Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design

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Summary: Why Journalists Shouldn't Design Golf Courses
Review: After having read this book, which I thought was pretty good, I looked forward to playing Rustic Canyon.
Wrong! I thought the author "got it", but Rustic Canyon suffers from most of ills discussed in the book.
Talk about not memorable...I was really disappointed.
When the fairways are not framed by rough or trees, when the pancake traps are unseen, when the number of straight holes well out-number the doglegs, its time to go.
Good book, but if Rustic Canyon is any indication of the author's sensibilities, maybe there is better reading out there.

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Summary: A great book for the uninitiated
Review: Books on golf architecture are begining to appear in huge numbers. The interest in golf course architecture, as opposed to only the swing, is something the author will no doubt see as the coming of a new recognition of golf as a thinking sport, rather than the "ape with a club smacking a ball" sport it is devolving into.

This sumarizes the main point the author seeks to make: architecture is important because it is what makes us stop and scratch our head on the course. When we no longer are selecting clubs in order to navigate a course in what appears the best rout for ourselves, and are merely seeking to blast the ball down the fairway as if on a driving range with a hole, architecture and the sport itself is lost.

As is made clear from this, a great deal of lamenting on the state of the game is done between the covers. This may irk a number of readers, particularly those who do not care too much about the professional game, and not obsessed with scores. It may be even more irritating to those who believe the purpose of the game is to hit 300 yard drives on every hole and leave people who can only hit to 200 on the granny tees.

All the woes aside, the book gives what is probably the best introduction to architecture one is likely to find. It covers all the bases: the history of architecture, its various schools, strategic layouts, the basics of course maintanence, and lots of examples of famous holes and layouts to learn from. Some of the holes may have been copied on the courses readers frequent, and may shed some light on how to apporach a hole and why it was designed the way it was.

Aimed more towards the golfer rather than the aspiring architect, it gives the reader everything needed to look anew at the game and the field on which it is played. This will be a particularly useful book for someone with the World Atlas of Golf, as they will be able to see why so many courses have earned their reputations.

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Summary: Doggedly Pedestrian
Review: Geoff Shackelford likes golf courses you can walk. Perhaps that is why his book is so doggedly pedestrian. He re-quotes the quotable, starting his first chapter with well worn saws from Tom Simpson and Bobby Jones, and then leading a slog through 18 chapters (cutely called holes) of largely derivative commentary. The opener is "What is Golf Architecture?" The closer: "Appendix and Acknowledgments."

If the penultimate hole is an appendix, you might rightly anticipate being put on a bland diet. In this, Mr. Shackelford does not disappoint. Little here is original, most has been said before. If Golf Digest (for whom he writes) were to rate his "course," it might get three stars. Since Golf Digest's rankings are gathering suspicion of favoring insiders and aggressive promoters, I give it two.

One howler deserves special mention. Describing the 354 yard 18th at St. Andrews, he says: "As a finishing hole on any other course, it would be a letdown. However, playing against the backdrop of medieval buildings to a green guarded by the 'Valley of Sin,' the 'Home' hole may be the greatest stage in all of golf."

Careful, Mr. Shackelford. The 18th at St. Andrews is called "Tom Morris," not "Home," and there's nary a medieval building to be seen. They are mostly 19th Century.

There is the Valley of Sin. But for Mr. Shackelford, it turned out to be the Valley of Syntax.

Is the course playing itself?

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Summary: Terrific even for nongolfers
Review: I bought his book as a gift and then picked it up and found myself reading the whole thing. The book is very accessible and entertaining even for the novice, and the beautiful drawings and great photos perfectly illustrate the author's text. It covers the history and evolution of course design, famous courses, greatest architects and the best holes ever built. Shackelford also details his own experience designing the Rustic Canyon Golf course, so this isn't a dry academic exercise: he knows what he's talking about, and says it with grace and a lot of humor. There are chapters on how to "read" a design, how to daydream your way through redesigning a hole while you're playing a course, and even a chapter that gives you a blank canvas to create your own design. I especially liked the history of St. Andrews Old Course and now understand why that course is so revered. I also liked the way Shackelford used movie and baseball analogies, which made things even clearer. The chapter on the language of architecture gave me a better understanding of golf overall. Now I actually have to try it.

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Summary: So, that's why playing at the Riviera was so much fun!
Review: If you've ever wondered why some golf courses are interesting and fun to play, while others are boring and unsatisfying, you are likely to find the answers in Grounds for Golf. Shackelford brings valuable insights to the subject he calls "the most interactive art form alive." A book on golf course design could get bogged down with technicalities and engineering jargon; instead Grounds for Golf is entertaining, amusing, revealing and written for a wide golfing audience. You will have some "Aha!" moments as you realize that the best course designers, it turns out, aren't trying to punish you or trick you. They are trying to 1. Give you choices (some of which depend on how good a golfer you are or what type personality you are) and 2. Give you a way out or a way back when you make a bad shot. They're on your side, though it sometimes doesn't seem that way. If you are a golfer who gets to play many different courses (through business or vacations) you will find yourself not only beginning to notice the good and bad design aspects of a course, you will also find yourself asking, "Who designed this course?" And you will start seeking out courses designed by good architects in the same way that detective story readers seek out their favorite authors. You will become, painlessly, somewhat of a golf course design expert without having to read all the old classics on the subject. Shackelford has distilled them for you. The book is also liberally sprinkled with quotable quotes, handy for repeating in the appropriate situation. There is a fun "list" section in the back with the author's bests, favorites, etc. Also a good index. I highly recommend this book.

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Summary: Great For Novice and Expert
Review: Not since Tom Doak's The Anatomy of A Golf Course has a book come along that does such a thorough job of acquainting both newcomers and serious fans with the art, science and business of golf course design. Attractively laid out and beautifully illustrated (especially the many famous hole drawings created by architect Gil Hanse), Grounds For Golf covers its subject from A-Z, profiling architecture's history and evolution, its multitude of styles, its greatest practitioners and many of their elite courses and holes.

Beyond all of this, however, it also provides rare insight by taking the reader through the design and construction of a brand-new golf course (Mr. Hanse and Mr. Shackelford's award-winning Rustic Canyon) and offers hundreds of interesting and amusing quotations, the sources of which range from Horace Hutchinson and Bernard Darwin to Dan Jenkins, Pete Dye and characters in Caddyshack. The Bobby Jones opener - "Every golfer worthy of the name should have some acquaintance with the principles of golf course design, not only for the betterment of his game, but for his own self enjoyment" - seems especially perfect for a volume which may need to explain to some novice readers why they should be interested in the subject of architecture in the first place.

For those with so critical an eye for detail, I particularly enjoy the penultimate chapter The Future (penultimate meaning "next to last", not "last") as it neatly sums up Mr. Shackelford's thoughts, which have long been on display in magazines like Golfdom, Golf, Links, Golf World and, on two whole occasions, Golf Digest.

Already heavily praised by industry insiders and reviewers, Grounds For Golf will be an architectural standard for years to come.

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Summary: Grounds For More Great Golf Books Like This
Review: With this his 8th published book on Golf, Geoff Shackelford masterfully gives us a inside look on how and why golf holes are great; their strategy and construction.

Pictures, diagrams, insightful thoughts, as well as Shackelford's excellent writing set in a unique layout of 18 chapters--hence 18 holes of golf, educates the reader in not only "hands-on", (a chapter or "hole" is devoted to laying out your own golf hole) but brings him up to snuff in modern terms and methods of golf course design and construction.

I recommend this book so highly, that I have purchased 12 seperate copies for gifts throughout the year, and the next time I'm visiting in Los Angeles, I will go out of my way to play his and co-contributor to this book, Gil Hanse's Rustic Canyon Golf Club, which is presented as a chapter in the book.

Also, one of my favorite characterizations of this book is that Shackelford has a "no holds barred" attitude in letting the reader understand that many of the golf holes we play today are far and away detrimental to the art of design. It's this fresh and honest take which allows the reader to understand that there is little substance going on beyond that $125.00 green fee.