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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Tribute to and Summary of Donald Ross's Courses, July 16, 2000
Many people do not know the name, Donald Ross, but almost every golfer knows at least some of the courses he designed. Perhaps his best known is Pinehurst Number 2, which was designed to be an ultimate championship challenge which it has provided now for about 100 years. You may also recognize Inverness, Essex, Salem, Wampanoag, and Brae Burn. Enormous numbers of USGA championships have been played on his courses.Ross was born in Dornoch, Scotland, and was for a time the professional and groundskeeper there. He trained for this role under Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews. Having heard about the boom in golf in the United States, Ross left to become the pro and groundskeeper at Oakley in Watertown, Massachusetts. He redesigned Oakley, and that began a remarkable career as a golf course architect. Between 1900 and 1948, when he died, his firm completed over 400 courses in the United States and Canada. At the peak, he had 30 building crews and 2500 workers. This wonderful book was written by a cofounder of the Donald Ross Society, and shows a deep love and appreciation of Donald Ross and his work. Donald Ross courses were all designed in the days before bulldozers, so the courses were designed to match the land. Donald Ross's philosophy was to create a course that was strict but offered a fair balance between risk and reward. Designed to be played without irrigation, the holes often play differently today. He was a modest user of water for hazards and did not use it as a central hole element, but didn't actually ban it either. Signature elements include elevated tees and greens, extremely undulating tricky greens, fairways with almost no flat lies, and tees that aim you where you don't want to go. In today's parlance, it's a shotmaker's course. He loved the iron shot to the green, and provided lots of challenges of that sort. This book starts with a wonderful essay about Ross. Then it goes on to pick 18 of his holes, as he might have laid them out as a single course. You get beautiful color pictures, views from tee and green, a close look at nasty hazards, and a schematic of the hole. Naturally, I was delighted to find that the fourth hole of my home course (Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Massachusetts) was one of the featured holes. This is a 400+ yard par 4 that features a slight dogleg right, with out of bounds on the right for the length of the hole. About 200 yards out, there's a tree to block your route on the right (or potentially knock you out of bounds). On the left are sand traps every few yards to catch errant drives. Further down on the the left is a thick copse of trees. Your approach shot to the green is invariably over a bunker or two. Hit it too long, and you're probably out-of-bounds or in deep forest. The green itself is extremely hard to putt. In some locations, a three putt is well done. Whew! I'm glad I have finished reliving that hole. By the way, the book notes that a recent survey rated Brae Burn's greens the fourth toughest in the U.S. after Augusta National and others. Whether you are a Ross fan or not, any golfer will love this book. If you are a Ross fan, this is a must have. It would also make a great gift for anyone who loves Ross. Use this book to change your misconception that only a Pete Dye course can truly challenge shotmakers! Hit 'em all straight, and you'll have no problems.
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by Bradley S. Klein
by Paul Dunn
