Ballyneal

The 3rd is a striking hole visually, but it looks more exciting than it plays

Not only is the view from the 4th tee breathtaking, the hole begins a rollicking run of engaging holes laid out over thrilling land

The multi-tiered 8th green makes the hole, its angle to the direction of approach creating questions on the lay-up and approach

The 15th green is both beautiful and fun to play, but calling for a hybrid or wood shot for most, over a high front bank, there's too much chance at play for my taste

Course name: Ballyneal
Location: Holyoke, Colorado
Four Word Course Review: Links golf's American cousin

Ballyneal - as well as other prairieland courses in the central US - is often referred to as inland links, and being a lover of links golf, visiting was always a high priority.

The changes in elevation set this apart from traditional links golf, the course retaining much of the links shotmaking interest while having a strong character of its own.

The land, holes and environment are relentlessly bold, giving the course an extreme, unbridled and exciting (if slightly unpredictable the first time around) personality.

The extreme drop from the 4th tee to fairway is not something you'd expect to see on a traditional links and the land around the middle of the back nine is wilder and steeper than linksland tends to be, allowing the concepts of traditional golf to be suited to a foreign (but still entirely conducive) setting.

Width off the tee is the order of the day, making it easy to find short grass but less so to identify and play to the ideal line to the pin - with those lines changing markedly when the flag is moved.

The greens are on par with the best of what I have seen from Renaissance Golf Design, highlighted by the strongly segmented 6th green, E-shaped duneside putting surface of the driveable 7th, three-tiered 8th, Sitwellesque 12th, punchbowl 15th and sweeping 17th.

There's significant enjoyment to be had from the other 12 greens, too. Several make use of striking locations rather than internal contours (3, 11 and 14 come to mind), while tiny greenfront bunkers add plenty of approach (and recovery) interest at the 5th and 16th.

The bunkering elsewhere also warrants particular mention, some of it adding to the rustic aesthetic (at the 3rd, for instance) without coming much into play, but the likes of the cavernous 8th hole fairway trap, hillside bunker inside the dogleg at 12 and tiny centreline drive bunker at the 14th dominate the way you look to play those holes.

If something limits the momentum that could be gained by so many strengths working in unison, for me it might be the par threes. The 3rd is gorgeous but looks more interesting than it plays, 11 is tough but lacking charm and the long 15th has a great greensite but is too much of a crapshoot for my taste. That leaves the 5th as a standout - its fronting bunker a highlight and the green, dropping low at the back, providing all the putting and recovery interest and variety you could ask for.

With towering dunes blocking most long views on the course (though the view from the 4th tee goes for maybe 40 miles!), there's a real feeling of isolation and solitude at Ballyneal - aided of course by the fact that you're in the very definition of the middle of nowhere, 1500 miles from any coastline.

Above all, Ballyneal is home to all that makes golf fun: undulating land, interesting and varied shotmaking (with conditioning that encourages imaginative use of the ground), challenging putting surfaces, a wonderful walk and the most important factor of all - the wind, which is maximised by a routing that constantly shifts the direction of play.