National Golf Links Of America

The National Golf Links of America, opened in 1911 in Southampton, is a foundational landmark of American golf architecture. Charles Blair Macdonald, often called the father of American golf design, spent years studying the great holes of the British Isles before building his vision of an ideal course. He hired Seth Raynor to survey the ground and supervise construction, beginning a partnership that would shape a generation of architecture. Macdonald's aim was to gather the finest holes of Britain, adapted to superb linksland along Peconic Bay, and the result was hailed almost immediately as one of the world's great courses; critic Bernard Darwin called it truly great. The National helped launch what is now known as the Golden Age of golf design and hosted the inaugural Walker Cup in 1922. Its template holes, wide fairways, wind exposure, and bold green complexes remain enormously influential today.