The Missing Links: November 2017

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Gailes Links, Irvine, Scotland

www.gaileslinks.co.uk

White tees SSS 72, par 71, 6535 yards

Blue tees SSS 68, par 71, 5553 yards

Not to be confused with Western Gailes, its neighbour to the south, Gailes Links lies south of the town of Irvine close to the estuary of the River Clyde. It is run by the Glasgow Golf Club which is the 9th oldest club in the world, being inaugurated in 1787. It remains an all male club, so the course is not rated for ladies.

The Gailes links first opened for golf in 1892 when the rising popularity of golf resulted in overcrowded courses in Glasgow and the club moved out to the Gailes linksland. Members travelled by train from Glasgow to Irvine and then walked two miles to the course before a new station was built to serve the course. The original layout was redesigned by Willie Park in 1911. His design remains today with the exception of lengthening of the course from the championship tees to 6903 yards.

The original Ballochmyle red sandstone clubhouse was opened

in 1894 and is still in use today

Gailes Links is a traditional Scottish links course with heather and gorse lined fairways. It is fairly flat and there are no sea views although the island of Arran can be seen on the horizon. We played it with Lynn and David Lawson (and Maisie our cairn terrier) on a dull breezy day. The fairways were rather soft for a true links course perhaps because of recent heavy rain. The greens were unusually slow but had challenging and subtle slopes. The prevailing wind is westerly and therefore across for most of the holes.

The 5th green nestles in a dell

The course starts with four par 4 holes which are traditional links holes but not particularly memorable. The 5th is a challenging par 5 with excellent bunkering and a green nestled in a hollow. This is followed by the only par three of the first nine whose green is well guarded by mounds and pot bunkers. Two par 4s follow both with elevated greens sloping from front to back before the course turns for home. The second nine has six par 4s which are a good mix of lengths. The only par 5 on this nine is the 14th where heather, gorse and the Glasgow to Stranraer railway line await a sliced drive. The green is approached over a large ridge with bunkers at either side and is guarded by pot bunkers to the right and left. The best and most memorable holes in this nine are the two par 3s. The 12th is a long carry over gorse to a steep plateau green and the 15th, although shorter, has two well placed bunkers to the right and a deep swale to the left.

The par 3 12th with its plateau green

Worth playing? Yes - it is a fair test of golf though overshadowed by its more famous neighbours Royal Troon and Turnberry.

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.