106 Golf World The Open Issue 2015

CO U RSE S

The 2015 US Open was

not short

of narratives, but the strongest werecentred on the course that playedhost. In addition to

debates over itsfairness, conditioning and all-round suitability to host a major was the question of whether it was a links. What definitively constitutes a links is a much- debated theme, due in some part to golf course owners’ (and their marketing departments) widespread eagerness to have their course regarded as one. While it’s an understandable desire – connecting your own venue with the type of course on which the game began and which is regarded as its purest form – it is in many cases a preposterous suggestion.

The description ‘links-like’ is often a good indication it is not in the least bit like a links, save for some long, wispy rough that waves in the wind. The claims of that kind of course are easy to dismiss.

But there are some much more difficult calls too. Some good judges insist a links must sit on low-lying sandy soil between the sea and the start of farmland and that

extensive earth moving to create the course invalidates its claim. That would (if nothing else did) exclude Chambers Bay and also threatens somewhere such as Kingsbarns (expertly built on farmland).

The playing surface is another factor; it is turf that is firm and dominated by native fine fescues – one of the few things that will grow on the sandy land, hence its availability for golf in the first place.

“To me the term links refers very specifically to courses found on naturally occurring sand dunes,” architect George Waters, author of ‘Sand and Golf: How Terrain Shapes the Game’, tells Golf World. “The more dynamic a dunefield is, meaning sand is in motion throughout the landscape, the closer to a true links it will be. Manufactured links can play very much like a true links but do not reach the full standard. This would include Chambers Bay, where the sand moved into the site in massive quantities will never perform like naturally wind-blown sand. A totally created environment will never be the same as a natural one.”

The reality is that few courses built in the last 100 years fit all these criteria.

These tales of topography and

agronomy were at the forefront of Golf

LEFT: A view from behind the green of the par-4 12th hole, one of Lykia’s most aesthetic tests. BELOW: A smiling bunker along the par-5 13th.

Is Belek’s top-ranked course actually a links? And just how good is it anyway? Chris Bertram provides the answers.

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World’s mind as we arrived at Lykia Links (note the name) in southern Turkey. And at the risk of rendering the remainder of this six-page articleredundant, Lykia can be summed up with two statements. First, it is an essential experience for every well-travelled golfer. And second, it is not a links as we understand it in Britain.

Lykia isn’t just the most distinctive course in Belek, it is one of the most distinctive in all of Continental Europe.

Laid out on a long stretch of coastline near Antalya, the images accompanying this article illustrate how closely Lykia’s terrain resembles that of the links we are familiar with in Britain and Ireland.

Indeed it is probably aesthetically more appealing than many familiar names in our islands, owing to endless, dazzling Mediterranean views as well as today’s machinery presenting designers with the ability to shape a course as they want it. So duneland can be made more dramatic, and views magically unobstructed.

At Lykia, the terrain of over half the course – notably the four holes from the

‘The wind blew the course away. When the owner asked where it had gone, I told him, back to the ocean’

2nd and then the all-star section from the 12th – sits on natural terrain. It was simply ‘cleaned’ of scrub, then tees and greens created. It is usually easy to detect manufactured humps and bumps and

on these holes it feels authentic; the topography of the 12th is like an excerpt of Prestwick, Perranporth or Porthcawl.

And there is no denying the sandy nature of Lykia’s site; sand hills are rarely out of view and when you stray from the fairways you are greeted by piles of the stuff, populated by hardy indigenous vegetation that thrives in this kind of sand-and-salt environment. It really does have strong echoes of our seaside courses.

However, the difference is in the kind of game you play here. While the wind is as much a factor as it is on our shores – that there is minimal shelter from breezes is a good indication of how unrestricted and breathtaking the views are – your tactics to counteract it are different.

So whereas at Portmarnock or Leven or Saunton you will adopt the ‘ground game’, at Lykia it is not a realistic tactic.

Yes, you will be attempting to hit three-quarter, knock-down shots to keep the ball lower and try to reduce the spin,

but you won’t be bumping and running

ABOVE: A lone tree guards the fairway of the par-4 10th hole, one of Lykia’s standouts. LEFT: The almost wave-like undulations of the approach to the 12th green, with the 16th stretching out beyond. BELOW AND BOTTOM: Two views of the testing approach to the par-3 4th hole, played onto an infinity green.

You are based in America, so how did you become involved in Lykia Links?I am, but the Dye family has almost 300 golf courses built around the world. The property was perfect for golf. So although the budget was tight and the conditions were very tough – it was an all-sand beach-front and the windstorms meant we were redoing all our work constantly – the view to the snow-covered mountains and the great Turkish food kept my crew inspired.What were your first impressions of the site’s terrain?When I first saw the sight I knew it could be a greatcourse and I let the owners know our design would be world class and my crew would move to Turkey and do a great job. I wanted to let the world know the Dyes could handle such a precious seaside site with ultimate attention and care.

The site was sea side with few dunes… it was all sand except where local famers had brought in clay soil to grow vegetables. I knew we had immense possibilities if I could convince the owners

not to build the hotel in front of the sea… and I did.

Did you take inspiration from any British or Irish links

for any of the holes at Lykia? The Dye family has always been inspired by Scottish links… my father Pete brought the concept to the USA in the early 1960s. I also travelled and studied links golf and even did a golf course in Las Vegas called Royal Links, which is a cover of all Scotland’s Open courses.Which holes are you especially pleased with at Lykia?I have always liked short holes, and seaside short holes only happen when they are down wind. I think Lykia always plays a bit longer than I expected and it also plays a bit shorter thanI expected… it is the wind, it changes the course everyday. It is never the same course… just tryplaying five days in a row… it goes from beast to beauty.Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight? Yes – I would build five more courses in the area – plus add a few more tees to make the course change just a little each day. The people who play the wind beast only one time leave with thinking it is too hard, and sometimes the ‘one-time’ player leaves and says it was too easy. So more tees would help solve the changing degree of difficulty problem.

“THISWASOURSHOTATBUILDINGALINKS”Exclusive: Architect Perry Dye on why the

site for Lykia made him so desperate to land the job.

108 Golf World September 2015

September 2015 Golf World 109