'Where Golf Is Great' for $19.95

[David_Tepper]

I noticed this afternoon that Borders bookstores are selling copies of Jim Finegan's 'Where Golf Is Great' for $19.95. The books are stocked among the bargain/remaindered books.  (Warning, you may have to reinforce your coffee table before bringing a copy home! )

[Steve Wilson]

Got my copy for Xmas.  Haven't got into it yet.  May need to do some lifting before I try to explore it.

[Matt_Ward]

David:

Fine book for the pics and the different locales that were visited but the course analysis is on the lite side of things. Don't expect any Doak-isms from Jim F.

[Michael Whitaker]

Bookcloseouts.com has it for $19.99... with free shipping through 12/31:

Click Here For Link

[PCCraig]

I agree with Matt Ward in saying that it's a nice book with some great pictures, but there isn't much analysis to speak of. However, it's worth getting for $20.

[Tony Weiler]

I was expecting this to be a "deal" on a great course!    

[Tom Dunne]

I find it a little sad that this wonderful work would be so quickly dismissed simply because it lacks hardcore GCA-style architectural analysis. I admit I'm biased as I've edited Jim's work on a number of occasions and am fortunate to count him as a friend, but I believe he's nothing less than the finest golf-travel writer alive. He brings places to life in a way that few can, with warmth, humor and true fellow-feeling. His books are loaded with vignettes that simply make you feel glad to be a golfer. As some have pointed out before, you often have to get familiar with Jim's writing style and read between the lines to know when he's being critical of a course, but a small measure of that is there. And if you asked me to choose one writer to absolutely nail a description of one of the world's truly great courses or holes, I'd go with Jim Finegan.

$19.95 for a work of this magnitude is a steal.

[PCCraig]

I find it a little sad that this wonderful work would be so quickly dismissed simply because it lacks hardcore GCA-style architectural analysis. I admit I'm biased as I've edited Jim's work on a number of occasions and am fortunate to count him as a friend, but I believe he's nothing less than the finest golf-travel writer alive. He brings places to life in a way that few can, with warmth, humor and true fellow-feeling. His books are loaded with vignettes that simply make you feel glad to be a golfer. As some have pointed out before, you often have to get familiar with Jim's writing style and read between the lines to know when he's being critical of a course, but a small measure of that is there. And if you asked me to choose one writer to absolutely nail a description of one of the world's truly great courses or holes, I'd go with Jim Finegan.

$19.95 for a work of this magnitude is a steal.

Tom-

I never dismissed it or his work. I think it's a really nice book and at $19.95 it's worth buying it right now if you don't have it already and are a general collector of golf books. I think I paid $50 for it a while back. I just wish there was a little more analysis, not descriptions, of some of the more memorable holes. That is what would of pushed the book over the edge into greatness for me.

Unfortunatley that type of "hardcore" analysis doesn't sell golf books...pictures do. Which is why some editor in New York probably pushed it on the massive coffee table/picture book route.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom D:

Let me outline my thoughts a bit further given your comments.

I agree with Pat C -- the focus of the book is more pic-oriented with a 101-201 level analysis of the golf courses in question. I don't doubt Jim F's passion for the game but I am bit a more interested in delving a good bit more than the surface level stuff one sees with the book. The photos are great and the general tour it provides is well done for the person who needs an intro to what is available.

The real passionate golfer who is at second base doesn't need such a fairly rudimentary description / analysis.

The photos are good and the small sidebar pieces are a nice touch.

Tom, if you truly believe that Jim is the guy who best delivers the kind of real detailed analysis for any course then I respectfully disagree. There are others -- Jim is a wonderful guy and his love for the game is clear but the issue is not about "description" of a course but where it succeeds and where it comes up short. On that side of things, in my mind, Jim opts not to push the pedal down when a course(s) fall short. You ask to read "between the lines" -- I did that and still little -- you say there is "a small measure" and I have to say the emphasis was nearly non-existent in most instances.

For $19.95 it's worth the $$ -- for it's original price it's worth it only for those who are just getting into the game.

[Tom Dunne]

Matt, I didn't say that Jim is the best golf architecture analyst working today. That is not the same thing as being a great travel writer. 

In any case, I can safely hazard a guess that no matter what price you pay for this book, retail or discount, it will be worth significantly more when you pass it on to your kids or grandkids. Think about what a document this will be 30, 60, 90 years from now.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom:

I have the utmost respect for Jim and for the passion he feels for golf.

What I said was that there are different audiences -- for those who want much more detailed analysis of key courses to play the work done by Jim in, "Where Golf is Great" is lacking. It's more descriptive than anything else.

I enjoy such books but given the range of insights that Jim could bring to bear it skirts way too often taking the direct approach in saying as much. No doubt the sidebars provided are informative but GOLFERS who travel to far away places need much more than a architecture-lite book.

Tom, I appreciate what the book offers but design junkies will likely share the point of view that Pat and I shared.

[Eric_Terhorst]

Indeed, Tom, I wonder what book Messrs. Ward and Craig have read.  At random, I opened the book just now to these two paragraphs (regarding Turnberry Ailsa):

The next eight holes are strung out like a necklace, along and above the sea.  If there is another  links course where eight consecutive holes are able to produce challenge of this level and pleasure of this depth, I don't know where it might be.  For what we are talking about here are golf holes so splendid that they might actually measure up to the pleasure of the scenery.  Consider the setting first, as the Firth of Clyde at long last melds into the Irish Sea, with Arran's mountains looming across the water to the north, the curving outline of the Mull of Kintyre due west, and popping out deep in the foreground to claim our attention, rocky, turtle-backed Ailsa Craig, the plug of an ancient volcano.  It is a panorama of surpassing fascination and one made all the richer when the day is crystalline, for then we are able to make out, on a southwesterly heading, even Northern Ireland's Antrim Coast, by the Giant's Causeway. 

The parade of great golf holes accompanying this riveting landscape begins with the 165-yd 4th, "Woe-be-Tide," a witty play on words that stems from the presence of the beach along the left.  The shot is played uphill across rough ground to a small and strikingly sited plateau green with a long, steep falloff left and a bunker backed by a sand hill at the right.  Any kind of wind is a mischief.  This is one of the best medium-length one-shotters you will ever play.

Finnegan then goes on similarly about the other holes in the "necklace."

Tom, what a delightful job it must be to edit Finnegan's prose.  The description virtually transports the reader to the spot and its simple portrayal of the hole's strategy is just right for aficianodos.  I'd be surprised if the words "internal contouring" and other over-used phrases of GCA geekery appear in this book, and we are gratefully spared other forms of long-winded "analysis." 

Getting this book for $19.95 is thievery.  Of course, shipping will likely add another $50 

[David_Tepper]

Matt -

Tailoring the content of a book on the golf courses of Scotland & Ireland to "those who want much more detailed analysis of key courses" would likely limit the audience of such a book to a few thousand golfers. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

If you think that "GOLFERS who travel to far away places need much more than a architecture-lite book" and there is a market for such a book, write a good one and see how many copies it sells. Based on the many golfers I have met in Scotland & Ireland (both visitors and locals), I think you would be disappointed.

DT  
 

[Sean_A]

Finegan is a very good writer and his trilogy is lovely.  My beef with Where Golf is Great is that it repeats large parts of the trilogy.  There is very little new material.  The one glaring exception is the piece on Carnoustie.  Finegan essentially retracts all he wrote about the course on his trilogy and he claims this is due to the recent changes.  Sure, the course was worked on, but its essence is the same.  Either you dig it or youi don't, but the changes don't make or break the course.

If you don't have the trilogy, buy this newish book.

Ciao

[Jim Tang]

I have that book and think it is great.  It helped me plan a recent trip to Ireland/Northern Ireland last July.  Granted, it doesn't have a huge amount of detail when discussing the golf courses, and it is mostly pictures.  But, so what?  Not every book needs to break down golf courses to the degree we here at GCA would like to see.

[Michael Whitaker]

If you do not have this book and can buy it for $20... JUST DO IT! You will NOT regret the purchase. It is a beautiful book and an outstanding addition to any golf library.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Matt -

Tailoring the content of a book on the golf courses of Scotland & Ireland to "those who want much more detailed analysis of key courses" would likely limit the audience of such a book to a few thousand golfers. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

If you think that "GOLFERS who travel to far away places need much more than a architecture-lite book" and there is a market for such a book, write a good one and see how many copies it sells. Based on the many golfers I have met in Scotland & Ireland (both visitors and locals), I think you would be disappointed.

DT   
 

Amen, and well said.  As someone who has been fortunate enough to sell a significant number of books, I agree wholeheartedly with David's comment.  Furthermore, I am consistently amazed by the narrow-to-the-point-of-single-file focus that exists on GCA.  Not one in 500 golfers, never mind regular citizens, cares a whit about the architectural minutia debated on this site.  For those of us with commercial aspirations, IE--appealing to the widest possible audience, a book like Mr. Finnegan's is a fine example

[Chris_Clouser]

I agree with Sean Arble's comments.  Having said that I bought the book for my father for Christmas.  He couldn't believe the size and weight of it.  I jokingly referred to it as a coffee table book.  You put it on your coffee table so no one will be able to steal the coffee table. 

Well worth the $20 for the photos alone. 

[Matt_Ward]

David:

I praised the book for a variety of things it does and I am very much aware of the core audience I am speaking about.

I am entitled to my own thoughts -- ditto what Pat C added --- it's limited in terms of course analysis. I have no idea whether Jim F provided much more probing reviews in his early drafts and then the publisher decided to water that element down so that the book could be mass-produced for the hordes who don't really care about such matters.

David, let me point this out to you, Tom Doak's "Confidential Guide" succeeds because it doesn't water down itself to be a mass product -- but one that speaks to those who are really into what design is about -- not just the travel component and how well the various hotels and the like are prepared.

I am not "kidding myself" -- I am well aware that many people would prefer to know what hotels provide tea at a certain time of day and how well the morning breakfast buffet turned out to be. Golfers want to know really know about the golf side -- if the market doesn't sustain that it speaks more to the ignorance of those in the market place than anything else.

I enjoyed the sidebars and all the travel components -- and no doubt for $19.95 the book is clearly a good buy for what it does provide.

Joel:

The issue is not about appealing to the masses and then saying that's what's needed -- McDonald's does that quite well. Doak made a clear break from the same tired, predictable books that come forward on the subject. One doesn't have to get to "architectural minutia" but vague and often times generalized comments are often nothing more than the widest of brush strokes.

If you want a great example of really solid travel and detail writing check out Laura Landro's "Finicky Traveler" column that appears in the Wall Street Journal frequently. Gives great specifics on a range of subjects and frankly the discerning traveler does appreciate that.

[BCrosby]

I've followed Michael Whitaker's advice and bought the book. For $20 why would you not buy it?

I had not bought it previously mostly because I already own the trilogy. Finegan has a gift for atmospherics. I don't mean that as a put down. It is a real gift. I wish I could write that way. But I didn't need to be sold on the charm of UK courses, so most of it was wasted on me. I was already sold. I was hoping for more and didn't get it.

But, as noted, you write books for the Bob Crosby audience and you will go broke in a quick hurry. I understand that. Which is why I cherish so highly the books that do scratch me where I itch.

So I'm not sure I get the acrimony here. Different books for different audiences. Finegan has found his audience. More power to him. That audience won't include a lot of GCA'ers, but that shouldn't trouble Jim or anyone else. Just the way it goes.

Bob 

 

[Chip Gaskins]

Come on, $20 for some of the best golf (porn) pictures out there!  So its not an academic masterpiece, sometimes you need a good picture book.  I have it, its great.  Get it.

[Sean_A]

I don't know.  People seem to love the pix.  One of the things I liked about the trilogy is Finegan got the feel of course/club without pix.  This is quite rare in today's world of golf publishing.  Even mag articles try to slip in a bit of golf porn, much of the time from a perspective that is unashamedly designed to be porn.

I would still recommend the trilogy over the huge book, not least because the three wee books are much more reader friendly.  In fact, I used to take the trilogy books on golf holidays/days out and still do sometimes.

Ciao  

[ed_getka]

If I had to choose between the trilogy or the coffee table book I would choose the trilogy. However, I think the picture book is a good start for getting someone interested in seeing some of the great courses and being drawn in to learn more.

Matt,
    I have to disagree with you on one point. Confidential Guide succeeded more because pictures were added to the later edition. Tom was sitting on quite a few copies of the limited edition for a while. I don't think it is just content that sold the book.

[Matt_Ward]

Ed:

My good friend -- if Tom's book had simply photos and no commentary his contributions to the overall field would be limited.

I liked the book on question but see it for the limited role it plays.

[Matt_Cohn]

David,

Thanks for the heads up - I just bought my copy this afternoon! Borders must be hugely overstocked because the two downtown SF locations had probably 10 copies between them, and they're all plastic-wrapped so they're in pristine condition.

FWIW, it's a big beautiful coffee table book, so most of the people who open its cover aren't looking for detailed golf analysis - they're looking at the pictures and maybe using the captions and adjoining text just to tell them what and where they're looking at. I haven't read through anything yet but I don't mind if it's not the deepest architectural analysis ever - it's a great book for my living room.