Playing a links for the first time: wind, bump-and-run and club selection
Firm ground, fifty yards of run and a wind that decides everything: how to play your first links without leaving ten shots out there.
A links does not play like a parkland course. The ground is firm, the ball runs fifty yards after it lands, the wind decides everything, and the high ball you have spent years perfecting becomes your worst enemy. Here is how to play your first one without leaving ten shots on the course.
What actually changes
A links is built on sandy soil near the sea. That soil drains, which means the ground is firm most of the year, which means the ball behaves like a bowls ball rather than a dart. Your carry distance matters less than your total distance, and your total distance changes with every gust.
The second change is the ground itself. Fairways run into greens rather than stopping at them, so the ground game is not a novelty, it is the correct shot. Learning that on the first tee is expensive. Learning it on the practice ground the evening before is free.
The shot to learn before you go
The bump-and-run: a low, running approach played with a 7- or 8-iron from around the green, ball back, hands ahead, minimal wrist. It lands short and runs to the flag. On a links it is the percentage shot from anywhere inside forty yards where the ground is firm.
Practise it until you can control the first bounce. Most amateurs can hit it after twenty minutes; most amateurs never try because it looks unglamorous.
Playing with the wind, not against it
Into the wind, take more club and swing easier. That is not a cliché: a harder swing adds spin, spin makes the ball climb, and a climbing ball into wind falls short and left or right of where you aimed. Downwind, the ball flies further but stops less, so aim to land it short of the target.
Crosswind is the one that ruins scorecards. Aim into it rather than trying to hold a shot against it, and accept that the ball will finish somewhere in a twenty-yard window rather than at the flag.
Links bunkers
Revetted bunkers with stacked turf faces are hazards in the original sense. If the face is between you and the hole, play out sideways or backwards without hesitation. One shot lost is a bogey. Three shots trying to be a hero is an eight, and it will still be an eight next time.
Practical preparation
Waterproofs that let you swing, a spare glove, and shoes with grip: the weather changes in twenty minutes and wet grips end rounds. Take more balls than you think, because gorse eats them. And check the forecast for wind direction rather than rain, because wind is what will actually change your club selection.
The right frame of mind
A links will produce two or three outcomes per round that feel unjust: a good drive kicking into a pot bunker, a decent approach running twenty yards past. That is the design, not misfortune. The player who argues with it plays worse over the next three holes than the player who shrugs.
Where to play a first links
Choose an accessible links rather than the most prestigious one. You will play more relaxed golf and keep the famous name for a time when you know what to do with it. East Lothian, the Fife coast beyond St Andrews, the Welsh coast at Aberdovey and Nefyn, and the Lancashire coast all offer this in abundance.
- St Andrews Links: seven courses, six of them bookable normally, including the shorter Strathtyrum and the nine-hole Balgove.
- Scottish Golf and Wales Golf for club directories and visitor conditions.
- iGolf if you need an official Handicap Index, which many links ask visitors to show.
One last piece of preparation: play the first links round without counting. Note the wind, note how far the ball ran, and keep the card for the second round.
