The Missing Links: May 2023

Friday, 5 May 2023

Dundonald Links, Irvine, Scotland

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.

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.