Best Club Books

[Sean_A]

Color me biased (should probably say colour), but Heather and Heaven by Phil Pilley is pretty good. Walton Heath for the centenary in 2003. It pops up second hand here and there sometimes. I don't know if you can get an original one still though.

It’s very good. I think the Deal book is good as well.

Not a club history, but I have been saying for years that the Evolution of TOC is the excellent.

Ciao

[Niall C]

Prestwick Golf Club by David Smail

I've read that one and it is nice but if you manage to win the lottery buy James Shaws club history from c.1935. It has plans of the different iterations of the course as well as a synopsis of James Braids planned changes pre WWI together with comment on those proposals from H. Hilton and Robert Maxwell (from memory). Unfortunately and perhaps surprisingly it doesn't even mention Dr MacKenzies proposals from the early to mid 1920's.


It also is too early for Braid's "proposed" changes in the late 30's. The new holes were in play for a short period but I think WWII put paid to the idea of making the changes permanent. From memory the inside covers of the Smail book show the holes but there is no text inside the book regarding those changes (or at least from what I remember.


Niall

[Tim_Weiman]

Not to hijack the thread, but some club books can be disappointing. IMO, the Royal Melbourne book is a good example: there is way too much about the club and too little about the courses themselves, our real interest as golf architecture junkies.


Geoff Shackelford’s Cypress Point book is far better. The focus is on the course, not the club.

Tim - Regarding Royal Melbourne, have you seen the John Green book from 2011 titled “Royal Melbourne Golf Club, History of the Courses?”  As the title suggests, it’s almost exclusively about the design evolution of the two courses.  It has a good amount of writing, photos, and maps.  Might be worth a look if you haven’t seen it.

Philip,


Is John Green’s book still available for sale?

[Philip Gordillo]

Not to hijack the thread, but some club books can be disappointing. IMO, the Royal Melbourne book is a good example: there is way too much about the club and too little about the courses themselves, our real interest as golf architecture junkies.


Geoff Shackelford’s Cypress Point book is far better. The focus is on the course, not the club.

Tim - Regarding Royal Melbourne, have you seen the John Green book from 2011 titled “Royal Melbourne Golf Club, History of the Courses?”  As the title suggests, it’s almost exclusively about the design evolution of the two courses.  It has a good amount of writing, photos, and maps.  Might be worth a look if you haven’t seen it.

Philip,


Is John Green’s book still available for sale?

Tim,


Not sure since it was first published in 2011.  RMGC has email addresses on its website for both the office and the pro shop so you may want to lob an email asking where you can find a copy.  The book is definitely worth the effort in my opinion.  Happy hunting.


Philip

[Tim_Weiman]

Philip,


Thanks!

[MCirba]

Finally a GCA thread I might be qualified to comment on!


Collecting and reading club histories has been a hobby of mine for several decades. I'm always searching for books on interesting courses and clubs from around the world. Presently I have about 1,600 different club histories from 80 countries on my shelves. Some personal favorites that I think would appeal to the GCA crowd:

Bringing Ross Back - The Restoration of Oakland Hills South Course
National Golf Links of America by Chris Millard
Royal Melbourne GC - History of the Courses by John Green
The History of the Misquamicut Club by John Steinbreder
Rye Golf Club, The First 90 Years by Denis Vidler
The 3 volume history of the R&A by Peter Lewis and others
Calcutta GC 1829-1979
The Evolution of Muirfield by Richard Latham
The Riviera CC by Geoff Shackelford
Swinley Special by Nicholas Courtney
An Awakening at Sleepy Hollow by Jon Cavalier and Jason Way
The Golf Course and Grounds of Yeamans Hall by Charlton deSaussure
The History of the Newport Country Club by Frederick Waterman
The Creek by Thomas Dunne

Please keep me in mind if you have any club histories you wish to sell or trade, or if you hear of a Club that's issuing a new book. Along with my personal collection I'm also trying to help keep the USGA's library complete.

Michael

Michael,

I sent you a private message.. not sure if you received?

[Tim_Cronin]

I've had a hand in a few of these and collect them as well. It's usually the client, which is to say the club, that determines how much of anything, whether it's golf or non-golf sports or social events, are covered in a club history. I've had clubs that wanted a lot of golf course info and clubs that didn't want much of it at all. Happily all have been interested in their origins and the architecture can usually be covered there.

[Stephen Britton]

Crumps Dream - Andrew Mutch
National Golf Links of America - Edgeworth & Millard
The Royal Melbourne Golf Club History of the Courses - John Green
The Story of Augusta National - Clifford Roberts
Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club - Geoff Shackelford

[Michael Wolf]

Not to hijack the thread, but some club books can be disappointing. IMO, the Royal Melbourne book is a good example: there is way too much about the club and too little about the courses themselves, our real interest as golf architecture junkies.


Geoff Shackelford’s Cypress Point book is far better. The focus is on the course, not the club.

Tim - Regarding Royal Melbourne, have you seen the John Green book from 2011 titled “Royal Melbourne Golf Club, History of the Courses?”  As the title suggests, it’s almost exclusively about the design evolution of the two courses.  It has a good amount of writing, photos, and maps.  Might be worth a look if you haven’t seen it.

Philip,


Is John Green’s book still available for sale?

Tim,


Not sure since it was first published in 2011.  RMGC has email addresses on its website for both the office and the pro shop so you may want to lob an email asking where you can find a copy.  The book is definitely worth the effort in my opinion.  Happy hunting.


Philip

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the John Green book on RMGC's courses was limited to 500 copies. I purchased copy #499 probably ten years ago.


Michael

[Tim_Weiman]

Not to hijack the thread, but some club books can be disappointing. IMO, the Royal Melbourne book is a good example: there is way too much about the club and too little about the courses themselves, our real interest as golf architecture junkies.


Geoff Shackelford’s Cypress Point book is far better. The focus is on the course, not the club.

Tim - Regarding Royal Melbourne, have you seen the John Green book from 2011 titled “Royal Melbourne Golf Club, History of the Courses?”  As the title suggests, it’s almost exclusively about the design evolution of the two courses.  It has a good amount of writing, photos, and maps.  Might be worth a look if you haven’t seen it.

Philip,


Is John Green’s book still available for sale?

Tim,


Not sure since it was first published in 2011.  RMGC has email addresses on its website for both the office and the pro shop so you may want to lob an email asking where you can find a copy.  The book is definitely worth the effort in my opinion.  Happy hunting.


Philip

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the John Green book on RMGC's courses was limited to 500 copies. I purchased copy #499 probably ten years ago.


Michael

Michael,


Exactly what I suspected.


Thanks anyway!


Tim

[Tim Liddy]

Although not a club book per se, The Making of Pacific Dunes is excellent describing the history and process of designing the golf course - and is available. I forget the architect though?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Although not a club book per se, The Making of Pacific Dunes is excellent describing the history and process of designing the golf course - and is available. I forget the architect though?

L O L