Ayrshire's unheralded links gems

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There are few serious golfers around who don't hear the call of the links. If you haven't heard it yet, don't worry, you will soon enough. It's an insatiable yearning to get back to the roots of this 600 year-old game, to experience those courses of old, formed by Mother Nature and the elements with only minimal assistance from man.

These are the original courses, around which golf came to be, the tests they offer are unique and although architects the world over have tried to replicate them, true links courses, the real McCoy, only occur where over the centuries, the elements have come together in a perfect mix to create them. It is estimated there may be no more than 300 genuine links courses on the globe and the majority of those are to be found around the coastlines of Britain and Ireland. Even there they occur only occasionally, most often in small clusters where past and current conditions are perfect.

Royal Troon has garnered the fame, but it's only the beginning of Ayrshire's impressive list of links.

Prestwick St. Nicholas - a charmer filled with everything links golf is about.

Glasgow Gailes is the handiwork of British Open Champion, Willie Park and perhaps the best of his almost 200 course designs.

Irvine Bogside - a James Braid gem and a regular Open qualifying course.

Kilmarnock Barassie is another of Ayrshire's top flight links that stays under most visitor's radar.

Dundonald - a more recent links addition from the designer who brought us Kingsbarn in St. Andrews, Kyle Phillips.

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One of the richest examples of genuine linksland sits along the southwestern shores of Scotland in the county of Ayrshire, with the heaviest concentration of all focused in a short stretch of only 30 miles. Extending north from Turnberry to a couple of miles above of the town of Troon, this blessed coastline is home to no less than 15 pure links layouts.

Turnberry, Royal Troon and Prestwick, with their established reputations as venues for The British Open, take a lot of the limelight, closely followed by Western Gailes often viewed as Ayshire's hidden gem of a links, but what of the others? Real links courses are a rare breed and if you are staying in Troon, you will be surrounded by some of the finest -- miss even a small sampling of those located within 15 minutes of your hotel and you'll be missing a perhaps never to be repeated opportunity.

Prestwick St. Nicholas, not to be confused with the "other" Prestwick (the one that has hosted 24 Open championships) is a special treat, often overlooked by visitors -- If only they knew what a treasure was sitting under their very noses. This is a pure Scottish links course, laid out between the sea and a railway line, both of which come into play, depending on where the always fickle wind is blowing in from. Established in 1892, and boasting the great Old Tom Morris among its original members, Prestwick St. Nicholas is filled with golf history.

Quietly and unobtrusively, this unacknowledged course, encapsulates so much that is the essence of links golf. The deep, unforgiving pot bunkers are always strategically placed, the huge greens, consistently firm and slick are filled to overflowing with tricky slopes and undulations. There are spectacular views across the Firth of Clyde everywhere and that special links attribute of unpredictability makes every round special. The members no doubt appreciate that their course is not inundated with visitors -- take advantage of the fact and savor a true, undiscovered gem to the fullest.

Glasgow Gailes is one of two courses belonging to the Glasgow Golf Club, founded in 1787 and the 9th oldest golf club in the world -- their other course is a parkland layout, located 35 miles away, just outside the city of Glasgow. The club's pride and joy is their Ayrshire links gem that somehow manages to escape the attention of most visitors and for no logical region. Tucked in alongside Dundonald, Western Gailes and Kilmarnock Barassie, were they not so close to the courses of Troon this would be a noteworthy links cluster in its own right, the courses are so good.

Designed by Willie Park of Musselburgh, winner of two British Open Championships, the course first opened in 1892. A firm believer in simple, honest course design, this is considered perhaps Park's finest of the almost 200 courses he fashioned. Practically void of blind holes, the bane of 19th century course design, Glasgow Gailes boasts some of the most strategic bunkering to be found on any links, together with sharply contoured greens, which are always in immaculate condition.

Measuring a hefty 6,903 yards from the championship tees, most visitors will find the middle tees provide a more enjoyable round, but the ominous rough of thick heather and a profusion of gorse, remains a serious obstacle to be avoided at all costs. Glasgow Gailes is not only regularly used as a final qualifying course for The Open whenever it is held at Turnberry or Royal Troon, it also holds the reputation of being the most testing of all Open qualifiers.

Irvine Bogside is another centenarian, though much of the character of today's layout comes from the great James Braid, who placed his indelible mark here in 1926, producing a classic links of the first order. Notorious for its wildly undulating fairways and dense rough of thick heather, sticking to the prescribed path will save a lot of aggravation, so be accurate off the tees.

Irvine gets down to business right from the get-go, opening with a 418 yard par-4. After a carefully positioned tee-shot, the second is blind and to a miniscule green, well protected by formidable bunkers. The second hole is the only par-5 on the course, a demanding 474 yarder with a few surprises of its own. Welcome to Irvine Bogside, a crusty, old-fashioned links with little forgiveness for those lacking in golf skills and jam-packed with a never-ending array of stern and often tricky examinations. It comes as no surprise to learn this is another frequent Open qualifying course, when Turnberry or Royal Troon host. Irvine Bogside is a layout to be appreciated by the accomplished links golfer, but perhaps better avoided by the high handicappers.

Kilmarnock Barassie may have a few features that resemble an inland course, but don't let that put you off - it's another true links and top drawer quality, with more than enough challenge to push even scratch golfers to the extreme. Narrow fairways, large undulating greens, doglegs, gorse, heather and ominous bunkering, demand creativity together with a good all round links game and the ability to use every club in the bag effectively.

This is a links with real teeth that calls out to be played more than once and the more you play it, so your appreciation for this tough and unforgiving layout will grow and no one will appreciate Kilmarnock Barassie more than the real connoisseurs of Scottish links golf. Barassie is yet another final qualifier for The Open.

Dundonald, only opened in 2003, is the resurrection and extension of an original 9-hole links that had been sitting here for over a century. Forgotten and turned over to first military and then agricultural use, most had no memory of its early days as a golf course. California architect Kyle Phillips of Kingsbarns (St. Andrews) fame learned of its existence and undertook the re-build of what is fast becoming one of the top links layouts in Ayrshire. Now owned by the very exclusive, Loch Lomond Golf Club, play is currently available to a limited number of visitors each day, but who knows how long this will be. Grab the opportunity to play this beauty while it lasts and experience the joys of one of Scotland's most remarkable "new" links layout that seems to have been sitting here for at least a hundred years.

With the wealth of genuine links courses to be found in Ayrshire, it's well worth planning on an extra day or two here to take in at least a couple of those gems with less familiar names. It's likely to be a long time before you have so many links delights within a brief 15-minute drive.

For more ideas and suggestions on how to include the best Scottish links courses on your golf trip, click here.

©2008 David Brice / Golf International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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