GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group

The Evangelist of Golf  / George Bahto

(1/25) > >>

Matt_Ward:
If you're looking for the perfect gift for Xmas that gives you all the major and minor details on the legendary Charles Blair Macdonald than rush, DON'T WALK, to get the first rate effort by George Bahto that chronicles the great man's life and the works of art he created.

I got the book early for a media review and once you pick it up you simply keep turning page after page after page. It's totally engrossing and the marriage between photographs and narrative is well paced and clearly researched to the hilt.

The book is printed by Clock Tower Press -- formely Sleeping Bear Press, and although it prices out at $85, the details are so rich and fascinating they could choke a horse. Any golf library missing this book is one lacking indeed.

The narrative is straightforward and contains a wonderful array of sidebars that outline all of the different players of the period and for those on GCA who are fascinated by the "how and why" -- Bahto delivers no less than a Barry Bonds home run.

When you get a clear break down of the holes at NGLA and Yale you get more than you might otherwise. Just when you thought you may have heard it all or known it all -- Bahto goes one step beyond.

I know George is well respected by many and this book, in my opinion, gives the golfer who loves architecture a tour de force effort. It is a MOST read for anyone who wants to know more about golf's past and how the past plays such a major role among a number of contemporary designs today.

Well done George -- I believe the ole man himself would approve. ;)

Gib_Papazian:
You simply cannot imagine how much love and effort went into that book. George is a genius, and studying at the feet of the master has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to him for bringing a chronicle of the man who literally ramrodded the game into this nation. . . . and for reviving the memory of an obscure Princeton Engineer/Surveyor who carried the torch to every corner of America as his protege.

Some projects sort of go on for so long that it is hard to envision that one day when all the research and writing will come to fruition in the form of a book. Even after all these years, seeing all the rough copies and proofs, I cannot believe what a spectacular job Brett Marshall did in laying it out and bringing the "Evangelist of Golf" to the public.

The astonding thing is that there are two more sequels in the pipeline. . . . . all from a man who spent the better part of his life as the neighborhood dry cleaner in sleepy New Jersey hamlet.

Life is amazing sometimes.

Craig_Rokke (Guest):
I'm about 100 pages into it and highly recommend it!

Mike_Cirba:
Matt;

Thanks for the preview!

I'm expecting my copy to arrive any day now, and if the mailman doesn't bring it soon I may have to go "postal" on him!!!   ;D

Robert Kimball:
I am also having a "Pavlovian" reaction every
time I hear the mail truck!!  I pre-ordered through
Amazon, so they are usually pretty timely.  I guess
I am giving myself an "early Christmas present."   :D

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page