Why Every Golfer Should Play Links Golf at Least Once
- John Davis
- Aug 13
- 4 min read
Ask a golfer to name the world's greatest courses and you'll hear familiar names: St Andrews, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Muirfield. JD just had a couple of sensational games at Royal Dornoch and Struie, as well as 18-holes on the shores of the North Sea at Royal Aberdeen. While they're all exceptional in their own right, they share something even more important.
They're links courses.
For many golfers, playing true links golf is a bucket-list experience. It's golf in its purest form - shaped by nature rather than machinery, where the wind is your constant playing partner and every shot demands imagination as much as execution.
The good news? You don't need a passport, a 24 hour-flight and a big budget to experience it. Some of Australia's finest links golf is right here in Tasmania.
So, what exactly is links golf?
The word "links" comes from the Old English hlinc, meaning rising ground or ridge. It refers to the narrow strips of sandy land between farmland and the sea that couldn't be used for farming. Centuries ago, Scottish golfers began playing across this rugged coastal landscape, weaving holes between dunes, natural hollows and windswept grasses. There were no earthmovers, no ornamental lakes and very few trees. The courses simply followed the contours of the land.
That's still the essence of great links golf today. A true links course is built on sandy coastal terrain, with naturally free-draining soil, rolling dunes, firm fairways and the ever-present influence of the sea breeze. The course isn't imposed on the landscape - it belongs to it.
Links golf asks different questions
Many Australian golfers grow up playing parkland courses. The fairways are generally softer. Trees frame each hole. Water hazards often come into play. Success usually comes from carrying the ball through the air and stopping it quickly on the green.
Links golf flips that thinking on its head. The fairways are firm and fast. The ball runs. Greens are often open at the front, inviting you to play along the ground rather than through the air. Instead of avoiding the contours, you use them to your advantage.
Sometimes your best approach isn't a towering wedge - it might be a low seven-iron that lands 30 metres short of the green and gently releases towards the flag.
It feels unfamiliar at first. Then it becomes addictive.
Wind isn't the enemy
One of the biggest misconceptions about links golf is that it's all about battling the wind.
The truth is, it's about learning to work with it. On a links course, the breeze becomes another element of the game. A helping wind might tempt you to attack. A headwind asks for patience and precision. A crosswind rewards commitment and smart club selection.
If you've played golf in Scotland or Ireland, you'll know that changing conditions are simply part of the experience. Tasmania offers a remarkably similar challenge, particularly along its spectacular coastline.
No two rounds are ever quite the same. The course you played yesterday may ask completely different questions today.
Creativity beats power
Modern golf often celebrates distance whereas links golf celebrates imagination.
Can you shape the ball around a dune? Can you use a slope to feed your approach towards the hole? Can you keep the ball below the wind instead of trying to overpower it?
You'll quickly discover shots you rarely use elsewhere.
The bump-and-run.
The knock-down punch.
The three-quarter iron.
The chip that lands well short of the green before trundling towards the cup.
Some of the most satisfying shots in golf are played only a few metres above the ground.
Expect the unexpected
If you like predictability, links golf may test your patience.
A perfectly struck drive can take an unexpected bounce.
A ball that looks destined for trouble might catch a slope and roll into the middle of the fairway.
Golfers often talk about accepting "the rub of the green" - the lucky and unlucky bounces that are simply part of the game. On a links course, you'll experience plenty of both. Rather than fighting it, experienced links golfers embrace it. It's part of the charm.
Why golfers keep coming back
Ask someone who loves links golf why they return year after year, and they'll rarely mention their score. Instead, they'll talk about the experience.
Walking across towering dunes with the sound of the ocean in the background.
Watching the light change across the fairways.
Standing on the first tee knowing the course - and the weather - will be different from the last time they played. There's a sense that you're playing the game much as it was played hundreds of years ago. It's challenging, unpredictable and endlessly rewarding.
Tasmania: Australia's links golf capital
Few places outside the British Isles offer such an authentic links golf experience.
Barnbougle Dunes has earned a reputation as one of the world's great modern links courses, regularly appearing in international rankings and drawing golfers from around the globe. Next door, Lost Farm offers a completely different personality while embracing the same spectacular coastal landscape.
And Tasmania's links story continues to grow. Seven Mile Beach, just minutes from Hobart Airport, is already attracting attention for its bold design and exceptional setting, adding another exciting chapter to the state's golfing credentials. The second, North Course, is currently under construction, as is Arm End on the South Arm Peninsula a little further down the river.
Together, these courses have firmly established Tasmania as Australia's home of links golf.
You may never look at golf the same way again
There's a reason golfers make pilgrimages to Scotland and Ireland. Links golf strips the game back to its essentials. It asks you to think, adapt and create. It rewards patience over power and imagination over perfection.
You might shoot your best score.
You might not.
But chances are you'll walk off the 18th green smiling, already planning your next round.
Because once you've experienced true links golf, it's hard not to fall in love with it.
And that's exactly why every golfer should play it at least once.
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