Best book pre First Scotland Golf Trip

[MClutterbuck]

I am landing in Scotland May 18 for my first golf trip there. Which is the best book I should read before arriving (e-book only)? Architecture, golf in general, history, geography or combination of any of these topics welcome. Thanks!

[David_Tepper]

Marcos -

The 2nd half of Michael Bamberger's To the Links Land is very appropriate. The first half is not about Scotland, but is certainly worth reading.

Lorne Rubensetin's A Season in Dornoch     

Andrew Greig's Preferred Lies: A Journey into the Heart of Scottish Golf

Herbert Warren Wind's piece in the New Yorker North to the Links of Dornoch is worth reading as well. It is in his anthology Following Through and may be available on the New Yorker website.

DT

[MClutterbuck]

Marcos -

The 2nd half of Michael Bamberger's To the Links Land is very appropriate. The first half is not about Scotland, but is certainly worth reading.

Lorne Rubensetin's A Season in Dornoch     

Andrew Greig's Preferred Lies: A Journey into the Heart of Scottish Golf

Herbert Warren Wind's piece in the New Yorker North to Dornoch is worth reading as well. It is in his anthology Following Through and may be available on the New Yorker website.

DT

Thanks David! See you soon.

[jeffwarne]

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan
Tom Doak-Confidential Guide-read the copy, ignore the numbers (or you'll miss some great stuff)
Search the area/courses here on GCA and you'll get the best information

[Sean_A]

Scottish Golf Book by M Campbell


Ciao

[David_Tepper]

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan

I would also recommend Mr. Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of Scotland. It is a much smaller book than Where Golf Is Great and will fit into a carry on bag.

[jeffwarne]

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan

I would also recommend Mr. Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of Scotland. It is a much smaller book than Where Golf Is Great and will fit into a carry on bag.

Good catch David-that's the one I meant!

[Dave McCollum]

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan

I would also recommend Mr. Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of Scotland. It is a much smaller book than Where Golf Is Great and will fit into a carry on bag.

I used this one quite a bit deciding where to play.  I was particularly interested in courses like Cruden, Dornoch, Brora, Machrihanish, North Berwick, and, of course St. Andrews.  Smaller town clubs and culture, not so much rota courses.  It's a bit corny and sentimental, but I can't criticize Finegan for his enthusiasm.  Another disclosure:  I used the reviews in gca.com, but didn't know about this discussion group until I returned home.   
   

[MCirba]

I found this one an enjoyable read with compelling photographs.

https://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Golf-Links-Photographers-Journey/dp/1932202129/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&qid=1492092124&sr=8-35&keywords=Scotland+Golf+courses

Enjoy!

[BCrosby]

For the geeks in the room, Robert Price's book, The Golf Courses of Scotland, has a very good chapter on the geology of linksland.


Bob

[Bob Montle]

Not about golf - but I found this web site a goldmine of information about sight-seeing in Scotland.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/

[Tony_Muldoon]

And on your return if you want to live the dream by proxy read George Pepper's, Two Years in St Andrews..


Then all you need is a flat in St Andrews, membership of the R&A, Jack Nicklaus's no and your life can be complete.


A fun read.

[Ed Brzezowski]

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan

I would also recommend Mr. Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of Scotland. It is a much smaller book than Where Golf Is Great and will fit into a carry on bag.

Great books and as pointed out easy to carry.

[Richard Fisher]

Marcos
If you were really serious about wanting some Scottish history for the trip, then arguably the best place to start is  (Sir) Tom Devine's The Scottish Nation: A Modern History (Penguin 2012). This is a properly meaty, brainy read with much to say about the current independence/union debates with which Scotland has been preoccupied over the past decade.

As for golf,  likewise warm support for Jim Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens and (as ever on this site) if you can find a copy of Patric Dickinson's Round of Golf Courses and read the essays on St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick and Gleneagles, then you'll be  enlightened in ways you were not quite expecting.

Enjoy...!

[Sean_A]

Buy Patric Dickinson's Round of Golf Courses regardless of a Scotland trip.

Ciao

[BCrosby]

Buy Patric Dickinson's Round of Golf Courses regardless of a Scotland trip.

Absolutely.


Bob

[Ronald Montesano]

PLUS ONE, abundant support, for both Finegan tomes.


Finegan wrote so well. Superb blend of golf and lifestyle.

"Where Golf is Great" James Finegan
Tom Doak-Confidential Guide-read the copy, ignore the numbers (or you'll miss some great stuff)
Search the area/courses here on GCA and you'll get the best information

[Jason Topp]

I recommend the Finegan books as companions while traveling.  They are wonderfully written but I found them much more interesting when the chapters relate to the course I was playing the next day.


Tepper's recommendations are what I would read prior to the trip.

[Steve Sayre]

Golf Addict Among the Scots
George Houghton -- his 24th book "on the subject of golf addiction"
Visits 50 clubs "with the long suffering golf widow".
Published by Country Life in 1967.
A period piece.
Buy it used on abebooks.com

[Andy Shulman]

The updated (sort of) version of that is Golf in Scotland by Allen Ferguson.  It's an outstanding resource if you're self-planning your trip and includes profiles of 70+ courses, including many less well known courses.

[Niall C]

Marcos
If you were really serious about wanting some Scottish history for the trip, then arguably the best place to start is  (Sir) Tom Devine's The Scottish Nation: A Modern History (Penguin 2012). This is a properly meaty, brainy read with much to say about the current independence/union debates with which Scotland has been preoccupied over the past decade.

As for golf,  likewise warm support for Jim Finegan's Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens and (as ever on this site) if you can find a copy of Patric Dickinson's Round of Golf Courses and read the essays on St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick and Gleneagles, then you'll be  enlightened in ways you were not quite expecting.

Enjoy...!

Marcos


I'm not going to rubbish Richards recommendation on Tom Devines book especially as I haven't read it, but if you do buy it just remember that Devine usually writes with a barely concealed political agenda. His recent elevation from eminent history professor to knight of the realm and go to guy for sound bites likely has much to do with being a favoured son of the current Scottish administration.


Niall

[MClutterbuck]

Thanks to all for your replies! Looking forward to Scotland, should be a fantastic trip.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I'm not going to rubbish Richards recommendation on Tom Devines book especially as I haven't read it,
Niall

As my other half will say this is similar to my own favourite method for reviewing films. Sit down, close my eyes and later review. I find I'm infallible.
 


 
 


 
 
I'll offer an alternative history
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Scots_Invented_the_Modern_World
 
It reads like a page turning thriller and is a great introduction to the subject. For an American it may be well known how influential the Scottish Enlightenment was over the constitution and the educational institutions, but it was news to me. And as for the Darien Scheme well that just reads as fiction, but it too played its part in history today. Regarding the criticism I certainly learnt about the links to Slavery and the story of the Clearances. But as Niall may agree, there are those who think we should spend our whole lives studying just those. If it leads you to read more then its served its purpose. Recommended
 


 
 
The title maybe publishers hyperbole but there's no denying...what a time it was.
 
 

[Jason Connor]

I'd read James Dodson's "Final Rounds", about the trip he took to Scotland with his terminally ill father.


One of my favorite books ever.  And in fact Winnie Palmer loved that book so much, she suggested Arnold use Dodson to write his biography -- which he did.

[Thomas Dai]

Forget about reading books. Watch some episodes of Rab C Nesbitt and Taggart, even Francie and Josie via Youtube and try to pick up a bit of the lingo, with some allowances for regional dialects. Buy a flat cap, try Irn Bru and have a go at singing along to 500 Miles in an appropriate regional accent at karaoke!
Have fun and a great time.

Atb