Greetings Mr S.
A few thoughts:
The Mystery of Golf - A engaging but patently strange volume. More in the Max Behr/Wethered & Sampson (latter half) realm than anything Darwin. In his foreword for the Classics of Golf reprint, Wind writes that “In my judgment, no later writer has equaled Haultain’s performance, though, heavens knows, hundreds have tried.” Of course, he later suggests that “you will enjoy Haultain most if you read him in relatively short takes.” I lean towards the latter.
Bernard Darwin on Golf - A nice collection if you don't own the early (expensive) anthologies but if you do, nearly all but the five Atlantic Monthly pieces are duplicative.
The Happy Golfer - As Geoff occasionally reminds me, this is definitely not a complete book of Darwin's American Golfer pieces...but it's a lot of them. My guess is that it would be of greatest value to British readers as I doubt this material has appeared previously in the UK. Does anyone know otherwise?
British Clubs - Not what people think. This is a 48-page wartime book profiling British social clubs (e.g. Boodles, Brooks, etc.), not golf clubs. I'm probably one of the few people in the USA who's hunted down a copy, but only for the sake of completeness.
History of Golf In Britain - A wonderful book, though Darwin's role is little greater than that of Longhurst or Cotton, and less than Sir Guy Campbell. This really is a defintive history, covering the game's roots, development, rules, equipment, technique, courses, etc. Well worth having, BUT... The Classics of Golf reprint deleted chapters on the history of the rules and Campbell's three entries, “The Early History of British Golf,” “The Development of Implements— Clubs and Balls” and “Links and Courses.” So the original 1952 edition is vastly preferable.
Your presence is missed around the club!
DW