Parkland Courses

Golf originated on the windswept linksland of Scotland, and the golf courses of Ireland that we're learning about in Irish Greens are links courses. So it would be easy to give you the wrong impression that most golf course are links courses. In fact, the great majority are parkland courses, even in Ireland. As golf became more popular, courses were built in inland locations where trees and other lush vegetation occurs and grows very naturally.

The first major course construction boom happened (in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States) during the latter part of the 19th century and the first 20 or 30 years of the 20th. It is interesting to see the type of land chosen for many of these early courses and the character of the courses built. Even if the course sites were far inland, very often golf course architects would choose treeless plots of land or semi-treeless pasture land from which they would remove all or most of the trees. These early designers were applying the links design style to the courses they designed and built. However, it became obvious very soon that trees could have a natural place within course architecture, and the parkland style of course was born.

Parkland courses can vary in the quantity of trees on them. Some have been cut out of forested land, so that practically every fairway is densely tree-lined. Or trees may have slowly come to occupy the grounds of a golf course, whether naturally or through organized and planned plantings.

Another important feature seen on parkland courses, that distinguishes them from links courses, is the use of trees as strategic elements of play. A large tree or group of trees may force the golfer to chose a certain route toward the hole, or block the path to the green after a mis-hit. The lone tree or cluster of trees permitted golf course architects to create more bend to fairways. Most parkland courses have holes called dog-legs, that bend left or right into the green at the point where a good tee-shot should land. Usually the corners of doglegs are guarded by trees and sand bunkers. On links courses the only way these blind shots can be created is by using elevation changes or by fashioning golf holes through intervening hillocks or dunes. The strategic element of hazard created by trees is strong on parkland courses.

Some golf purists (those who think that the original links style courses offer the truest form of the game) believe that a major problem with parkland courses is too many trees. In particular, they don't like to see trees closely bordering fairways or, (and it's not really that unusual) in the middle of fairways. One thing is for certain. When we consider all the many great parkland golf courses in the world where trees add variety, challenge, and beauty to the design, there should be a place for them on a golf course, especially when climate and geography lends itself to their presence. This is true too when you consider that in most places where golf is played, climates are much hotter than in Scotland and Ireland. Trees add cooling relief in these areas.

Here is a photo of the 6th hole at our Ohio State University Scarlet Course. The Scarlet course is a parkland course. You will notice how differently it looks from the Irish links courses we're studying. This photo is from about 160 yards directly in front of the green, seen in the distance. Notice how the trees on the right frame and border the fairway and add to the character and beauty of the scene. The cluster of spruce and deciduous trees up around the green to the left add the element of hazard to shots approaching the green. Members of the OSU Alumni Association can play the the Scarlet course. Phone the proshop at 614-459-4659 for more information.