Best book on Augusta National ? Your recommendations.

[Sébastien Dhaussy]

Preparing Christmas, I search for a good book on ANGC with history of the course and good photos showing the evolution.  

What do you think of Stan Birdy's book : "The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece" ?

What is the best choice for you ?

Many thanks.  

[Tony_Muldoon]

Sebastien is obviously more of a purist than I am.  I was once recomended a history of Augusta "that tells you where the bodies are burried".  I can't remember the title.  Is it any good?

[BCrosby]

I like Birdy's book very much. Lots of great old photographs.

Frank Christian's book is also very good. Mostly historic photographs, mostly of players but some good aerials from the '30's.

David Owen's book is pretty good too. He was given access to ANGC records and files that most don't get. A book commissioned by the club, essentially. A corrective to some of the wilder myths about Cliff Roberts. It has a whiff, however, of someone towing the company line. But some good info on the building of the course.

Bob

[Scott Stearns]

i think Christian's is the best photo book, but if you are looking for before and after, good luck---doesnt exist


samson's book is the best on the tournament, with charles price's a close second.

[BCrosby]

Scott -

Check out Birdy's book. It's nothing but before and after stuff.

Price's book is very good. I had forgotten about that one.

Bob

[Bob_Huntley]

I am not sure of this, but I believe that Charles Price had a closer relationship with Bob Jones than just about any other writer.

In a long conversation I had with him some months before he died, he related some anecdotes of his time with Jones and the lighting of cigarettes for the great man. I think he could have written the best book of the ANGC, Cliff Roberts, warts and all, if it wasn't for his great affection for Jones and his family.

[BCrosby]

Bob -

I agree. Others that might have written great books on ANGC would include HWW, O.B Keeler and Furman Bisher (Atlanta J&C). But none did, probably out of affection for Jones, but we can't be sure.

MacKenzie would have been an interesting interview too. I think there was a lot going on beneath the surface of the few letters between MacK and Roberts that survive.

The other person who would have made for a good interview was Chandler Egan. But he died in '35.

Bob

[Brian Phillips]

Sebastien,

Here are the books that I own with comments:

Augusta National and the Masters - Frank Christian
Good photographic book...not much else

The Story of Augusta National Golf Club - Clifford Roberts
Very, very interesting book with lots of insight from the man that help create the 'aura' of Augusta.  Very interesting chapter on the changes to the course including the amount of drainage installed after construction over the years.  Hardly a mention about MacKenzie and quite biased towards Bobby Jones.

The Making of the Masters - David Owen
Good historical book that as Bob stated corrected a number of the mistakes in Roberts book.

The Masters - Curt Sampson
Not sure what I think of this book....tabloid, is a good way of putting it.

The Augusta National Golf Club - Stan Byrdy
Superb balance of photographs and historical facts.  Don't agree with everything in the book about the design genius of MacKenzie...but a superb book.

I would buy the Byrdy book for yourself or anyone interested in the Masters.  The Roberts book is very hard to get hold of these days but worth it as a collectors item and to also try to analyse Roberts way of thinking, whom I think was a much nicer man than many realise.

Cheers,

Brian.

[john_stiles]

Like the others, I enjoy the Byrdy book for its good description of the course and the many revisions.

The introduction of all key 'players' in the ANGC story, the early history of the property, and the Augusta area was interesting.

The book was well done and included quite an account of the course changes including a hole by hole description, hole sketches for the 'Circa 1930s' and the 'Present, a list of the major hole changes, a mix of new and old photographs, etc.

[Bob_Huntley]

The Story of Augusta National Golf Club - Clifford Roberts
Very, very interesting book with lots of insight from the man that help create the 'aura' of Augusta.  Very interesting chapter on the changes to the course including the amount of drainage installed after construction over the years.  Hardly a mention about MacKenzie and quite biased towards Bobby Jones.


 The Roberts book is very hard to get hold of these days but worth it as a collectors item and to also try to analyse Roberts way of thinking, whom I think was a much nicer man than many realise.

Cheers,

Brian.

Brian,

In writing that Roberts was quite biased toward Jones, can you wonder? Roberts became a very rich man by admitting the captains of industry into the AGNC and handling their companies pension fund, General Motors being one of them.The bias was sorely tried in later years culminating in the fact that Roberts was not invited to Jones' funeral services.

His treatment of an impoverished MacKenzie seeking his fee for the design of the course was butal in the extreme and does not impress me with his kinder side.

Bob

[Robert Kimball]

Actually, Furman Bisher did write a book about ANGC and The Masters. Printed back in 1976, I believe. He gave me a copy when I worked at the AJC, that's the only reason I knew it was around.
Obviously out of print, but I think you might be able to get a copy on Amazon or Ebay.  

And not to sound like a broken record, but the Byrdy book is very good. Byrdy also has a great "postcard book" series about Augusta and Aiken golf which is worth looking into.

[Brian Phillips]

Bob,

I am just a young nieve man that trys to find the good in everybody  .  Reading the Roberts book I felt sympathy for the man, he must have been a lonely person.

Brian

[Bob_Huntley]

Brian,

He was a first class shit.

Bob

[BCrosby]

Rob -

I have had Bisher's book since it was published in the '70's. Unfortunately it's not very good. There are parts about the history of ANGC that are plain wrong. I think Furman probably wrote it quickly and without a lot of care.

Which is a real shame because he knew Jones and Roberts as well as anyone. I am convinced that the most interesting things he knows about ANGC he did not include in his book.

Bob

[Lou_Duran]

Sir Huntley,

The parents of an acquaintance used to spend a few days at ANGC every couple of years as guests of a Dallas-based member.  The comments I've heard from him suggest a different perspective of Cliff Roberts.

During Mr. Roberts' reign, these folks were invariably treated like members.  They had the run of the place, and felt welcomed.

This apparently changed when when Hardin and Stephens took over.  From what I understand, the place has become very corporate and restrictive, and these folks have not been back in years.  Which, I suspect, is just like the current powers-that-be at ANGC like it.

As to Dr. MacKenzie's architectural fees, Mr. Jones should not get a free pass on this.  Roberts no doubt played the bad cop, but Jones certainly had the wherewithall to make things right.

Having been around a few wealthy individuals in my time, it may be counterintuitive, but there seems to be a correlation between having money and being adverse to letting go of some of it.  Earning a commission is only half the battle.  The not so uncommon "a dollar in my pocket is better than one in yours"  mentality makes collecting it just as difficult sometimes.

   

[Sébastien Dhaussy]

Thanks to all for your advices. I think I'm going to buy Stan Birdy book (I've always David Owens book).

Many thanks  

[Scott Stearns]

Bob-

Roberts wasn't invited to Jones funeral?  where did you learn this?  I'd love to know more.

[Bob_Huntley]

Lou,

You wrote,"This apparently changed when when Hardin and Stephens took over.  From what I understand, the place has become very corporate and restrictive, and these folks have not been back in years.  Which, I suspect, is just like the current powers-that-be at ANGC like it."

Cliff Roberts would present the the nominations of future members to Bobby Jones and his reply was " Cliff, it would seem as though their companies can well pay the bills, but are they clubable?".

Jones was nonplussed by Roberts seemingly insatiable appetite for members of the corporate variety. One member who stood up to Roberts, the incomparable Billy Joe Patton, was ousted and returned much later when Roberts had passed on.

Bob

[Lou_Duran]

Bob,

Very interesting.

I've been around a few organizations where there could only be one rooster in the chicken house.  No doubt that Roberts guarded his yard with very sharp spurs.

What I would have given to been a fly on the wall when Patton and Roberts went at it.  Why Jones "allowed" Patton to be exiled would be interesting to know.

By the way, what does "clubable" mean?  Do you think it has to do with how the prospective member fits socially and economically with the membership?

I would love to read a book on Mr. Jones that deals with all aspects of the legend, including those which may not be so laudable based on today's standards.  I have no documented basis for my suspicions, but I think that perhaps Cliff Roberts took some of the heat for actions and policies that may have been directed from higher up.

Mr. Jones was not the greatest amateur champion because he was weak-willed.  To have conquered his very bad temper and become the best golfer in the world by his late 20s demonstrates quite the opposite.  Battling his dreaded disease with such grace, and delivering one of the most moving short speeches I have ever heard (while receiving an important award in the UK) provide further evidence as to his internal fortitude.

For these reasons, the suggestion that Jones had to put up with Roberts' bad behavior has not made a lot of sense to me.  An alternative explanation might be that Roberts didn't mind playing the bad cop, and the reputation actually enabled him to run a club full of very strong egos.

This would also have served Jones well in his legal, PR, and entertainment endeavors, all which benefited from him having an impeccably clean, national hero image.  In that light, perhaps Roberts was really a more admirable character than how he is being portrayed in the literature.  

On the other hand, maybe "he was a first class shit".