The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece [Hardcover]

Stan Byrdy (Author), William, III Lanier (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2005

This book reveals the true genius of the Augusta National Golf Club like no other-documenting its original design, chronicling the architectural and design changes over time, and analyzing the philosophies of its creators, Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones. The Augusta National Golf Club will help you understand why the course has a reputation of legendary proportion and how MacKenzie single-handedly changed forever the way courses are built.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is a must-own if you care at all about the history of this great venue. -- Golf Today, June 2005

Sports Media Group has published the first dust-free coffee table book; it simply doesn't sit long enough to collect dust. -- Golf Chicago!, April 2005

From the Inside Flap

Stan Byrdy, a longtime Augusta resident, has unearthed never-before-published photographic evidence of how the course looked in the 1930s, researched and documented the numerous changes made to it, and has provided the definitive work that answers the question of why Augusta National is the course that every golfer wants to play.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sports Media Group (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587262584
• ISBN-13: 978-1587262586
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare images of the original course from 1934!!!!, April 3, 2005

By 

R. A. Dewall Jr. "Masters Nut" (The Mitten State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece (Hardcover)

This is the most unique book ever done on the Augusta National. The Author, Stan Byrdy, is a local historian and broadcaster, and an Augusta insider! This is an oversized, coffee table, book. It provides amazing historical information and Masters stories, but the best thing about it is the vintage photographs of each of The National's original holes. The book also has yardage-book-style drawings of each original hole (circa 1934), and the modern-day hole -- so you can make side-by-side comaprisons of how each hole has changed over time. The complete architectural history of each hole is also provided!

This is a very important book for the golf fan, and a must-have for everyone interested in the Masters, or the Augusta National Golf Club, Bobby Jones, and Alister MacKenzie.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish., October 16, 2007

By 

Daniel J. Florip (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece (Hardcover)

I purchased this book and subsequently returned it. For all of its promise regarding documentation of changes to the course and side-by-side drawings comparing the original holes to the present-day versions, it was a supreme disappointment. I am very knowledgeable on the subject of The Masters and the Augusta National Golf Club, and nothing in this book can't be found in the other four or five exceptional books on the history of the tournament and the golf course. What's more, the diagrams of the holes are not in proportion (i.e., the drawing of the 1934 version of a hole is not drawn in the same scale as the drawing of the present version of the same hole); for a course which has been lengthened by hundreds of yards over 70 years, it would be nice to be able to compare such yardage changes in the side-by-side drawings. As presented, however, each individual drawing is shrunken or enlarged to fit the dimensions of the page, and scale is not considered. The drawings are also clumsily drawn and lettered by hand, which is not aesthetically pleasing in the least and is exceedingly amateurish; given the wide range of easily accessible graphic design software now available, this is inexcusable. I cannot recommend this book. Instead, a purchaser is much better off buying the books by Frank Christian, David Owen, David Sowell, or Charles Price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read with amazing pictures., March 18, 2006

By 

Amanda M. Wagner (Halifax, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece (Hardcover)

This book was an excellent choice for serious golfers. People who love the game of golf love the Augusta National Golf Course and the Masters. The pictures of the holes and of the course make you feel like you are there. You can feel its beauty. It is a geat book to give as a gift.