Like many here, my day job requires a decent amount of travel and for the past two years, the golf book that has made the most trips in my briefcase is Daniel Wexler's Missing Links. And I suppose that book can be retired to the comfort of a bookshelf as Daniel's second book Lost Links is now out.
Like the last one, this one covers covers most of the Golden Age architects, thus presenting the reader variety with the end result being that there is much to learn. For instance, just back from a three day trip to Detriot, I learned among other things from Lost Links that
1) The super classy Lancaster CC definitely benefited from picking up land south of Conestoga River and the subsequent work that the Gordons' performed in the 1950s to Flynn's couse.
2) The incredible story of Quincy Shaw and his course Cedar Bank Links on Cape Cod with 5 or 6 holes that must have ranked with the best ever.
3) The North course at Boca Raton (and the South in Missing Links) is further proof that Flynn was as good as everyone in Phillie keeps telling us!
4) I saw a picture of one of the neatest looking Raynor bunkers ever at the Greenbrier but unfortunately, it bears no resemblance to his usual handiwork and it makes me wonder if he didn't shortchange himself by continually repeating the same look/style.
5) Billy Bell was a far more talented architect in his own right than I understood.
6) The clearest explanation yet of how three Ross holes were mangled for the sake of creating the now present 8th at Inverness.
7) The clearest explanation yet on the great stretch from 11-15 at Max Behr's Lakeside and why the course might well have been "one of the best in the world" as MacKenzie claimed
8 ) Exactly what happened with the corner holes 13-15 at SFGC.
9) about the 8th at Kelsey City Golf Club, one of the coolest looking holes that I've ever seen where Langford created multiple routes on a 290 yard hole.
I never knew any of this, which is exactly why I like to read and it's also exactly why I like reading books by Daniel Wexler.
As usual, his writing is to the point. For instance, there was much talk a few years ago about Ojai being "restored" but Daniel succinctly states, "an inappropriate use of the word if ever there was one. One look at the glaring differences between past and present (not a single matching bunker at the third, seven new hazards at the fourth) and we can only conclude that the architect either never saw an old photo or simply didn't care." Case closed.
Hopefully, thousands and thousands of Daniel's two books will be bought, thus emboldening he and his publisher to perhaps look further afield, to England so that JF Abercromby can get his due for instance and to Australia so that a clear picture can be presented on how such courses as Commonwealth, Royal Sydney and The Australian once played.
Whatever the topic of his third book, I'll be first in line.
Cheers,
PS Some really neat photos will be posted in the next 48-72 hours, once Tommy N's computer comes back to life.