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.
Rating:
Summary: Good Insights From A Leading Course Designer
Review: RTJ II's Golf By Design provides a number of insights into the mind of the designer and how they view the elements that go into the design of a golf hole. I found the book to be more descriptive of how designers think and less prescriptive about what the player should do in terms of dealing with the various design elements (Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons is a much more strategic approach to playing individual holes). Many of the leading architects of this day and age have written similar books (Trent Jones Sr., Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio ....) - consider this book RTJ II's contribution to this genre .....
Rating:
Summary: Good for both golfers and prospective designers.
Review: This is a well-written and interesting look at the strategic/penal aspects of the golf course. Robert Trent Jones has certainly designed some of the world's best courses, and is qualified on the subject. This book is a very comprehensive discussion of what goes through a designer's mind when creating the golf course. However, it is probably most useful for the avid golfer who wishes to better understand the design of the courses that she/he plays for course management purposes. Playing golf holes with an understanding of what the designer had in mind should make anyone a better player. When studied carefully, this book can perhaps help a golfer more than most of the instructional books available today. If you are more interested in design books which are not really meant for playing purposes, I recommend "The Anatomy of a Golf Course," by Tom Doak, as well as "Masters of the Links," edited by Geoff Shackelford.
Rating:
Summary: Good for both golfers and prospective designers.
Review: This is a well-written and interesting look at the strategic/penal aspects of the golf course. Robert Trent Jones has certainly designed some of the world's best courses, and is qualified on the subject. This book is a very comprehensive discussion of what goes through a designer's mind when creating the golf course. However, it is probably most useful for the avid golfer who wishes to better understand the design of the courses that she/he plays for course management purposes. Playing golf holes with an understanding of what the designer had in mind should make anyone a better player. When studied carefully, this book can perhaps help a golfer more than most of the instructional books available today. If you are more interested in design books which are not really meant for playing purposes, I recommend "The Anatomy of a Golf Course," by Tom Doak, as well as "Masters of the Links," edited by Geoff Shackelford.
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