The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes (Hardcover)

by Daniel Wexler (Author)
Key Phrases: golf architecture, replica holes, green fronted, New York, Golf Illustrated, The Lido (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Nothing lasts forever. Missing Links is a testament to how ephemeral even great golf courses designed by master architects can be. It's enough to break a hacker's heart.

In this lovely homage to what once was, Daniel Wexler identifies 47 historically significant pre-World War II courses lost largely to the needs of post-World War II development, and then proceeds to tee up their stories. Some of the courses loom as mythically large as Atlantis--Charles Blair Macdonald's Lido Golf Club on Long Island is still considered one of the most innovative designs ever, and A.W. Tillinghast's Fresh Meadow Country Club not only hosted the first PGA Championship, it boasted Gene Sarazen as head pro. Each of the lost gems is presented with a history filled with anecdotes, a complete diagram of the layout, a scorecard, and as many vintage photos as Wexler could fit. Most intriguing, Wexler also projects how each course might measure up today. Lido, insists Wexler, would still have golf traditionalists salivating--it would be, he surmises, "one of America's best... Every bit as good today as the day it was born." Amazingly, Missing Links evocatively extols dozens more nearly as worthy. --Jeff Silverman

Product Description
Why do a book on courses that dont exist? In the 1920s, Albert Lasker spent nearly $4 million to build Mill Road Farm Golf Club on his ultra-private estate. Ever hear of it? Daniel Wexler has found these courses: The Lido, Timber Point, Bayside Links. These are the incredible stories of Americas Missing Links.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886947600
• ISBN-13: 978-1886947603
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 10.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #354,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the golf nut, mediocre for the average man, October 19, 2000

By	Christopher Betche (Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an incredibly original and detailed work. Golf historians and enthusiasts will appreciate the detail, but the average sports fan might find it too tedious. But if you are a golfer, Wexner spookily evokes lost courses and estimates how the courses would play today. The book is a bit pricey; yet, that won't matter to the right customer. An excellent book within a narrow frame.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at the Best Disappearing Links, June 27, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Summary: The enthusiasm for private golf courses is almost as high now as it was when most were established around a hundred years ago in the United States. During the Depression and in the suburban expansions after World War II, many private golf courses either disappeared or were turned into home lots. Mr. Wexler has done an outstanding job of bringing these courses to life, even though we will never see most of these holes in person. The book features 27 of over 100 lost courses that he has found. Among these are courses that hosted the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. So much for fame!

Review: If you did not know that these courses have ceased to exist in their original form, you would think that existing courses were being described. The 27 featured courses include a visual layout of the course, scorecard, hole-by-hole descriptions, history of its development, photographs of play and holes, a little about the course designer, and an assessment of how the course would be viewed today.

I was particularly impressed to see that many of these courses disappeared in New York State. Imagine having so many scenic spots changed away from golf today. It would never happen. Or at least I hope it wouldn't. What do you think?

Of the courses, I was shocked to learn that 6 or 7 would be in the top 100 in the U.S. today. Even if that is optimistic, it does seem like a shame to lose any great golf tracks.

As a Donald Ross fan, I was astounded to find out that expanding I-95 in New Jersey had helped doom his course, the Englewood Country Club. Even more remarkable was the loss of Pinehurst number four, so close to his masterpiece of Pinehurst number two.

In addition to enjoying this book, golf club members should think about how to provide for the financial security of the courses where they play. After all, many of these are on land that would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars an acre. What is to stop conversions of more top courses into building lots in the future during times of economic troubles? Certainly, the many clubs that have invested extra millions in clubhouses and courses recently may have made this more likely.

After you finish enjoying this book, think about what else may have disappeared from your community. See if your local historical society has photographic records to help you see those missing parts of history.

Cherish what is fine . . . even when the costs are high!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars quality effort, March 31, 2006

By	J. Duncan (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

who knew america lost so many great golf courses until this book came out? the list of architects reads reads like a "who's who" with tillinghast, macdonald, ross, reynor, mackenzie and others losing their works mostly to development and depression. more than 25 in all mostly from new york's long island, chicago and california.

representing the greatest loss was "the lido," a macdonald design on the tip of long island's southside long beach. it was ranked #2 in the world to new jersey's pine valley, with many prominent players and architects ranking it #1 overall in the world. a seaside links cut in hamptons-like dunes with ever-present ocean-winds, and with replicas of many of the world's most famous holes, the reader can't help but dream of going back in time and playing here. the other lost course that will leave you wishing for a time machine is a little further out on long island "Timber Point," from the lesser known architect C.H. Alison. from the images, it looks like a cross between pine valley and cyprus, with it's half in the pine forest, half in the dunes routing.

the writing style is at times choppy and more pictures or illustrations would have been helpful (assuming any more existed), but all in all it's an engaging work that would capture the attention of most golf enthusiasts. it should be a required coffee table book at private clubs. in addition to the history, club members should be weary that their club could fall victim to the "eminent domain" development demands or hard times that claimed so many of these once thought of as "untouchable" masterpieces.