So, the last post got me wondering: What makes a course “links-style”? Well… thanks to Wikipedia again, we find out the answer:

A links golf course, sometimes referred to as a seaside links, is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. The word comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes, and sometimes to open parkland.

Many links – though not all – are located in coastal areas, on sandy soil, often amid dunes, with few water hazards and few if any trees. This reflects both the nature of the scenery where the sport happened to originate, and the fact that only limited resources were available to golf course architects at the time, and any earth moving had to be done by hand, so it was kept to a minimum.

So what made the 9-hole course “links-style”? First, there were no trees throughout the course. Second, there was only one water hazard, which was part of only one hole. Third, there were sand traps on eight of the holes. Finally, it was fairly flat. The combination of the flat land and no trees made the course windy, which is also an important factor. Hence, the “links-style” course.

The Wikipedia definition continues:

The challenges of links golf fall into two categories. Firstly the nature of the courses themselves, which tend to be characterised by uneven fairways, thick rough and small deep bunkers known as “pot bunkers”. Secondly, due to their coastal location many links courses are frequently windy. This affects the style of play required, favouring players who are able to play low accurate shots.

One word that keeps popping up in the definition is “coastal”:

Links courses tend to be on, or at least very near to, a coast, and the term is typically associated with coastal courses. However, links conditions can be duplicated on suitable ground, even hundreds of miles or kilometres inland. One especially notable example of an inland links-style course is Sand Hills Golf Club, a much-acclaimed early-2000s layout in the Sand Hills of Nebraska.

Links courses remain most common in Ireland and also in Great Britain, especially in Scotland. There are well known links courses in other countries, including in North America: Pebble Beach Golf Links in California (on the Pacific Ocean) and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin (on Lake Michigan) in the U.S.; and, in Canada, Harmon Seaside Links (in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador).

The rest of the Wikipedia entry lists some famous links golf courses.

I came across a particular golf term today… “dormie”. What does it mean? Well, the Wikipedia article for “dormie” (update: Wikipedia removed the page: “Non-notable term, no sources provided, and WP is not a dictionary.”) was so informative interesting that, instead of paraphrasing the article, I’m going to just show a direct quote.

Dormie (also spelled “dormy”) is a term used in match play golf, denoting that the score is such that one player is the same number of points ahead as there are holes still to play; thus that should one hole be halved, that leading player will win the match.

The player currently in the lead is said to be “dormie” or “dormie-number” where number is the number of holes involved.

The word derives from late 18th and early 19th century Scotland, where golf was played on links on the coast. The heathland near the coast is home to a number of indigenous species, including dormice, or “dormies” in the argot of the East Coast of Scotland. Dormice, as shy creatures, generally hid well from passing golfers, but a sighting was held to be particularly good luck for any links player passing.

From these connotations of good luck the name of the “wee, cowrin’, tim’rous beastie” entered golf parlance, meaning a state of affairs where one stroke of good fortune would award a win to the leading player.

The earliest known mention of the sight of “dormies” as being lucky is from OSA 1791-2 ((Old) Statistical Accounts of Scotland, p. XXX. In its reference to the parish of Monifieth (in which lies Carnoustie where, incidentally, the “Open” (British Open Championship Golf) is often played, and golf was recorded some 25 years before it was St. Andrews), the record of local flora and fauna includes a tangential mention. The usage is also noted by Sir Walter Scott, whose diaries for the year 1828 include a description of a visit to Carnoustie, where he wrote an extended essay on local wildlife, mentioning the peculiar habit of local “gowfers” (golfers) of invoking the name of various rodents during play.

Another theory, and one given in the USGA Museum, states that “dormie” comes from the word “dormir,” which shares a French and Latin origin. “Dormir” means “to sleep.” “Dormie” means that a player has reached a match play lead that is insurmountable – and so the player can relax, knowing that he cannot lose the match. “Dormir” (to sleep) turns into “dormie” (relax, you can’t lose).

Many dictionaries state the etymology of “dormie” as unknown.