Even though Vegas has over 30 different golf courses, it’s quite far – literally – from the birthplace of golf. However, you can still experience the game’s British roots at Royal Links Golf Club, a British Open-style course dedicated to the birth and history of the game. Designed by Dye International, Royal Links features holes inspired by eleven different British Open rotation courses.
Without having to tour around the UK, players can relive great golf moments on legendary holes such as The Road Hole and Hell Bunker from the old course at St. Andrews, and The Postage Stamp from Royal Troon. Other courses in the loop include Carnoustie, Turnberry, Royal Liverpool, Prestwick, Royal Lytham, Muirfield, and Royal Birkdale. Many of the holes are designed to look exactly like their British counterparts, with exactly the same distance from tee to green.
Royal Links is located less than twenty minutes from the Strip, though players will feel as though they’ve traveled much further thanks to the course’s design. Scottish details are prevalent on every hole of this par-72, 7,029-yard course, including the deep, sod-walled pot bunkers and hidden traps. And in keeping with tradition across the pond, there are no water hazards at Royal Links – but there are plenty of challenges to take their place in the form of high-grassed roughs, rolling undulations, and fast greens.
Players of different skill levels will appreciate the availability of five different tee boxes. And the course offers the option of a forecaddie, who in addition to knowing the secret obstacles hidden on each hole, is knowledgeable about the history of the British Open hole on which each one at Royal Links is based. Walking caddies are required for those who walk.
Royal Links’ British theme continues all the way to the castle-style clubhouse, which features an award-winning golf shop and the authentic Stymie’s Pub, which serves traditional British fare like fish and chip and bangers, as well as breakfast, salads, and sandwiches. Players can order their lunch in advance from an English style call box on the 9th tee.
And after the game, be sure to stop and play homage to American greats at the Champion’s Wall, which honors all the American golfers that have placed in the British Open. A sense of history is also pervaded throughout the course by monuments indicating spots where great moments in the British Open took place.
One of the most thoroughly enjoyable and challenging courses in town, Royal Links is a can’t-miss experience for any player who loves golf history and even more so, loves golf.
