"There are not enough good golf architects for the tremendous amount of golf construction under way and to be developed during the next few years.
Therefore, there is decided need for a book on the practical side of such work, which should be valuable not only to Construction Committees but to beginners among professional golf architects.
There was a time in our golf building when we had no background - when the last word cae from abroad; but that time has passed, for even as our players have improved and shown their abilities in foreign competition, so also have our courses advanced in character and diversity.
We now have our own history, our own traditions, our own superlative courses; and on account of our different climactic requirements and topographical peculiarities, we need our own technique added to the general rules of standard usage which we have assimilated from our friends across the sea.
In taking this position, we should revere the cradle of golf with its fine spirit and distinct atmosphere; but we may also be proud of our own development, and strive not only to keep up the standards of our past, but to go on and improve our new productions, for the ultimate in golf and golf architecture is not yet attained.
In this book it has been aimed to aid the beginner by giving actual experiences in course building, and to place before him the practical working methods found by the writer to constitute sound practice; to illustrate strategy and construction, and to consider all the factors which much be included in the up-to-date proposition."