Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "If you fused the wounds of master architect Tom Simpson and golfing great Bobby Jones, you might assume that golf courses are "infallible tribunals" where..." (more)
Key Phrases: golf architecture, armchair architect, design ploys, Pine Valley, Augusta National, Pebble Beach (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Shackelford is a golf journalist and traditionalist worried that equipment and television are degrading golf into a sport played by thrashers rather than thinkers. In this enjoyable effort to spread appreciation for golf-course architecture, Shackelford preaches a simple dogma: a course should be naturalistic, replete with tempting, playable shot options. Knowing that golf aficionados can sense the difference between playing an assembly-line course built during the 1970s and a mature one from the 1920s, Shackelford puts flesh on the bones of their intuition with a review of design schools. He extols the "strategic" school, exemplified by St. Andrews or Augusta National, which he justifies with detailed assessments of the famous Road Hole and Amen Corner, respectively. Caustic about designs he disdains, Shackelford is more than an armchair critic because he helped create a new public course in Southern California, illustrated, as are his other topics, with a profusion of sketches and photographs. An insightful instilling of knowledge, Shackelford's history and analysis will score low with the cerebral segment of golfdom--and, remember, low is good. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

To a majority of the millions of golfers around the world, the subject of golf course design often seems foreign and intimidating. Yet, the overwhelming reason cited for playing golf is an attraction to the beautiful and often ingeniously designed courses where the game is played. Grounds for Golf is distinct from other golf design-related books in that it covers a wide variety of topics in an informative, flowing nar-rative that will interest all golfers. Noted golf writer Geoff Shackel-ford's text is supplemented with photography, classic anec-dotes, famous quotations, and informative hole depic-tions by architect Gil Hanse. Readers finally have a course design primer that adds to their enjoyment of golf's lore while also introducing the fundamentals of golf architecture in an interactive format that will help their games.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (April 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031227808X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312278083
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,284 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So, that's why playing at the Riviera was so much fun!, May 12, 2003

By	"sheffer17" (San Dimas, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grounds For More Great Golf Books Like This, May 11, 2003

By	"sandybarrensjr" (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for the uninitiated, September 6, 2004

By	T. Enst - See all my reviews

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.