The Main Types Of Golf Courses: Free Tutorial

It is generally accepted that the origins of golf was on land that wasn’t of any great use for agriculture. That was coastal land between the sea and land that was essentially earth, not sand. Even today many regard ‘links golf’ as the purest form of the game and the oldest of the 4 ‘majors’ in golf, the Open, is played exclusively on such courses. As the game developed, so did the quality of golf architects and designers who saw potential of creating courses on heathland, within wooded areas. Ultimately as the investment was justified tracts of land where earthmovers and water features could fashion courses were bought and developed.

In popular regions like the Algarve in Southern Portugal there is a genuine mixture of golf courses. The first developments began half a century ago. They took advantage of the natural environment and the climate which allows golf in good conditions right around the year.

Variety

Within the area there is great variety, and links holes are included:

• Links. While this may be not quite the natural creations of the UK, the sea shore has been used to great effect in the Algarve, some courses being a combination of tree-lined fairways and holes which hug the coast and great natural environments like Ria Formosa; try San Lorenzo which has become increasingly highly rated since its opening in the late 80s.


• Parkland. Which this is a generic name, in the Algarve the great inland courses don’t really look anything like parks. Olive and pine forests have been used to great effect to create a challenge where unnatural hazards are hardly required.


• Resort. There are developments that combine quality accommodation with a golf course. The courses are often created from fairly bland tracts of land with contours artificially created and manmade lakes adding to the difficulty of the courses.

Regional Developments

Terrain used to dictate whether a golf course was a suitable development. With the advent of regular and cheap air travel, regions that have become popular for golf have become regions where developers have looked for opportunities. Golf has been the beneficiary and the Algarve which has just over half a century of golf history now has plenty of choice allowing players to experience the different experiences to be gained from links, parkland as well as ‘resort’ courses. It is worth trying each of them.