The first hole at The Links of Gettysburg, just a few miles from the famed battlefield, provides its own set of skirmishes for the golfer who plays there for the first time, as I did yesterday. Right off the bat, the tricky downhill, dogleg left first hole, a shortish par 4, sets up some barriers to the hit-or-miss first green -- a couple of walls, to be exact (see photo below). After a good drive to the right side of the fairway, I hit my second a bit fat. The next had to be lofted over one of those brick walls; I hit the lob wedge fat as well, and then got up and down from below the green for bogey.
The theme of the walls is carried through the rest of the interesting layout, with high natural stone barriers behind greens and even providing a backstop to a par 4 fairway. I plan to revisit Links at Gettysburg soon, since the greens had been aerated and sanded a few days earlier and a proper review was impossible. But I can say this based on my short visit yesterday: The Links is a battle all the way around.
The layout at The Links at Gettysburg starts innocently enough (top) with an open fairway that requires less than driver to get to the 150 post. The fun begins on the downhill approach to a sloped green protected by two walls and two bunkers -- a fun, if daunting, start to the round.