About Open Links

Open Links has revolutionized how golf courses are found and golf trips are planned. Our search engine provides access to an aggregated source of worldwide course data and makes it simple to sort through thousands of courses based on unique data points. With user-generated ratings and reviews, as well as key data points such as price and weather, our goal is to help users find a great course based on their preferences.

Whether you’re looking to plan your next golf trip or find a course close to home, Open Links is your go-to resource. When you're not planning for your next golf adventure, Open Links keeps you linked in with other users so you can share feedback on the courses you’ve played and your experiences at newly discovered courses.

At Open Links, we strive to keep golfers linked and introduce devoted golfers to outstanding destinations.

Our Values

Open Links aims to inspire golfers to travel for a chance to play top golf courses and hidden gems around the world. Our approach is authentic, providing golfers with data based on what they actually care about. Our information is credible, featuring accurate course data paired with user-generated reviews to ensure it is current and up-to-date. Above all, we are passionate about motivating players to visit new courses, review them, and share their experiences with other golfers.

From Our Founder

The Open Links journey began in 2015 while I was working at a leading financial data and software company in Chicago. I had been playing golf since I was a teenager (inspired by Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters victory), but I had more recently acquired an interest in golf course travel and architecture. Like many other golf travel enthusiasts, I started tracking courses that I had played, as well as a “wishlist” of courses that looked interesting.

Over the next few years, my passion for golf travel continued to grow. In 2018, I decided to start my own golf travel company where I organized events across the United States. The spreadsheet that I created a few years prior had become more robust over the years, and I found it to be a great resource when planning our events. Since it was so helpful for me, I thought others who shared my passion for golf travel and architecture would enjoy access to this information.

My 10+ years of experience in the data and software industry proved extremely beneficial when building our platform. Our website provides access to an aggregated source of U.S. course data and allows you to quickly and easily sift through thousands of courses based on key data points like location, price, architect, ranking, and even weather. There are also unique insights available that many passionate golfers will find valuable, like our Course Ratings, Housing Index, and Walkability Ratings.

Our mission at Open Links is to connect passionate golfers to great courses and experiences. I hope that, with the help of our platform, you too can begin to create many memories that will last a lifetime.

- Paul Storie

Founder

FAQs

How Do I Get Access and How Much Does It Cost?

Why Are There Only 7,500 Courses in Your Database? There Are Over 30,000 in the World.

Where Did You Get All of Your Data?

Our data has been collected from public sources, such as golf course websites, architect/golf course construction websites, and online articles. Data that we have collected that is derived by a 3rd party is sourced in our data field definitions. One of the ways we add value is by aggregating this massive amount of information and making it easy for you to filter the data based on what matters most to you.

Can You Explain Your Golf Course Rating System?

There are two categories in our rating system: Course and Experience. We thought it would be interesting, unique, and helpful to our user base to try and make our ratings about more than just the course itself. Many of our users will be using Open Links to plan golf travel, where the experience can be just as important. Each category also has three subcategories:

Course - Conditions, Character, Replay

Experience - Hang, Setting, Amenities

You can see a more detailed explanation of our rating categories and subcategories here. Registered users can see both the category and subcategory ratings, as well as rate courses themselves.

About Open Links

About Open Links

Our Values

From Our Founder

- Paul Storie

FAQs

How Do I Get Access and How Much Does It Cost?

Why Are There Only 7,500 Courses in Your Database? There Are Over 30,000 in the World.

Where Did You Get All of Your Data?

Can You Explain Your Golf Course Rating System?

How Can I Learn How to Use the Screener?

How Often Do You Make Updates?

I Am a Golf Course Architect or Operator and Would Like to Submit/Update Data. How Can I Do This?

Why the Owl Logo?