Types of Golf Courses Explained

No two golf courses are the same, but most fall into a small number of recognizable types. Each one is shaped by the land it was built on: the soil, the vegetation, the climate and, above all, how exposed it is to the weather. Knowing the type tells you a lot before you arrive: how firm the ground will be, how much the wind matters, and what kind of trouble lines the fairways. This guide covers the main course types, plus the practical categories (length and access) you will see when booking a round.

Links

Links courses are the original form of golf, found on the sandy coastal strips of Scotland, Ireland and England. The name comes from "links land", the ground that links the sea to the farmland inland. The Old Course at St Andrews is the best-known example.

Typical features:

• Firm, fast turf on sandy soil that drains quickly, so the ball rolls a long way after landing.
• Few or no trees, leaving the course fully exposed to the wind.
• Deep pot bunkers, dunes and natural undulations rather than water hazards.

Wind is the defining factor on a links. The same hole can call for a short iron one day and a long club the next, which is why low, running shots are often preferred to high ones. Very few true links exist in the United States, but many "links-style" courses copy the look and the firm conditions.

Parkland

Parkland courses are the most common type in the United States. They are built inland on richer soil, with tree-lined fairways, lush grass and often ponds or creeks. Augusta National, home of the Masters, is the most famous example.

Compared with a links, a parkland course plays softer: the ball stops quickly after landing, so golfers attack the flag with high shots through the air. The trees shelter many holes from the wind, but they also make them narrow. Because the soil holds water, rain affects parkland courses more: after a wet night, fairways can be soft, the ball can pick up mud, and carts may be restricted to paths.

Heathland

Heathland courses sit between the two. They are inland, like parkland, but built on sandy soil with heather, gorse and pine, mostly in the south of England (Sunningdale and Walton Heath are well-known examples). They drain well and play firmer than parkland, with more shelter than a links. The type is rare in the US, but some sand-based inland courses share its character.

Desert

Desert courses are the signature style of Arizona, Nevada and Southern California. Green corridors of turf are laid through natural desert, and everything off the fairway (sand, rock, cactus and scrub) is left in its native state. The result is often called target golf: you have to carry the ball from one patch of grass to the next, and a missed fairway can mean a lost ball rather than a shot from the rough. Course committees often mark desert areas as penalty areas, so check the scorecard's local rules before you tee off.

Weather shapes desert golf in its own way:

• Heat is the main concern in summer. Early tee times are popular because afternoon temperatures in Phoenix or Las Vegas can make walking a round unsafe.
• Dry air and firm ground help the ball travel farther, both in the air and on the ground.
• Overseeding: many desert courses grow warm-season Bermuda grass and overseed it with ryegrass each autumn to keep it green through winter. They often close or run reduced conditions for a few weeks while this happens, so it is worth checking before booking in September or October.

You can compare current conditions across desert courses on our Arizona and Nevada golf weather pages.

Mountain

Mountain courses are defined by elevation: big changes in height from tee to green and, often, a high base altitude. Colorado, Utah and the mountain resorts of Arizona and Nevada are home to many of them.

Two things make mountain golf distinctive. First, uphill and downhill shots change the effective distance of a hole, so the yardage on the scorecard is only a starting point. Second, the air is thinner at altitude. Less air resistance means the ball flies noticeably farther than at sea level, and cooler mountain mornings partly offset that gain. Our course pages estimate this effect for each tee time, from the course's elevation and the forecast temperature and humidity.

Length: Championship, Executive and Par-3

Beyond landscape, courses are also described by length:

• Regulation (or championship) courses are 18 holes with a par of around 70 to 72, usually offering several sets of tees to suit different abilities.
• Executive courses are shorter, with mostly par-3 and par-4 holes. They are faster to play and a good option for newer golfers or a round before work.
• Par-3 courses are made up entirely of short holes, ideal for practicing iron play and the short game.

Access: Public, Resort and Private

Finally, when booking a round you will see courses described by who can play them:

• Public courses are open to anyone who books a tee time. Municipal courses are public courses owned by a city or county, usually with the lowest green fees.
• Resort and semi-private courses have members but also sell tee times to visitors, often at higher prices.
• Private courses are open only to members and their guests.

Getting Started

The course type is the first clue to how a round will play, and the weather is the second. A breezy day barely matters on a sheltered parkland course but changes everything on an open links or desert layout, while a wet night softens a parkland course far more than a sandy one. Before your next round, check the course type, then look at the forecast for your tee time on our golf weather pages to see how the conditions are likely to play.

Photo: hole 3 at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain (Saguaro course), Marana, Arizona, by Bernard Gagnon, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized from the original.