HOW TO PLAY A LINKS COURSE
L
inks golf courses lie on often remote stretches of land close to the sea. Playing a links is an exhilarating but demanding experience. You’re exposed to extreme weather conditions and usually play in winds far stronger than you ever experience inland. From a distance such a course looks flat and quite featureless. But once you set foot on a links you discover that the ground is a mass of humps and hollows - many of the tee shots you face are semi-blind. Hard, fast running fairways can cause the occasional unpredictable bounce. Your ball may shoot forward on the first bounde, while the same shot pitching into a hump stops quickly. If you’re very unfortunate a ball flying straight down the middle of the fairway kicks into the rough. The short grass and closely mown fairways on a links course can remove some of the fear from your mid-range approach shots to the green. A crisply struck iron shot generates a great deal of backspin because very little grass comes between the clubface and the ball at impact. WATCH THE WIND Strong wind is an important feature of links golf, so make sure you use it to your advantage whenever possible. Try to forget the distance you usually hit the ball - wind drastically alters your nomal club selection. Into the wind demands a precise strike. Always take plenty of club and swinger shorter than normal. A three-quarter shot helps you hit the ball lower to give you more control in the wind. Remember that playing into the wind exaggerates the spin off links turf and you can stop the ball even on firm greens. Wind behind should encourage you to hit the ball higher to gain maximum distance on the shot. With luck you can reduce long par 5s to a comfortable 4 strokes and look for birdies on par 4s. Downwind it’s difficult to put enough backspin on the ball to pitch and stop it neatly on the green. Take less club, swing smoothly and let the wind carry the ball towards the target. Aim to pitch the ball well short of the green and expect plenty of run on the shot. THE BACK NINE OF ROCKLAND COUNTY ♦ ADVERTISING TO MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD ♦ 26
