The Links Diary

30/10/2024

In No.10 travel disruption strikes fear in a father and son as they cling on to the hope of making their Old Course tee time. Murray Bothwell pens a letter to golf and asks the question of why we play the game. A trip to Machrihanish and the unknown as Sam Lowes Raby throws caution to the wind to tee it up with a bunch of strangers in Golf, Guinness and the Ghost of Old Tom. A weakness for charity shops and what you might find hidden among the tat has Richard Pennell searching for forgotten clubs in Dearly Preloved. Stewart Fotheringham has been the greenkeeper at Shiskine on the Isle of Arran since the day he left school. He’s never known another job. “I’m an artist and Shiskine is my Canvas.” All of this and more in The Links Diary No.10.

Available now - https://www.thelinksdiary.com

08/10/2024

Introducing our latest Merchandise drop. Shop the latest TLD x American Needle Caps, Bucket Hats and Visors. Join the single strap soldier march with our TLD x Jones Sports Co. Golf Bags. Or gift yourself some TLD x Hame Golf Headcovers and Accessories handmade in Scotland.

Shop - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/merch-page

03/10/2024

Ok we know, it’s been a long time coming but The Links Diary Membership has arrived. Subscribe today and unlock the benefits.

Your support is the lifeblood of The Links Diary. Each purchase you make, each post you share, every film you watch and each recommendation to your golf friends really makes a massive difference.

Thank you to our readers, partners and contributors for making The Links Diary possible.

Crafted in Scotland.

https://www.thelinksdiary.com/membership

23/09/2024

“I suppose I like to think of myself as an artist and Shiskine is my canvas.”

Stewart Fotheringham hasn’t known another job. His entire working life has been at Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club on the Isle of Arran. Caring for the land like it was his own. Early mornings, late nights and never finding much time to switch off is very much the normal in the life of a Greenkeeper. Stewart is the epitome of that and with 42 years service to this unique 12 hole course he still has that glint in his eye.

Watch our latest short film Cutting Pins - https://youtu.be/zT9CGLnZ_UU

14/09/2024

We are honoured to have been selected to have our short film ‘The Last Caddie’ featured at this years St Andrews Film Festival. Telling Chris’ story to the world and the incredible lifelong career he has had carrying clubs at his beloved Prestwick was truly inspiring.

https://www.saintfilm.org.uk/about

01/08/2024

Many reach the post-work years and just wind down. They may go on a holiday or two, perhaps a cruise, and enjoy a life of leisure. Not the Divotologists, they have a new mission and a new reason to get up in the wee hours every morning. They are doing something that must be incredibly rewarding and, it has to be said, that sounds like a bloody good way to spend retirement.

The Divotologists | A Links Diary film

In partnership with Titleist

Available to watch now - https://youtu.be/cJdf3xDMkeQ

31/07/2024

A band of brothers fixing one fairway at a time. Tune in tomorrow on our YouTube channel at 7pm to watch our latest short film The Divotologists.

In partnership with Titleist

19/07/2024

From the greatest hole in one in the history of golf, to Arnie reinventing The Open. Discovering the quirks of North Berwick, and a millionaires eccentric plan to dominate the majors. Time to find that quiet spot.

The Links Diary No.9 is available now.

https://www.thelinksdiary.com/product-page/tld-no-9

10/07/2024

Nearly time to find that quiet spot.

No.9 coming soon.

02/07/2024

“The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight.” - Ben Hogan.

Join us on August 22nd for a days golf at Panmure Golf Club following in the footsteps of Ben Hogan who spent time at the club, accompanied only by his caddy, Cecil Timms to acclimatise to the terrain of links golf and to acquaint himself with the smaller 1.62 inch British ball prior to his 1953 Open win.

We’ve a handful of spots still remaining. Book your spot now by hitting the link below.

Oh, and we promise you we won’t run out of daylight!

https://www.thelinksdiary.com/event-details/the-hogan-at-panmure

20/06/2024

We are incredibly proud to announce a new brand partnership with Titleist

In 1932 Phil Young, who owned a precision molded rubber company, missed a well-stroked putt in a match with his friend, who was head of the X-Ray department at a local hospital.

He was convinced that the ball must have been at fault. So along with his opponent they went to the hospital to X-Ray the ‘faulty’ ball. The results would prove he was correct, revealing that the balls core was off-centre and indeed faulty.

This discovery would become the start of the Acushnet Golf Division and the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s always been our mission to be reader supported and commercially quiet. Working with just a few brands that we love and that share the same passion and vision we do about this great game. It’s also a pinch yourself moment for us and we couldn’t be more grateful to Titleist for their support of what we are trying to do within the golf space.

More to come from this partnership as we look forward to launching our membership soon.

05/06/2024

Celebrating Dad. Gift him some quiet time this Father’s Day. 144 pages of golf for the soul.

Gift - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/issues

23/05/2024

“I don’t like the glamour, I just like the game.” - Ben Hogan

The Hogan at Panmure | A Links Diary event.

Follow in Hogan’s footsteps as we spend a day at Panmure Golf Club celebrating the story of the great man’s time at the club. Golf, food, interview and more.

For details/to book - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/event-details/the-hogan-at-panmure

20/05/2024

Jim McAlister's life in golf is one which has encompassed many highs, formidable lows and the experience of being at the forefront of a pioneering development to re-establish British golf at the very top of its profession.

In 1962 a millionaire management consultant called Ernest Butten had started a scheme to train selected young professional golfers in a bid to produce a British golfer who by 1967 would win the Open Championship and the American Open Championship. The idea behind this training programme was the five Ms... Muscle, Method, Mental, Measurement and Management. He believed if they were going to beat the Americans they had to develop all of these skills to be able to perform and compete with the superstars across the pond.

This is the story of one of the original Butten Boys - Jim McAlister. Now 86 years old, he reflects on his life in golf including his time with The Butten Boys.

In Partnership with Jones Sports Co.

Watch - https://youtu.be/j7Fo91WH96o

Jim McAlister's life in golf is one which has encompassed many highs, formidable lows and the experience of being at the forefront of a pioneering developmen...

13/05/2024

In 1963 Ernest Butten, an innovator and entrepreneur, decided to create an elite squad of players. Frustrated by the lack of British success at the Open Championship he was determined to use some of his considerable wealth in an attempt to break the American supremacy. Jim McAlister was one of the original ‘Butten Boys’ and his story is one of success, addiction, redemption and a life within the game he loves.

In partnership with

The Butten Boy | A Links Diary film premieres May 20th

Watch the trailer - youtu.be/19MJj3R2qDA

05/04/2024

The Matches at Machrihanish with our friends at The Fliers Club.

June 24th - 26th. We’ve 8 spots available.

For more details - thelinksdiary.com/events

A thread….

28/03/2024

Many thanks to everyone who’s grabbed their spot at our first event experience ‘The Lost Links’. We’ve still some spots available for what’s going to be a great day out discovering James Braids lost course followed by golf at Goswick Golf Links.

Interested? Check it out - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/event-details/the-lost-links-experience

26/03/2024

Join us on Holy Island as we discover the Lost Links of Lindisfarne in our first ever event.

Walk all 9 holes of James Braids Lost Links and relive the story from TLD No.7. From there we will head off to Goswick Golf Club to play this brilliant championship links course in the North East of England, that plays host to regional qualifying for The Open.

We’ve only 16 spots available. More details in the link below.

Book your spot now - www.thelinksdiary.com/event-details/the-lost-links-experience

21/03/2024

“The 3rd hole at Iona is sui generis. It must be experienced to be fully understood. At 183 yards, it plays uphill over a massive natural blow-out bunker to a bowl-like plateau green situated at the base of enormous Archaean rock formations. The wind is straight into us today, but even on a calm day the hole is some sort of geographical oddity. It typically plays at least 100 yards longer than the yardage. Our best drives still leave us with a full wedge or nine iron shots into the small, wildly sloping green. “It is unquestionably the greatest par three in the world. A par on that hole is an eagle anywhere else,” says Bridge Littleton. John makes a brilliant three and I am thrilled to get a four. It is one of my favorite holes in golf.”

The Honourable Company of Iona Golfers | The Links Diary No.8

Words by Jim Hartsell

Available in The Links Diary No.8 - https://www.thelinksdiary.com

17/03/2024

Eric Davidson is a Scottish comedian, speech writer, after dinner speaker and festival performer who has been entertaining his audiences from a young age. Even at the tender age of 11, Eric loved the stage. His Stylophone rendition of Chuck Berry’s ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ took the Newtongrange Church Opportunity Knocks competition by storm. In his teens he tried Ventriloquism, but ended up too heavy for the guy’s knee! After a spell at thrashing a drum kit around for a local Punk Rock band, Eric started writing and performing comic Poetry around the Clubs and Bars of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

His Ode to Golf poem is a light hearted take on the game that shakes your hand and pats your back while simultaneously extracting the urine, all within your weekly fourball.

Available to read in TLD No.8 - https://www.thelinksdiary.com

17/03/2024

“We are through the looking glass in a post-truth world and golf stands increasingly lonely as one of the few authentic sincerities left in life.

And by that – I don’t mean our professional game. A broken, greedy, and increasingly soulless endeavour save four weeks a year. I mean golf. Our golf.

Being the predictable trope of a man that I am – I find myself getting more cynical as I trudge into my mid-30s. I’ve watched the halo ripped away from my teenage heroes and stare apathetically at the news most days – grasping desperately for something truly good and positive worth passing on to my kids.

I suppose that’s why those of us who love golf hold it so dear as our years pass. The memories, holes, shots, misses, putts, tantrums, and high fives I shared with my dad and my mates as I grew up are still out there. They still exist. They’ve not been tarnished or taped over. They’re as real as they were 25 years ago.

I can take my boys to these places now and show them where grandad nearly killed me with a straight left pull that passed through the gap between the buggy window and my skull, or the green where our entire family won the mens, boys and girls putting competition (my mum bottled it in a playoff).”

Running True | TLD No.8

Available now - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/no-8

13/03/2024

The Honourable Company of Iona Golfers. The Captain, The Crofter, The Mayor and the Iona Open by Jim Hartsell, available to read now in TLD No.8 - https://www.thelinksdiary.com

Watch our short intro film narrated by Jim Hartsell - https://youtu.be/ZLmAudmV1jg

12/03/2024

The Art of Par - No.4 Machrihanish Dunes with architect David McLay Kidd. Available to read in No.8 - https://www.thelinksdiary.com

11/03/2024

“Packing for the north of Scotland in late November is a precarious business. Each item must earn its keep in the minimal luggage allowance, but how many layers is too many? And what might three degrees above actually feel like, when it is caressed by an Atlantic breeze? We have only a single flight bag; selection of the fourteen clubs between us is the source of the longest deliberation. Carrying only a half-set each is a delicious ingredient of this assignment.

Eyebrows are raised whenever the trip is mentioned, for daylight is short and the weather likely to be awful, or worse. I wonder if others see this mission as an act of “quiet desperation”, as Thoreau put it, and perhaps it is, though not in the way they think, or he meant. I am desperate to see these places, and to linger under a vast northern sky before winter sets in, but this urgency is somehow borne of having almost lost sight of golf only a while back.”

The Alchemy of Adventure | TLD No.8

Words by Richard Pennell
Photography by Simon Pope

Read it in No.8 available now - https://www.thelinksdiary.com/product-page/no-8

03/11/2023

“Harold is a true grass barber and is renowned for his expert, golf-inspired turf grooming. His barber craft signature cuts include: The Low Fade (a frequent favourite), The Fringe, Rough Rider, Flat Top, and the Birdie Buzz Cut to name a few. Workingmanlike, he briskly covers the donkey work of the first pass behind tinted protective eyewear while loudly whistling along to Bob Marley, a fellow grass enthusiast.

Blissfully unaware of passersby stopping to appreciate his heart-warming quirkiness and undeniable grass mastery, Harold is in the zone, tending to his blemish-free, emerald kingdom. And that’s exactly what the Greensville community has come to see. The local legend of Whifflesworth Links on full display. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wallace closed her curtains.”

The Grass Barber | The Links Diary No.7

Words by Reece Witters
Photography by Graeme McCubbin

https://www.thelinksdiary.com/copy-of-no-7