Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England

 https://www.westonsupermaregolfclub.com/

Black tees par 70, slope 123, 6169 yards
Green tees (ladies) par 72, slope 115, 5543 yards

Lying on the Bristol Channel, golf was first played on Weston-super-Mare in 1892 after a nine hole course was designed by Tom Dunn, a Scottish professional golfer and golf architect.  At the club's inception a proposal to allow ladies to play over the men's course was heavily defeated and a separate ladies' course was also laid out.   Only four years later another nine holes were added.  In 1922 the course was modernised under the direction of Dr Alister McKenzie who is probably best known as the architect of Augusta National.

Weston-super-Mare is in a good position for a true links course but lacks enough attributes to be described as such.  It lies on flat ground on which we could see no evidence of sandy soil, lacks hard and fast running fairways, has no dunes and quite a few trees.  After a friendly welcome, we played on a sunny, windy day in November when you would not expect almost all the bunkers to be flooded and sodden ground on the fairways, even allowing for recent heavy rain, but that is what we found.  The greens were in reasonable condition but the fairways were poor. 

The 4th hole has a wall across the fairway. 
 Scrub blocks views of the sea

Heading in a south west direction, the first four holes, three par 4s and a par 3, run along the beach but it and the sea are obscured from view by a high barrier of scrub.  The most memorable of these is the fourth which has a dry stone wall across the fairway.  The fifth and sixth holes are two par 4s separated from the rest of the course by a road and are the only holes with a view of the Bristol Channel.  The seventh is a par 3 named 'Four Eyes' after the bunkers which guard the green.  The next memorable hole is the fifteenth because of its name - 'Road Hole'.  We assumed this was because of the positioning of the greenside bunker likening the hole to the famous seventeenth at St Andrews Old Course.  A nondescript flat short hole follows and then a par 5 dogleg left to right which tempts the player to take a shortcut over an area of out of bounds. 

 

The 14th green is overlooked by 
the Old Church of St Nicholas  

Worth playing?  Not if you want a true links experience.

Cabot Links, Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada

 https://cabotcapebreton.com/golf/cabot-links

Men's black 6860 yards, par 70, slope 132

Ladies' orange, 4942 yards, slope 116

Lying between the town of Inverness on Cape Breton and the Gulf of St Lawrence is Cabot Links, the only Canadian true links course.  The course was first opened as a ten hole course in 2011 but soon became an 18 hole course, designed by Canadian golf designer Rod Whitman.  The course was the brainchild of Ben Cowan-Dewar assisted financially by Mike Keiser who developed Bandon Dunes in Oregon.  Cabot have also recently purchased Castle Stuart, fittingly in Inverness, Scotland.

We played Cabot Links on a day of high winds and squally showers and were accompanied by Marc and Beth Swiontkowski who braved the elements with us.  This is a stunning location in proper linksland with most of the holes overlooking or right beside the ocean.  The fairways were crumpled, the greens sufficiently sloping and the weather was certainly the course's defence!  Five par 3s and three par 5s gives the course a par of 70.  In general it runs north - south and with the prevailing wind being westerly there is usually a cross wind, like the Old Course in St Andrews.

The sixth hole has the Inverness
 harbour as a backdrop

The par 3 7th plays toward the ocean

The first hole is a straight par 5 with a wide fairway which eases the player into the round.  A long par 3 follows which has a green with a large swale running across the middle.  An accurate shot is required if the pin is on the back level.  Two par 4s follow, the third being a short hole which is driveable by the longest players in good conditions.  The fourth is a long uphill, well bunkered hole with a green which is narrowest from front to back with swales awaiting a clumsy shot.  The fifth is a par 3 from an elevated tee.  One of the most memorable holes is the par 4 sixth which doglegs from right to left
around an inlet.  Behind the green is Inverness harbour where lobster and blue fin tuna are landed. 

The infinity green at
the par 3 14th

There is a large carry over native grass from the eighth tee with a further two strategic shots required to reach the green which is shared with the thirteenth.  The 11th is a long par five which plays from and elevated tee and then climbs a steep hill with  pot bunker in the middle.  The choice is to take the longer but safer approach to the left or an approach to the green across a ravine to the right.  There are panoramic views of the course from the elevated green.  The 14th is a short par three with an infinity green which we had to play into the teeth of the wind.  There is little margin for error and no future in being long!  The 15th and 16th holes are very picturesque running along the magnificent beach.  The course finishes with a par three and then a par 4 which ends in front of the clubhouse windows. 

The view from behind the 15th tee

Worth playing?  Definitely.  An excellent course, lovely accommodation on site and a beautiful area.

Highland Links, Truro, Massachusetts, USA

 https://www.highlandlinkscapecod.com/

Men's blue/white par 70, slope 114, 5349 yds                            

Ladies red/gold par 72, slope 117, 4587 yds

Our last true links course in the United States is the nine hole Highland Links which lies on the narrow strip of the northerly peninsula of Cape Cod overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It was constructed in 1892 as part of a resort operated by a local family, initially with sand greens.  When the greens were converted to grass Francis Ouimet, the 1913 US Open champion, played an exhibition match here.  The course was redesigned in 1913 and refurbished in 1955.  It has been owned by the Cape Cod National Seashore since the 1960s.

Looking back down
the second hole

The Highland Light dominates
the fourth green

We played Highland Links with Marc and Beth Swiontkowski on a sunny day with a light breeze.   We were disappointed by the condition of the course - the fairways were soft and hairy, the greens were bumpy and slow and the course was generally in poor condition..  It did not resemble a true links course which should have hard and fast running fairways and greens.  The first hole is nondescript.  The second is a dogleg to the left with a steep downhill drive and then runs uphill to a flat green.  The third and fourth also have significant elevation changes with the fourth green dominated by the picturesqueHighland Light, which dates to 1797 and is the logo of the course.  The next two holes have lovely views of the ocean from a clifftop situation.  The last two holes are lower lying with the 8th in particular being more parkland in nature. 

The ninth is a par 3

Worth playing?  Perhaps for its history as the oldest links course in the USA but not for its condition.

Granville Links Golf Club, Granville, France

 https://www.golfdegranville.com

White tees: 5984m, par 72, slope 136                        

Red tees: 4793m, par 72, slope 126

On a warm sunny day with a light breeze we found our way to the only true links course in France.  Granville is just north of the town of Granville in the small village of Breville-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast with views to the Channel Islands on a clear day.  Golf was first proposed on the land in 1912 and a course opened in 1914 but was almost immediately taken over by the military as a training ground for the First World War.  It wasn't until 1921 that work started on a definitive design by Harry Colt who designed many notable courses including Muirfield.

The fifth green with the elevated
6th tee behind

The course is set on true links land between the village and the sea although there are limited views of the sea but this is mitigated by the beauty of the wildflowers and the butterflies which abound. Unfortunately the course was rather worn and is obviously heavily played but it has the typical crumpled fairways and sloping greens of a links course. The quality of the greens was disappointing and they were rather slow for a links course. There was an unusual distribution of holes with only one par 3 on the first nine and the lower handicap indices mainly on the back nine. 

The bunkers have revetted faces

The first and the ninth are par fives in opposite directions. The second is a tricky par 3 which is blind to the base of the pin with a sloping green and all the others on the first nine are reasonably short par 4s.  The only proper sea views are from the elevated mens' tee at the sixth hole - it is worth the climb!  The second nine starts with a weak par 3 which has a plateau green with ravines rather than swales around the whole circumference which we felt was more like crazy golf.  The 11th is a lovely par 5 called 'the crater' for the shape of the fairway which leads to an long and narrow elevated green guarded by three bunkers.  A flat par three and a par 4 follow and then the 14th and the 15th are across a road and more parkland than links in nature. Back across the road the sixteenth is another par 3 with more huge runoffs but at least, unlike the 10th, it had a backstop.  The course finishes with two attractive par 4s.

The elevated green of the 16th hole

The 18th hole with the clubhouse behind

Worth playing?  Yes, especially as it is the only true links in France but it is a pity it is not in better condition.

Dundonald Links, Irvine, Scotland

https://dundonaldlinks.com/

Men's medal tees 6725 yds, par 72, slope 138        

Front tees 5560 yds, par 72, slope 131

Dundonald Links lies on the Firth of Clyde on the south west coast of Scotland but is separated from the sea views by another true links course, Western Gailes.  It is part of the Ayrshire golf coast with, amongst others, Royal Troon and Prestwick close by.  There was a golf course here in the early twentieth century but it was commandeered for a military camp where the D-Day landings were rehearsed in the Second World War.  The land languished until  a course was partly built intended to be called Southern Gailes.  In 2003 ownership changed hands and golf architect Kyle Phillips was engaged to design the course which is now Dundonald Links. The course has hosted both the Ladies' and Mens' Scottish Opens.

The challenging par 3 6th hole

This is a proper modern links course with the added advantage of a modern clubhouse with views across the course and accommodation in lodges and rooms.  We stayed and played with Lynn and David Lawson on a lovely Ayrshire day with light winds.  The course is well designed with many holes in valleys with dunes screening them from view.  At times it felt like a private golf course. The fairways are wide with lots of strategically placed bunkers.  Shots to the upturned saucer greens have to be accurate to avoid the many swales and runoffs.  

The 11th hole.....
....and its ultimate pot bunker!

The course opens with two good par fours.  The third is a testing par five with a ditch running up most of the right side then crossing the fairway closer to the green.  The sixth is a challenging par 3 with a ditch running across the fairway and up the left side of the green and a large deep bunker protecting a pin position on the left of the green. There is no room for anything less than perfection! Heading back to the clubhouse the ninth has penal bunkers in ladies landing area and a ditch across the front of the green.  The eleventh is a testing par three with a plateau green and the ultimate pot bunker for those going long and left.  The 12th plays towards the sea although unfortunately the view is blocked by the railway line and Western Gailes.  With out of bounds and the railway line down the left and a ditch in front of the two-tier green all viewed from an elevated tee, the thirteenth is another strong par 4. We particularly liked the 16th which is a par 4 which plays into the prevailing wind.  There is out of bounds on the right and two well positioned fairway bunkers to be avoided with the drive.  The lovely par five finishing hole has no fewer than eleven bunkers and yet another ditch across the front of the green.

The 9th green is guarded by a penalty area

Worth playing?  Without doubt.  It is a classic modern links course.