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Toms Tales |
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Machrihanish “best first hole in golf” |
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” Cead Mile Failte” ( One Hundred Thousand Welcomes) |
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If you have scrolled through this website lately, you have perhaps run across the listings of “links” style golf courses found in Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland . For years I have heard it stated that less than one per cent of all golf courses in the world were true “links” style courses. A companion statement was always that the number of such courses in the world was only around 150. I routinely searched the net and other publications to find a listing of these courses. I searched in vain. While there are literally dozens of internet sites purporting to give a complete listing of all golf courses in the countries where these type courses are found, there was no delineated list of just “links” style courses. When I began the search, I quickly discovered that I had to first define just what constituted a true “links” course. What I found was confusing. Sometimes a course would be listed as a seaside course, and yet not be referred to as a “links” course. Finally, I ran across an explanation that confirmed what I had previously surmised.. “Linksland” , a source stated, is simply that area of land that links the sea to the mainland. This area, constantly buffeted by storms over the ages, is generally constituted of intermittent sand hills, or dunes, that have been deposited by the elements over the ages and the land that lies adjacent and further inland known as the “machair”. The size of these hills can be minimal as found at Carnoustie or St Andrews, or more dramatic as found at Kingsbarns in Scotland or Ballyliffin in Ireland or Portstewart in Northern Ireland. These sand deposits seem to most clearly delineate a course as a “links” course. A closer study of such topological formations reveals a rather fragile ecological environment in such coastal sites. Nature has provided the tough Marram grass which serves to stabilize the constantly shifting sands. Also present can be plants with names like Curled Dock , Lady’s Bedstraw, and Sea Sandwort. Further inland is found the Daisy and White Clover. The constant building and breaking down of the sand deposits by countless years of onshore winds have created the area further inland known as the “machair”. Over time the mixing of the calcium rich sands with the acidic peat (found in an adjacent wetter area known as the “moor” ) has produced an area known as the “blackland”, a fertile belt separating the machair from the “moor”. A fragile balance of fertilization by the dung of grazing animals and seaweed tilled into the soil has kept this thin “at risk” soil fertile for local “crofters” (farmers). It is in the “machair” and in the dunes that links courses are constructed. No longer must I wonder where the golf courses of Machrie and Machrihanish derived their names. Until next time, keep it out of the “marram” grass.
The Secretary (Information found in an article on “Coasts and Machair Land” found at www.cne-siar.gov.uk/factfile/environment/coasts.htm )
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