Confidential Guide in the WSJ

[Garland Bayley]

Wow. For a moment there, I was worried the Jockey Club would be rated a must play. Since it only got a 6, I won't start the language tapes just yet.
 

[Josh Smith]

Tom,

     This is the coolest post I have read in months.  Your drive at everything you are involved with is something to behold.  Pretty cool to know your passion for this subject, golf architecture, is as alive in you now as it was when you first got interested in it.

      Please email me the udpated version...Just Kidding.

I know the feeling at your book signing, I had an artist reception the other day and 4 strangers made their way into the gallery in 3 hours.  Needless to say I did not have any sales.  Luckily a few GCAers and some close friends were there for support.

[George Pazin]

If Doak is a Doak 8 as a critic...what is he as an architect..

A 12.

 

The first time I ever saw Tom's book, I looked for the writeup on Oakmont - and put the book back, since Tom didn't give it a 10!

Josh -

Take heart - genius is rarely recognized in its time.

[Tom_Doak]

With apologies, I've taken down my review of The Jockey Club posted previously above.  A couple of people thought I was being too much of a tease.  Plus, I'm going to build a course in Argentina someday and I don't want to tick off their golf establishment by implying that I could do better than their icon.

In thinking more about this, one real conflict of interest is that we are signed up to do a couple of courses at well-known venues, which no one knows about yet for reasons of confidentiality ... but if I were to review any of their other courses, it would be hard to be that critical of what's already there, with my future client reading over my shoulder.  (In fact, one might not be a client today if I had seen their other course before 1996 and printed my review of it!)

[Dan Kelly]

It's a shame ... Ben Crenshaw can't share his deep feelings about golf architecture without risking his reputation as a nice guy...

Was anything worthwhile ever accomplished without risk?

[Mike McGuire]

I mistakingly bought two copies of the 1994 edition from Tom Doak. (I thoght 31 falvors was a different title)  Both are signed to me and numbered.

I would like to sell one copy and donate the proceeds to golfclubatlas.com

Tom Doak was contacted and was ok with it.

If there is anyone that would like to put it on ebay let me know. I will mail you the book.

Mike McGuire

I have accepted a very generous offer from Don Dinkmeyer  for the book. The entire amount will be donated to golfclubatlas.com

Thanks to Don for supporting the best golf website on the planet

[Jim Nugent]

My comment to Scott was facetious, I don't have time to hunt him down, but it does bother me that people are trying to take advantage of the short supply of books.  Price-gouging is a bad thing in any endeavour.

Tom, I'm surprised to hear you say that.  The sale can only take place if someone wants to buy the guide.  If they want to pay the price, why do you want to stop them from doing so?  It's the only way they can own it.  

I understand the reasons given in the article for not publishing more copies.  But if there were more copies, price would fall, and far more people would read and own the guide.  

Without knowing anything about your business circles, my instinctive reaction is that more widescale publishing would not hurt your standing.  Maybe just the opposite.  The guy who calls it like it is, who pulls no punches.  Besides, the guide is out there anyway, and don't people hire Doak now because of his designs, not his evaluations?  

[Tom_Doak]

Jim N:  Sorry, but I consider it price gouging when someone buys a book for $45, reads it and uses it for a few years, and then wants to sell it for ten times what they paid.

I know all about supply and demand; my dad had a Ph.D. in agricultural economics.  But you can't justify this price on having had losses in lean years, or on increased labor costs, or on anything else.  It is clearly just a case of trying to make as much cash as possible off someone else's labor.  That's why I sold some of the original books for well below the market price.

[Chris Kane]

I hope Tom doesn't do a reprint, and I hope he doesn't do an update.  With his standing in the game now (as compared to 1996), it would be unethical to publish such a book.

[Tom_Doak]

Chris:  It's unethical for me to write?

Is it also unethical for me to post here?

Ours is still a free country, I thought yours was, too.

[Chris Kane]

Tom, I'm a big fan of the Confidential Guide, its fantastic becuase it introduced frank commentary to golf courses.  You were relatively independant and uncompromised when you saw most of the courses in it and wrote about them.

Thats not the case now, you're a major player in golf course design.  There's some hard-hitting stuff in that book, which was fine when you were a minor player, but now you're as compromised as anyone.  

I did not say it was unethical for you to post here - I said it would be unethical for you, in 2006, to publish a book which heavily criticises the work of your competitors.  I'm yet to see you provide heavy criticism of someone else's work here - your contribution here is limited to discussion golf course architecture, and your own work in particular.  Nothing wrong with that.

[PThomas]

I gotta disagree with you Chris...you may feel Tom shouldn't criticize others' work, you may not agree with his opinions, but it's not unethical to do so

[Tom_Doak]

Chris:

I don't understand your meaning of "compromised".  My reviews (and motives) were questioned ten years ago.  The only real defense for such a book is that a number of people found the reviews to be worth reading.  I think I could meet the same standard today.  Yes, the book might be taken in a different context by some readers become I'm more well known as an architect now, but still, it's going to succeed or fail based on the integrity of the reviews.

Now, some people may think it's unprofessional (as an architect) to critique other designers' work, but it's not unprofessional as an author / critic.  One reason I have never applied for membership to the American Society of Golf Course Architects is that I don't want them to ask about my plans for following up the book ... there is nothing that would prevent any of their members for writing a similar volume today, so why should I have to make any promises?  I am simply reserving the right to write, when and if I want to write.

Is somebody putting you up to this so I'll get so ticked off that I will publish again?

P.S.  Has Clayts stopped writing about other people's courses now that he's a famous Australian golf architect?

[Chris Kane]

Tom,

it's going to succeed or fail based on the integrity of the reviews

Well if you include your own courses, the reviews of those will struggle to meet the "integrity" test (try as hard as you might, it is impossible to be objective about your own work).  

Now, some people may think it's unprofessional (as an architect) to critique other designers' work, but it's not unprofessional as an author / critic.

It wouldn't be unprofessional as an author/critic, but I disagree that you can switch hats like that.  When people read what you write, they do so with the fact that you're a talented golf course architect in mind.  

Is somebody putting you up to this so I'll get so ticked off that I will publish again

That's out of line Tom, and you know it.  I'm not arrogant enough to think that me of all people could drive you reprint or update.

P.S.  Has Clayts stopped writing about other people's courses now that he's a famous Australian golf architect?

Clayts hasn't stopped, but show me published work where he's criticised a competitor.  I suspect you'll be searching a long time, but I could be wrong  Now that he's a member of the SAGCA, he couldn't do it even if he wanted to.

[Ed Gulewitz]

Tom,

You may just merely be trying to quiet the choir here.  Almost everyone here would love to see an updated version.  

I think that the previous book (which I haven't read ) has already documented your views at the time.  Fellow course architects, could criticize you motives for a reprint/update, but the pre-existence of the first publication would act as an antitote to their potential venom.  

It would be interesting to see how some of the courses you reviewed may have changed or been affected by your candor.  Also, it may be interesting to ask how other architects have been first affected by your book and then secondly by your designs.

Sure, you are now an architect with designs competing with the ones you previously reviewed.  But an updated version of your book would shed new light on the past insights and provide additional perspective with your current thoughts.  In other words, the new book could show any evolution that you have gone through.

P.S.
If you have any extras lying around, I'd be more than happy to take one off your hands when I come up to the Cherry Festival this year! (ha ha)

[Jim Nugent]

Jim N:  Sorry, but I consider it price gouging when someone buys a book for $45, reads it and uses it for a few years, and then wants to sell it for ten times what they paid.

I know all about supply and demand; my dad had a Ph.D. in agricultural economics.  But you can't justify this price on having had losses in lean years, or on increased labor costs, or on anything else.  It is clearly just a case of trying to make as much cash as possible off someone else's labor.  That's why I sold some of the original books for well below the market price.

Tom, I just figured out that these are books you sold to friends at a big discount, who turned around and cashed in.  I agree with you in this case.

[Peter Pratt]

I don't see any problem with Tom releasing a revised edition of his book. Great writers review others' books all the time--in fact, it's an esential part of what they do (Updike, Amis, Carey, the list is endless). What's so different about an architect of considerable stature reviewing other architects' work?

[Dan Kelly]

Great writers review others' books all the time--in fact, it's an esential part of what they do (Updike, Amis, Carey, the list is endless). What's so different about an architect of considerable stature reviewing other architects' work?

There wouldn't be anything different if the writers of the world were competing with one another for the privilege of writing a limited number of books.

They aren't. If Tom Wolfe rips John Irving's latest book, that will in no way undermine Irving's ability to get his next book published. And it will give Wolfe no particular advantage in getting HIS next book published.

Quite unlike authors, there is a limited number of opportunities for golf course architects.

Don't you see that that makes all the difference in the world?

[Andy Hughes]

Sorry, but I consider it price gouging when someone buys a book for $45, reads it and uses it for a few years, and then wants to sell it for ten times what they paid.

Tom, please call me some day when you decide to sell your house  

[Tom_Doak]

Dan:  There are a limited number of opportunities for golf course architects, but I think it is beyond any writer's ability to affect who gets those jobs very much.

I think that in writing, ethics depend on what you write.

[Dan Kelly]

There wouldn't be anything different if the writers of the world were competing with one another for the privilege of writing a limited number of books.

They aren't. If Tom Wolfe rips John Irving's latest book, that will in no way undermine Irving's ability to get his next book published. And it will give Wolfe no particular advantage in getting HIS next book published.

Quite unlike authors, there is a limited number of opportunities for golf course architects.

Don't you see that that makes all the difference in the world?

Dan, there is a difference; however, for this to be true architects must have an exceedingly low opinion of their clients. Presumably, someone who has either the power or the money to green light a course has the ability to distinguish opinion from fact.

Or was Julian Robertson a rube who stumbled into his money...

Huh?

I have no idea what you're saying here.

**********

And as for Tom Doak's response to my previous post:

Let me make something clear: I have NO OPINION of the ETHICS of your reprinting the original Guide, publishing a revised and updated edition, commenting here on your own work or others'. The ethics of those things are for you to decide, as far as I'm concerned.

But tell me something: If you knew that your comments about your competitors would have no effect on their (and your) ability to get commissions, would you be less reluctant to put The Confidential Guide back on the market?

[George Pazin]

We've argued a similar issue before, with regard to Ron Whitten commenting on golf courses while becoming involved with actual designs. Dan made a lot of interesting and compelling points then, though there is a distinct difference in that Whitten is an employee of GD, whereas Tom's his own boss.

I can't see where it would be unethical for Tom to put out another edition of TGC. I can see where it might be a questionable business decision.

The bottom line is that it's Tom's choice, and he is the one who would live with the consequences, be they positive or negative.

As for the price gouging stuff, it just depends on whether someone wants to be a man of his word. It sounds like Tom made the conditions of his sale clear up front. To violate those might be legal, but it certainly does seem unethical.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:  That Socrates guy sounds like he might have been a good golf course designer.  A real waste of talent there.    But adopting the Socratic process to golf course architecture is not often tried, especially not by designers from different firms.  I think I'm one of the few guys ever to be involved in such an experiment and the relative success of that course has yet to be determined.

Dan:  The answer to your question is a hedge ... I would be much less reluctant to update The Confidential Guide if my fellow architects were all comfortable that it would have no effect on the business.  But I don't think you or I would be able to convince them of that.

[Don Dinkmeyer]

I mistakingly bought two copies of the 1994 edition from Tom Doak. (I thoght 31 falvors was a different title)  Both are signed to me and numbered.

I would like to sell one copy and donate the proceeds to golfclubatlas.com

Tom Doak was contacted and was ok with it.

If there is anyone that would like to put it on ebay let me know. I will mail you the book.

Mike McGuire

I have accepted a very generous offer from Don Dinkmeyer  for the book. The entire amount will be donated to golfclubatlas.com

Thanks to Don for supporting the best golf website on the planet

\

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of a win-win-win situation!!
Don

[Andy Hughes]

Wow.
Confidential Guide for sale on EBAY