THE LURE OF THE LINKS
By Mark Hood, North Shore News

When it comes to golf, the term links has become so ubiquitous as to be almost meaningless. Even more suspect, links-style has come to mean, in North America at least, almost anything a course developer wants it to mean.

Yet in the Art of Golf, penned by Scottish philosopher Sir Walter Simpson in 1887, he states "the grounds on which golf is played are called links, being the barren sandy soil from which the sea has retired in recent geological times. In their natural state links are covered with long, rank bent grass and gorse. Links are too barren for cultivation: but sheep, rabbits, geese and professionals pick up a precarious livelihood on them."

By this definition, few facilities can call themselves true links courses. In fact, some argue that there are only 150 links courses in the world.

It’s not that surprising when you consider the requirements: long, windswept barren duneland arcing around sandy tidal bays and home to seagrass, birds and small mammals.

They’re just not making property like that anymore.

So it comes as an absolute delight that we have a real honest-to-god links course beside the Boundary Bay Airport in Delta: no matter how you define it, King’s Links by the Sea is the real McCoy.

When you take a look at the topography, it’s ideal. Boundary Bay is the wide, shallow, southern limit of the Fraser River delta. The land is loam and salt marsh. When the tide recedes, sandbars stretch for a mile or more and the wind flies unhindered from any and all directions.

It’s perfect.

In the early 1990’s original developer Bob Ahoy looked at the grasslands adjacent to the Boundary Bay Airport and thought golf course. He developed it himself and purposely kept word of the course down to a murmur. A few had heard of it but thought it was private. Some had even played it, but for most recreational golfers, it was just a rumour.
A few friends and I travelled to Scotland in 1999 and were fortunate enough to play the Championship Course at Carnoustie just prior to The Open, as well both the Old and New Courses at St. Andrews. When I played King’s Links some years back, it was like being in Scotland again.

Today under the new ownership of the Newell family, King’s Links by the Sea is moving to the next level of excellence. Fairways have been sanded and re-seeded, drainage has been vastly improved, there’s a weekly divot-maintenance program in place and hitting surfaces are always in good shape. Bunkers have also been re-sanded and getting out can be almost as easy as getting in. Fairways have been widened a bit and a tee box or two added for some extra oomph. The goal is to improve the experience for club members, attract more recreational golfers and hopefully, one day, the Canadian Golf Tour.

In mid-August I booked a foursome to play the rejuvenated King’s Links course.

Three of us assembled on the North Shore: Larry Verigin of the North Shore News, Andrew Skuse of Biopacific Diagnostics, and yours truly. Our fourth, Mark Unruh of RBC financial, lived and Surrey and arranged to meet us at the course.

It was a sunny Friday and the forecast was for a scorching 34 degrees. As we made our way out in air-conditioned comfort, we talked about the course. Andrew had played it for the first time a few weeks previously, Larry last year, but it had been several years since I last had the opportunity.

The new ownership has made substantial investments in course conditions and Andrew filled us in. For him, the most impressive feature was the greens. They were incredibly challenging: undulating and slick as lightning. It took him several holes just to get the feel for them.
The entrance to the course is disarmingly low key. There’s no imposing boulevard, no rows of high end homes. There’s the driveway, the parking lot, the clubhouse and the course, with the course as the star of the show.

The clubhouse is small and cozy and staff are knowledgeable and welcoming. Members are friendly, and you can tell they’re justifiably proud of their facility.
It’s deceiving to scan the course from the parking lot. You may find yourself thinking ‘this is it?’

I remember when we pulled up to Carnoustie some years back. I looked at the course and thought ‘the British open is here?’ It looked so benign and pastoral. Surely the best in the world would tear it to shreds.

In 1999, the course had the last laugh as many of the cream of the crop missed the cut. Sergio Garcia was reduced to tears and there were grumblings that it was just too tough. Jean Van de Velde overplayed his hand and turned a sure win into an agonizing collapse.
That’s how it is with links golf. While the wide-open nature of the course might tempt some to throw caution out the window, be warned: King’s Links comes down to course management. Control your ball, and a good round is within reach. Let loose and the long wispy fescue will grab you and start the panic juices flowing early.

There are so many variables, with dryness and wind chief among them. That day at King’s Links, a steady breeze rose and fell, one minute threatening to turn into something stronger, the next fading to stillness.

When you’re in the clubhouse, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of the player’s guide. It gives yardage and, more importantly, hints about where land and what to avoid.
It’s a very walkable course, but the impending heat had us opting for power carts to conserve our energy and provide a little shade. There are few trees to shelter you from the sun.
After a few moments on the practice green, we loaded up and headed for the first tee.
At 6797 yards from the back tees, King’s Links gives you plenty to think about. The opening hole is a great introduction to the course. A 389-yard par-4, it’s a slight dogleg left and you’ve got to be careful: if the fairways are dry, your shot risks running off into the abundant fescue that lines each hole and then, good luck finding your ball.

Course conditions were excellent. We made it to the green without coming to grief and had our first taste of what lay ahead. The putting surfaces were fast and true.
Judging speed was the key and, having been forewarned by Andrew, we took it easy and escaped with a brace of bogies.

The second hole, a sweeping 562-yard par-5 dogleg left, winds around one of the five ponds on the course. You have a choice: play it safe and follow the fairway or try your luck over the water, making the green reachable in 2 if you stay dry. We opted for safety.
Some say that because of the water, it’s not a ‘true’ links course.
Nonsense.

Water is an essential element of links courses and some of the finest in the world are lined with burns, ponds and small lochs.

St. Andrew’s is defined by the course of Swilken Burn and on the Burnside course at Carnoustie, the 158 yard par-3 5th hole has a green surrounded by Barry Burn on 3 sides, and is compared by many to the daunting 17th hole at Sawgrass. Dooks Links on the shores of Dingle Bay in County Kerry, Southwest Ireland, was founded in 1889 and is dotted with burns and ponds.

On the 10th hole of the Medal course at Monifeith in Scotland, selected by the R&A as a qualifying course for the 2007 open at nearby Carnoustie, you tee off over a lake.
So let’s have no quibbles about water.

We were fortunate that afternoon that the wind was down on the front 9. This gave us a chance to get used to the course without distraction. Late July and early August had been sunny and the dry fairways added length and roll to tee shots that we don’t usually get in the damp conditions of local mountainside courses.

This was particularly challenging on the par-3s. Number 4, a 209-yarder, makes you think very carefully about your distance. It’s almost better to land a little short and run it up. Reach the back of the green on the fly, and you’ll be up to your knees in the fescue beyond.
Yet this is helpful on the par-5’s. Ranging from 511 to 562 yards from the championship tees, the roll you get from the fairway gives you a host of options.

By the time we reached the back nine, the breeze had gathered strength and was a real factor. Having become somewhat accustomed to the subtleties of links play, adjusting to the wind was a little easier than if it had been blowing hard from the start. Tee shots were either propelled to over-length or held aloft and smothered.

Case in point: I’m not a long hitter by any stretch of the imagination and usually drive the ball in the 220-230 yard range. On the 421-yard par-4 16th hole, my tee shot stopped some 20 yards past the 150 marker. Informal calculation puts that in the 290 yard range.
Fortunately, I avoided the ever-present fescue and was left with an easily manageable shot to the green.

That too, is part of links golf.

As we worked our way around the final 9 holes, mercifully the anticipated heat never materialised and while the day was warm, it wasn’t unbearable. We made allowance for the wind and finished off what was an immensely satisfying round.

Over a cold beer on the clubhouse deck afterwards, we looked back on our experience with great pleasure.

If you’ve never played links golf and always wanted to, you must visit King’s Links. It’s a unique facility and we are truly lucky to have it within an easy 35 minute drive of the North Shore.

Chamber’s Bay, near Tacoma, is the only other links course I know of within a day’s visit and opened recently to much fanfare. From what I hear, the greens at King’s Links are superior and there’s no border to cross.

I love this course. At $59 weekdays and $69 on weekends, it’s excellent value and you won’t find anything else like it in the Lower Mainland. The Newell family have done wonders for playability and I will definitely return. Hope to see you there.
See the Tee Time King’s Links online video: go to nsnews.com and click on the video in the new Tee Time section (link on the left margin index).