The Missing Links: November 2015

Sunday, 1 November 2015

King's Links, Aberdeen, Scotland

http://www.sportaberdeen.co.uk/venues/kings-links-golf-course/

White tees par 71, SSS 69, 6292 yards
Red tee par 68, SSS 70, 5218 yards

The first hole is overlooked by Pittodrie stadium,
the home of Aberdeen Football Club

King's Links lies within the city of Aberdeen on the land between the town and the beach. It is thought that golf was first played in this area south of the current course in 1625. The Aberdeen Golf Club was responsible for laying out a course on this land in 1780, the first recorded instance of a golf course being laid out. In 1872 the course was extended to form 14 holes, incorporating some of the current site. One hole was added in 1873 and in 1876 three more were added to make an 18 hole course. It is now a public course run by the local authority.

King's Links looks like a true links course but doesn't play like one. The fairways are soft with frequent patches of casual water despite a dry autumn, possibly because part of the course lies below sea level and is prone to flooding. The greens were slow and holding with few contours. Despite a friendly welcome we were disappointed by the quality of the course which was very worn in places.

Crows bathing in the casual water on the 8th fairway

We played on a pleasant but windy Saturday when the course was very busy. There weren't many memorable holes although the 10th is a lovely par 3 to a plateau green. There were no sea views despite its proximity because a road on a raised causeway lies between the course and the sea. The finish was weak with two par threes and a short par 4.

Worth playing? No - not really a true links experience.

The Links Project

There are 246 true links golf courses in the world and this blog is a record of our attempt to play all of them. My husband Ron and I are keen golfers and I came up with the idea of this project after he gave me the book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell 'True Links' which lists them all.

The commonest question we are asked about our project is 'How do you define a true links course?' This will be debated by aficionados for long after we have (hopefully) completed our quest and there will never be a correct answer. The strict definition is from the British Golf Museum:

1. The course must be beside a river estuary

2. It must offer partial or occasional views of the sea

3. It must have few trees

4. It must have numerous bunkers

5. It must have nines that run out and back, the front heading to a far point and the back returning to the clubhouse

Peper and Campbell defined their list as follows:

Terrain - how close is the course to the sea? Do the fairways run fast and hard? Do the greens favour a run-on approach? How open is the site? How natural? Is there a freedom from trees? Is the invasion of gorse and brush controlled? How light is the environmental footprint on the land?

Turf - is there a sand base? What grasses are dominant on the fairways and greens? Is the rough managed ( creating biodiversity for flora and fauna)? How well does the course drain?

Weather - how exposed is the site to the elements? What are the typical wind conditions? Does the course play hard and fast all year round? Must temporary greens and tees be used in winter? Is the course susceptible to winter closure?

Peper and Campbell included courses which supplied the correct answers to most of these questions. But however defined, to me the poem by Sir John Betjeman encapsulates the feeling of links golf.