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Question by J.J.: In golf, what is a “links player?”?
I’m watching the British Open and the announcer has referred to current leader Tom Watson as one of the “greatest links players” of all time. What does that mean? Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Heather V
A links golf course, sometimes referred to as a seaside links, is the oldest style of golf course, and was first developed in Scotland. The word comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes, and sometimes to open parkland. It also retains this more general meaning in the Scottish English dialect. It can be treated as singular even though it has an “s” at the end, and occurs in place names that precede the development of golf
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Heather is right. “Links” link the land with the sea. I’ve only ever played one and that was St Andrews. I never saw such bumpy fairways in my life. If even a straight hit hits a bump the wrong way you’re off the fairway into the gorse. Some of the bunkers were so deep that I looked around for an elevator. Some (double) greens were so big that I expected to see the Glasgow Rangers having a practice on them.
I don’t know what special skills would make a links player; but I suspect that expertise in up and down-hill lies would be one. The ability to scramble (e.g. pitch and run) would be another.
Because a links runs through sand dunes (that’s the definition) it tends to have both different geography and different ground conditions. A links is also more likely to be windy than an inland course
This requires the golfer to use different techniques from those that are normally used. For example you will not see many examples of players hitting the ball high into a green and expecting it to stop dead. Much more common is the ‘bump and run’. Pitching the ball short of the green and allowing it to roll up onto the green. A player will often also deliberately keep the ball low (under the wind).