What’s the best part of Links® 2004? The gameplay? The sounds? The stunning graphics? Nope. It’s the convenience and savings!
With nine world-class courses duplicated down to the last detail, you can play the same courses—with the same strategy and beauty as the real thing—without ever having to dress up or fly all over the globe!
The Arnold Palmer-designed course at the Aviara Golf Club is located in Carlsbad, Calif. This course provides all the scenic beauty and great conditions you’d expect from a coastal California course, with unique challenges that only Palmer could design. Aviara was named as one of Golf magazine’s "Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S." in 1998. If you were visiting the San Diego area, you could play it yourself for a mere $175 per round.
The spectacular mountain course of Greywolf takes you to the Canadian province of British Columbia and the Panorama Mountain Village. Greywolf opened to rave reviews in 1999 and was ranked as the top course in British Columbia by Golf Digest magazine in 2003. Enjoy the sixth hole, Cliffhanger, and brave the gap across Hopeful Canyon today. Planning on playing Greywolf in person? Expect to pony up $90 per round.
Nestled on Hawaii’s stunning Kohala Coast, the Mauna Lani South Course sports its picturesque fifteenth hole, one of the most beautiful and most photographed golf holes in the world. The swaying palms and lava formations may be breathtaking, but staying away from them can be a supreme challenge. This lovely and distinctive course would set you back $200 per round—and you haven’t even considered air fare yet!
In the shadow of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains is the Nicklaus-designed Superstition Mountain course. The brainchild of the legendary Jack Nicklaus and his two sons, Jack, Jr. and Gary, this stunning course opened in 1999. Like a lush oasis in the Sonoran desert, Superstition draws the finest golfers in the world. It’s hosted stops on the PGA Seniors Tour and will host an LPGA tournament this March. Green fees at Superstition Mountain will run you $90 per round.
The Australian counterpart to California’s Cypress Point, the New South Wales Golf Club in the Botany Bay National Park is a stunning links-style course with a storied history. Alastair MacKenzie designed the course nearly 70 years ago, and it’s experienced a distinct evolution on the windy Pacific shores. As one of the world’s “must-play” courses, New South Wales is a bargain at roughly $40 per round … if you’re down under already, of course …
Built in only four months in 1903, Pennsylvania’s Oakmont Country Club is still considered one of the most challenging courses in the United States. The famed “Church Pews” bunker on the third hole provides an example of how relentlessly difficult this course can be. PGA Tour players have been brought to their knees at Oakmont more than once in tournaments held here. Green fees run $160 dollars per round, if you could play it. Oakmont is a private course, so Links 2004 is your only way in!
Green fees aren’t an issue at the Loch Lomond Golf Club near Glasgow, Scotland, either. If you’re not a member, you can’t play, and Loch Lomond doesn’t even post any green fees for that reason. But if you’re after a traditional afternoon of Scottish golf, you can’t go wrong with Loch Lomond’s stunning and lush grounds. They sit on the twelfth century Clan Colquhoun estate.
While we’re in Scotland, you can’t pass up the birthplace of the sport itself, the St. Andrews Golf Club, where the sport was first played in the 1400s. The rolling hills and pot bunkers make this legendary course infinitely more difficult than it looks. Given its standing as the world’s greatest golfing mecca, no self-respecting duffer would pass up a chance to play St. Andrews. Green fees are roughly $150 US.
Available for download on Xbox Live®, the Plantation Course at Kapalua was the host of the first PGA Tour event of the 2004 season. This stunning course reveals the variety of Maui’s breathtaking landscape. The tremendous elevation differences from hole to hole make the Plantation Course a challenge for any golfer, but at least you’ll still enjoy the view from the rough. One round at Kapalua will set you back $175.
And, if those nine courses weren’t enough, the fictional Ocean Mill course is always ready to test your nerve.
As the winter keeps you indoors, Links 2004 lets you sample the beauty of golf on three different continents, keeping you warm and saving you thousands of dollars in the process. How could you possibly go wrong?
