Don't fear the links! Tips for playing Scotland

By Brandon Tucker, Golf Publisher Syndications

updated 8:22 p.m. ET June 27, 2007

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - So you think you've got an idea what Scottish links golf is all about because you've seen the British Open on TV?

As a laddie raised on the parkland golf courses of the American Midwest, I had to see these places to really discover why they are so special.

Here are a few common misconceptions you may have about golf in Scotland, Mr. American Parkland Golfer, you.

Conditions are great — Sometimes the cameras at the Open don't do justice to how good the condition of these links courses is. You won't find better greens than here, and they're fast, firm and consistent. Fairways are also firm and rolling. For the number of rounds these courses get (many of them all year long), it's a testament to the course superintendents here and justifies the £60-150 greens fees.

Bunkers can be avoided — The Old Course at St. Andrews is littered with 112 bunkers. Carnoustie has six million, it seems.

Before I went to Scotland, I remembered hearing from one fellow that many holes would have pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway you couldn't see so many perfect drives were spoiled by "unfair" bunkering. It's not "unfair," it's called "strategic."

Related stories from TravelGolf.com Photo gallery: Best of Scotland golf courses Scotland golf trips itinerary More common myths about Scotland golf Scotland golf travel information

When I played the Old Course, I didn't find myself in a single bunker. How did I do it? Well, I played with two veterans to the course who knew it like the back of their hand, and I was so freaked out by names like "Strath" and "Hell" bunker I would have rather blasted a ball over the fence on the right (and I did, three times).

If you want to stay out of bunkers, take a stroke saver, caddie or play with some locals and leave the driver in the bag on some par 4s and 5s, even if it pains you. Tiger Woods based his entire game plan around not finding bunkers in 2006 at Liverpool. It worked.

You don't need to be a great golfer to play on the great courses — While many places won't let you on without a handicap certificate, that doesn't mean you need to be a single-digit handicapper, either. On most of the big-time courses, it's 24-28 for men and up to 38 for ladies. Even the Old Course allows players this bad.

Brandon Tucker Duke's Course in St. Andrews

They don't all look the same — When you watch the British Opens on TV, venues seem to blend together. Balls scoot across hard, rolling fairways for 100 yards, greens are huge and bunkers are deep with sod and there isn't a shady Oak in sight. But once you play a few rounds on different coasts you realize how different the land and scenery are — not to mention the designs of the course.

Turnberry plays on rocks shores overlooking the ocean. Courses on the North Sea such as Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay and Murca have very high, rugged dunes. Royal Dornoch looks totally different from its Highland neighbor Nairn.

In Fife, the Links Trust facility has rather tame land with no views of the sea and Carnoustie's flat land shielded from the coastline is a photographer's nightmare. But Kingsbarns just seven miles from the Old Course has a totally different look and even a few tall trees. You owe it to yourself on your trip to check out a few different regions and see how different land was affected by millions of years of waves and wind.

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