This might illuminate some discussions on here. Just out in UK, January in US. Might be worth an interview?
Willie Park Junior: The Man Who Took Golf to the World
Walter Stephen
Book Description
The story of a two-time winner of the Open, designer of 160 Golf Courses and author of the first book on golf written by a golf professional.
In the 19th century Musselburgh was a hotbed of golfing genius and the local links produced five Open Champions. One of these was Willie Park Junior. More than a good golfer, he redefined the image of the golf professional and took the game from being an esoteric pastime to its present status as a world game.
As well as winning the Open in 1887 and 1889, Willie played challenge and demonstration matches at home, in Europe and in North America. His workshops turned out golf balls and clubs to his own design and he had retail outlets in Edinburgh, Manchester, London, New York and Montreal. He designed and laid out over 100 golf courses in the British Isles and Western Europe. When he published The Game of Golf in 1896 it was the first book on the game written by a professional.
World War I killed off Willie’s activities at home, so he moved across the Atlantic. Concentrating on course design he engineered over 40 courses in the US and 20 in Canada.
Willie Park was the epitome of Scottish Victorian enterprise. Though not alone, he was the most active of missionaries, taking the skills and equipment of a local game to what were then the two major continents.
From the Inside Flap
In the 19th century, Musselburgh, Scotland was a hotbed of golfing genius. The local links produced five Open Champions, and of these golfing greats, Willie Park Junior was undoubtedly more than just a good golfer. Park redefined the image of the golf professional and took the game from being an esoteric pastime, practised in a few favoured localities, to its present status as a worldwide game.
A two-time winner of the Open, Park also played challenge and demonstration matches at home and abroad. Ever the entrepreneur, his workshops turned out golf balls and clubs to his own design, with retail outlets in Edinburgh, Manchester, London, New York and Montreal, and Park was the first golf professional to write a manual – The Game of Golf – which appeared in 1896. His career in golf course design took him from Britain to Western Europe and then North America; in total Park lay out over 160 courses worldwide, over 40 of these in the United States and more than 20 in Canada, many of which are still in use today.
After a century of improved golf technology – better clubs, a larger ball, and more tailored course layouts – what legacy has Willie Park Junior left to the modern golfer? Walter Stephen tours us round some of Park’s best-loved courses to see how they have stood the tests of time and tee-off.
About the Author
Walter Stephen worked by night as a baker in Musselburgh and during the day would often play over the Musselburgh Old Course. Now, as a GMA (Golfer of Modest Attainment) he tries to get round as many of Willie Park’s courses as he can, telling all who will listen what a marvellous legacy we share today. Walter previously edited Think Global, Act Local: The Life and Legacy of Patrick Geddes (2004) with Luath Press.