Rating: 
Summary: Good Idea, Didn't Followthrough...
Review: A great idea in that when I play I want to know the visual as well as geograhical hazzards. Some interesting information about what RJones does with his courses, but no real mention of anybody else. I would have liked something to the effect of "Nicklaus guards the gree with...that forces...type of shot...." In the end I learned some things, but definitely not $ worth.
Rating: 
Summary: Its greatest strength is its greatest weakness
Review: For whatever reason, there are only a handful of books available that address the problems of golf strategy specifically. Many of those turn out to be little more than lessons on how to hit a draw or fade, or to play out of rough. Only a few actually deal with the problem of hole designs and everything that comes with them.
In this light, Golf by Design is a raging success. It offers a look into the thinking of the architect and sheds light on a great many areas of play that usually get swept under the carpet in favor of learning to hit 300 yard drives. What do different bunker placements and shapes do to define a course? What effect can grass types have on how a shot rolls? Where should a person be looking to find the best angle to attack a fairway or green?
Since the time of this work's publishing, several similar volumes have come out, not the least those dealing specifically with architecture itself. Others, including Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons, mix in swing tips with strategies for golfers of differing calibers. It is possible, though, that a good overall book on golf, such as Golf Magazine's Complete Book of Golf Instruction, will include a great deal of information located here.
Three things you will not find in other volumes, however, are details on the visual illusions used by an architect, the diagrams, illustrations, and photos found in this volume that do the best job of demonstrating a point of any book around, and lastly an insight into the RT Jones philosophy of course design. This last point may be of particular importance to a number of golfers, as their favorite courses may be a RTJ work.
In the end, however, the fact that a working architect with his own interests at heart is the author keeps the book from having the impact that it could. Several jabs are taken at other architects here and there, some probably deservingly, but still making for an ugly display. The fact that the author is a skilled golfer himself comes out in one passage too many, where we see a guiding hand from the enlightened being offered to the poor initiate. However, Although many of the examples given do come from RTJ courses, this is nothing to fault the author for. Readily available material is the boon of any writer.
If you have not read anything on golf architecture, and want to get an idea of what it is all about and how it affects your game, Golf by Design might be the right place to start. Anyone with some education in course design might be best served by saving up for a trip to a famous layout, as the hands-on experience will probably be more worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Good Idea, Didn't Followthrough...
Review: Golf By Design is a breath of fresh air compared to many other golf books that are being sold today. What better way could you learn about how to play a course than from one of the world's greatest designers?From the different types of climates, grasses, bunkers and terrain, Jones gives excellent examples of what goes through a designer's mind while creating a course. By using some of the world's most beautiful and challenging holes, he suggests the diffeent strategies that can be applied while playing to allow golfers of all levels to lower their scores. Whether you are a scratch golfer or a hacker, Golf By Design will definitely help you in this most challenging of games.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for all skill levels!
Review: Golf By Design is a breath of fresh air compared to many other golf books that are being sold today. What better way could you learn about how to play a course than from one of the world's greatest designers? From the different types of climates, grasses, bunkers and terrain, Jones gives excellent examples of what goes through a designer's mind while creating a course. By using some of the world's most beautiful and challenging holes, he suggests the diffeent strategies that can be applied while playing to allow golfers of all levels to lower their scores. Whether you are a scratch golfer or a hacker, Golf By Design will definitely help you in this most challenging of games.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I expected much more insight on how to approach and manage specific design aspects from this book. This book provided nothing in respect to lowering one's score by Reading the Features of a Course. Save your money and buy a yardage book to the course you're playing. It will provide much more valuable information than this book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I expected much more insight on how to approach and manage specific design aspects from this book. This book provided nothing in respect to lowering one's score by Reading the Features of a Course. Save your money and buy a yardage book to the course you're playing. It will provide much more valuable information than this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Insights From A Leading Course Designer
Review: I found this book playing a beautiful local Robt. Trent Jones, Jr. course that's in this book, The Orchards. He shows you the clues the designer has placed their to steer you to a respectable round. From the tee box to the fairway routing and bunker construction, to the style of course, i.e. links, prairie, desert, etc., this master architect using examples of his existing designs shows the risks and rewards of different strategies. I found that not only did this help me to play Robt. Trent Jones, Jr. courses, but other good architects layouts as well. Well worth the investment!
Rating:
Summary: How to play a hole taking clues from the Course Architect
Review: I found this book playing a beautiful local Robt. Trent Jones, Jr. course that's in this book, The Orchards. He shows you the clues the designer has placed their to steer you to a respectable round. From the tee box to the fairway routing and bunker construction, to the style of course, i.e. links, prairie, desert, etc., this master architect using examples of his existing designs shows the risks and rewards of different strategies. I found that not only did this help me to play Robt. Trent Jones, Jr. courses, but other good architects layouts as well. Well worth the investment!
Rating:
Summary: Good for beginners and Experts
Review: I play many different public courses and often times have trouble reading new courses, resulting in several shots wasted until I become familiar with the course. I found Golf by Design to be really helpful in giving me the insight to read a course right off the bat and often saving me the wasted shots. It has also helped me appreciate the design and layout of the course that much more. I would also recommend it to beginners as a great introduction into 'course management'
Rating:
Summary: Improved my strategy. Lowered my score.
Review: I'm a new golfer. Mr. Jones' book has already helped me enjoy the game so much more by playing so much smarter. The discourse he provides about strategic, penal, and heroic golf hole styles provides an excellent mental framework for choosing a tactic for playing a hole. It helps organize the details Mr. Jones covers about tees, fairways, hazards, greens, optical illusions, and the architect's other "weapons" to foil your attack on the hole. For me, the test of a good author is making concepts that truly are not obvious seem very simple after you've read the book. When I hit the golf course after reading Mr. Jones' book, I must have said "Of course! Just like he said!" eighteen times. It was a real pleasure to come away from a book with an entirely new perspective on something I already enjoyed. I feel like I've already dropped three to five strokes per round by simply not getting "fooled" into traps laid by his father at my home course (Hampton Cove, Huntsville, AL). I recommend this book for the avid golfer. It will change the way you look at shot selection. It will lower your score, even if you already have a good swing, by helping you play smarter than you thought possible. You might say it gives you an "unfair" advantage.
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