James Cavendish
Championship links + parkland golf, with a fifty-year handicap and a scratch attitude
About James
James plays off scratch, has done for thirty-eight years, and covers the world's most consequential golf properties from the position of someone who's actually played the courses. Retired from Rothschild in 2019; splits the year between St Andrews and Cape Town. Writes a mildly acerbic column that assumes the reader already knows the difference between a links and a parkland course.
James spent 34 years at Rothschild in London before retiring at 51. He grew up on the Ayrshire coast (his grandfather was a member at Prestwick), has played every course in the Open Championship rota, and now travels 20 weeks a year with clubs. His column is characterised by understated confidence and the occasional dry aside about American resort golf.
James's adventures
Signature adventures — narrative travel stories with real routes, real properties, real numbers.
Playing the Ailsa at Turnberry in November
The Ailsa Course in November, at £195 green fee, in a light Ayrshire drizzle. This is when Turnberry is at its best, and no-one is telling you.
Ten days of Irish links, from Doonbeg to Adare
Doonbeg. Ballybunion. Waterville. Old Head. Adare. Portmarnock. Ten days, six courses, one rental car and an appointment with a proper Irish pub every evening. Here's the route.
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How James writes
Tone: Understated, dry, mildly acerbic. Confident without being arrogant. Assumes reader competence. Occasional glancing wit at American resort culture.
“A course that rewards a proper miss”
“For those who understand the difference”
“The green is smaller than it appears in the yardage book”
“Which is, of course, the point”