when playing parkland courses. this wasnt really possible on the links? any time i did this it caused me to pull the ball left. does anyone else find this. again it took me quite a few holes to catch on to this. when i picked the ball cleanly it was much better.

the greens were quick but didnt seem to take the breaks very well. left scratching my head a few times.

i really enjoyed the challenge. it is a different type of golf. i watched a few of the locals play after and they were judging the roll to perfection.
 
Where did you play Gary? I am playing royal portrush in a couple weeks in an Ulster cup match, love links golf, because I play inland it us a great change and get to use my imagination more.
 
it was lisfannon. starting to get the layout in my head now. theres still a few times im unsure if theres bunkers or if theres more room than you think or not. i even blanked the wee tiny par three as i couldnt decide if i wanted to hit my 56, 52 or just throw it onto the green :rofl:. was looking forward to it and all. ended up hitting it fat into the shuck. as you do LOL

there no was food on the go after as they are inbetween catering staff so we went to the firebox grill around the corner. smashing grub!
 
chris661 said:
If you want another game give me a shout I am sure I could even rope in Smange ;)
Click to expand...

No need for a rope to get me up to your place mate, great course that I love playing and just name the day and I'm there.

Gary, you just have to get up to Portsalon, ten times the course that Lisfannon is.
 
so i hear. the other links courses ive played are castlerock, rossapenna and one of the ballyliffen courses. i was rubbish at them all. still learning the link game.
 
Links is a totally different game to parkland golf.
Im the same as you,i try and take my usual game to my dads course in Ilfracombe.
Yesterday i finally beat him by one point,purely because there was no wind.
Any wind and 99% of shots will have to be low punch shots.
Watching good golfers use the contours to their advantage is quite impressive.
However take them to a course with trees and they struggle.
 
I have limited experience of links golf but as someone who plays a parkland layout I agree it is a different game. Can't just fly the ball to the green and reading the contours is key. Then of course there is the wind. Played Hunstanton a few years back. Went out in 36 in flat calm :cool:. Came back in 45 when the breeze got up. :confused:
 
Aye - links are so different from parkland
gotta keep the ball low, run it in to the green, no fancy high shots!
love links golf! skanky shots rule! ;)
 
Chris1980 said:
Cheers for starting thread gary as its given me some great tips as im playing the valley course in portrush next week and like you aint played enough links golf.
Click to expand...

another thing id do if playing again today wod be to hit nice smooth controlled drives. make sure you at least have a second shot. id was when i tried busting my drives that got me in most trouble yesterday!

oh and if you can get the putter on it,putt! :)
 
Enjoy the Links soo much. Jen (HID) and myself just taken advantage of 3rd (eh hem) Sun Holiday (it's like buying pornography just to get the vouchers), caravaning in Northumberland. Can't go wrong at 30 odd quid for a few nights away by the sea. This time around we played Eyemouth and Goswick Links. First time I'd played either, but Goswick was superb, lovely course. Previous jollys took us to Saunton, Royal North Devon, and up Ayrshire way. As Coventry's about as far away from any coasts in the UK, it's been handy having these discounted holidays, coupled with twighlight rates/2fore1's etc. Reckon my games suited to Links too as struggle for years to get any loft on my shots he he.
 
I've only ever played links once... and I hated it. I hit everything high due to spin. Into the wind my driver goes so high its mental. All my shots start low and rise, and thats how I know if I'm hitting the ball well. But my day at a links course I just couldnt hit any club how I like, even 'my' punch shots where rising.
Links is not for me.
 
Links golf is a different game. I play a lot of links courses (that does not mean I am any good at them!) and struggle in the wind as i have a lot of spin and most of my shots just balloon into the wind.

However I have seen a fourball with the combined age of 300 and combined handicap of 30 get it round in high winds and not one decent strike the whole round! Most of the drives did not get above 15 feet and skidded off the grass with 50 yds of role and 60 yd putts! Thats not really golf for me!

But I do love links golf, nothing like being by the seaside! In the summer I club to the front of the green and into the wind i play the ball off my right foot!
 
pokerjoke said:
Links is a totally different game to parkland golf.
Im the same as you,i try and take my usual game to my dads course in Ilfracombe.
Yesterday i finally beat him by one point,purely because there was no wind.
Any wind and 99% of shots will have to be low punch shots.
Watching good golfers use the contours to their advantage is quite impressive.
However take them to a course with trees and they struggle.
Click to expand...

Im not sure about your last comment there, when you play links in the winter they can be as soft as parkland courses so a lot of links golfers actually play flop and lob shots very well... iv played parkland all my life until i started playing again after fives years off, i joined what traditionally has been the best and hardest course in my area and have subsequently found that my game is now at a higher level than ever before, this i put down to learning all the shots you need to play the game and not just smack it as high and as far as you can off the tee and then use the highest lofted club you can to get it to the green. In my opinion after playing both links and parkland i think you need greater skill to play links golf and in my opinion links golfers maybe have more of an all round game than parkland golfers..... remember this is my opinion and not a criticism so dont go going nuts on me lol
 
I play with a guy who's off scratch and hits the ball high, he has no problem with it around windy links, helps if you hit it 300 yards though.

Take more club is the simple answer and swing easy.

Playing links does give you more shot options than parkland. i find i can take my game anywhere and still get around, though not if it comes off the hosel!! :(
 
i think playing links golf would eventually frustrate me as you could play a perfectly judged approach and it can take the craziest bounce and end up nowhere near the flag. it definitly more art, less science. i have the utmost respect for any golfer with a low-ish handicap that plays normally on links.
 
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