Modern Masterpieces
Each of these five fabulous links is a 21st-century creation that mixes the very best of traditional golf with a more modern way of thinking and design.
Dumbarnie Links
The arrival of the pandemic in 2020 coincided with the opening of this remarkable new course in Fife. Following the upmarket pay and play business model in operation at nearby Kingsbarns and further up the Scottish coast at Castle Stuart, it’s a wonderfully informal and relaxed place to play with a course that is an extremely strong addition to the county’s immense golfing artillery. The brainchild of leading architect Clive Clark, it is a brilliant blend of the old and the new with risk and reward featuring very strongly all the way.
This is especially so at three of the shorter par 4s - 3, 11 and 17 - where depending on the wind direction and its speed, bigger hitters may well be tempted to get as close to the green as possible. There is also a very fine quartet of beautifully framed par 3s. The pair on the front nine offer distracting, elevated views over the firth, the 14th plays over a marshy no-man’s-land, and the 16th has a rollercoaster green with the backdrop of a sea of sand and then water in the distance. The one word everyone seems to use to describe Dumbarnie Links is ‘fun’, and even if your game is off, there are glorious views to compensate.
Machynys
Soon to celebrate its 20th birthday, this Next 100 links was built on a marshy plot of land by the estuary, next to the Llanelli Wetland Centre in South Wales. Beneficiary of a substantial budget, it was designed by Gary Nicklaus who said at the time, “The site for the course at Machynys presents the Nicklaus Design team with a balance of luxuries and challenges which enables us to create an exciting course with great variety. We hope to have a course that features something for everyone and, most of all, is a memorable golf experience that brings players back time and time again.”
The course lives up to its billing and is both challenging, especially from the back tees, and very enjoyable. Considering that this is a relatively flat site, there is surprising and welcome variety. Holes 10 to 13 perhaps have a more inland feel, and there is a good blend of links and more American-style design. Flirtations with water create frequent risk and reward, but there are always safer options and lines. Overall, Machynys is a well-maintained, large-scale, linksy, marshland course with a hint of parkland where the wildlife is a delightful bonus.
Dundonald Links
Already host of both the Scottish Open and the Ladies Scottish Open, this strategically strong modern links has matured well since opening in 2005. It is situated on a sandscape effectively bordering the excellent and well established courses at Western Gailes, Gailes Links and Kilmarnock Barassie. The land itself had once been a course, more than a century before, but as at so many other courses, this had fallen into disuse when it was taken over for military use in WWII.
The site was purchased by Loch Lomond Golf Club in 2003 in order to offer its members an alternative to their immaculate parkland course, particularly in the Winter. Kyle Phillips, architect of Kingsbarns and The Grove, was engaged to complete what has matured into a challenging links with a decidedly contemporary look and feel. At a great many such courses, the strength of the design is in the whole rather than in individual holes. Here, however, it is in both. There are plenty of memorable holes such as the testing par-3 6th where anything short or left may find the burn, and the par-4 13th which hugs the railway line and where there is another ditch waiting short of the bold, two-tiered green. Phillips has a reputation for his stylish bunkering, and this is a feature from start to finish.
The closing hole makes for a perfect climax not just to a round of golf, but also for any competition or tournament. Depending on the wind, some will hope to reach this sweeping par 5 in two. However, the same burn that earlier protected the short 6th, makes a reappearance as it sneaks in from the left, crosses the fairway and then clasps the right side of the green. An excellent risk and reward ending to a fine, modern, championship links. With its luxury lodges and hotel room accommodation, Dundonald Links is now a consummate golfing resort.
Rosapenna - St Patricks Links
This excellent newcomer in County Donegal is the youngest course in this feature, opening for play in 2021. It is one of three top-flight links at Rosapenna, which include a second modern masterpiece, the Sandy Hills Links which opened in 2003. Here, leading contemporary architect Tom Doak and his team were invited to convert a fledgling 36-hole design into something quite different, and they have certainly succeeded with the course already featuring in the Golf Monthly Top 100 as well as in various overseas rankings.
With so much space available, it has been created on a vast scale, sprawling its way through high dunes and packed with individual and hugely memorable holes. Many have beguiling green sites, and there are echoes of two other newer classics, Kingsbarns and the Castle Stuart course at Cabot Highlands. There is drama all the way from the rollercoaster opening hole, with the routing taking full advantage of the sometimes gentle and at other times towering dunes. You need to have your wits about you, especially around the flamboyant green complexes, and you will need to play both the traditional bump and run and the more lofted option at various times. With the onsite hotel and dining, Rosapenna is a genuine must play resort.
Trump International, Scotland
Current home of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, this thrilling and extremely visual links opened for play in 2012. It was designed by Martin Hawtree and is ranked at number 18 in the Golf Monthly UK&I Top 100. He has created a serious golfing test that is packed with drama and variety, running through some of the finest dunes on the Scottish coast. It can often be difficult to remember the individual holes and routing after playing a links for the first time. Not so here, as there are 18 distinct and varied holes which play in two loops of nine.
The first four holes run in a southerly direction parallel to the shore, though the dunes are so impressively high that you generally only glimpse the sea from the raised tees or when putting on the lovely par-3 3rd. You then play northwards to the 15th for all but 12 and 13, and this stretch will be super-tough if the wind is in your face, the compensation being a masterclass in golf course design and bunkering. The closing three climax with a brilliant par 5 played from another elevated tee. With a second course nearing completion which promises to be notably different but of an equally high calibre, Trump International, Scotland is a premium golf destination.
