Tom Doak, the author

« **on:** April 11, 2006, 10:18:34 PM »

Hey all,

I love the Confidential Guide...anyone own any of his other books, or could recommend any? I was looking at getting a used copy of Anatomy of a Golf Course on amazon.

Also, with some further research, It looks like Anatomy of a Golf Course is the only book that is actually available/in print...or am I wrong?

Just looking to expand my library a bit.

Thanks

« **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:23:21 PM »

Pat,

Send me your address and I'll get you a copy of Anatomy of a Golf Course...A friend sent me one once and I should return the favor...

« **Reply #2 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:32:42 PM »

Pat,

Anatomy of a Golf Course is excellent, your golf library will never be complete without it.

Tom also helped write "The Life and Work of Dr. Alister Mackenzie" with James Scott and Raymond Haddock. The book was published by Sleeping Bear Press, now Clocktower.

Mr. Doak is presently writing a book on the making of Pacific Dunes, but given his schedule and another forthcoming book on the course, do not expect his effort in the near future.

TK

« **Reply #3 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:35:26 PM »

I saw "The Life and Work of Dr. Alister Mackenzie" and it looks interesting...but is it available in stores that you know of?

« **Reply #4 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:41:57 PM »

Pat,
Check the Powells and the Barnes & Noble websites.

« **Reply #5 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:46:56 PM »

Very informative if you are new to golf course design. Nice read.

« **Reply #6 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:52:03 PM »

Pat,

I have always ordered my books directly from Sleeping Bear/Clocktower Press. Are they still in business? Their website seems unresponsive at the moment. And come to think of it, I haven't heard of any new titles from them recently.

TK

« **Reply #7 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:56:43 PM »

Kav:

Really nice of you to do that for thread author.

That book changed my life...to an extent.

Pat, enjoy.

« **Reply #8 on:** April 11, 2006, 10:59:27 PM »

Sleeping Bear Press sold its golf division to Clock Tower Press.
They were absorbed by Wiley Publishers now has all the golf books.
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-130122.html

« **Reply #9 on:** April 11, 2006, 11:07:46 PM »

If you want a reasonably priced Confidential Guide Barnes & Noble has two listed in the mid to low 300s.

« **Reply #10 on:** April 12, 2006, 05:36:54 AM »

Quote from: Tyler Kearns on April 11, 2006, 10:32:42 PM

Tom also helped write "The Life and Work of Dr. Alister Mackenzie" with James Scott and Raymond Haddock. The book was published by Sleeping Bear Press, now Clocktower.

Highly recommended.

Around 230 pages that covers everything from the early years in Leeds to Augusta National. Plenty of nice pictures and scans of letters, sketches and plans - and of course lots of insightful analysis of his work.

« **Reply #11 on:** April 12, 2006, 06:32:56 AM »

Pat

If you can get your hands on the limited edition version of The Confidential Guide, it is quite good. It was published before the Sleeping Bear Press version and it's interesting to see the evolution of Tom's thinking especially his "Gourmet's Choice". Also the limited edition version has, I think, more honest commentary on many courses which was toned down for the later edition. The only problem is its difficult to find and is now very pricey.

Joe

« **Reply #12 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:16:16 AM »

Quote from: T100 (Joseph Rigo) on April 12, 2006, 06:32:56 AM

Pat

If you can get your hands on the limited edition version of The Confidential Guide, it is quite good. It was published before the Sleeping Bear Press version and it's interesting to see the evolution of Tom's thinking especially his "Gourmet's Choice". Also the limited edition version has, I think, more honest commentary on many courses which was toned down for the later edition. The only problem is its difficult to find and is now very pricey.

Joe

T,

I have a copy of the 1988 Christmas edition and have to say that I have found the harsh commentary to be an urban legend. Without giving away what Tom said can you tell me where the large differences occur. I have both editions here in front of me and would like to see what I am missing..

« **Reply #13 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:19:54 AM »

Unless things have drastically changed, Tom probably still has copies of the older edition of the Confidential Guide in his basement - hopefully he'll see this thread and respond.

« **Reply #14 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:48:55 AM »

Quote from: Brian_Sleeman on April 12, 2006, 08:19:54 AM

Unless things have drastically changed, Tom probably still has copies of the older edition of the Confidential Guide in his basement - hopefully he'll see this thread and respond.

Tom apparently does have a number of copies of the older edition of the CG in his basement. He made an offer last year to sell them for $100.

I sent him a check for $100 and promptly received a numbered and signed copy.

I emailed him directly at:

Renaissancegolf@aol.com

If he is still doing this, he'll send you the address. I would guess that he is - if my wife found out I could both get a bunch of old stuff out of the basement AND make $100 a pop for doing so, she would be riding my ass to get it done.

Andy

« **Reply #15 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:54:20 AM »

That's how I got mine, too - $100 well spent.

« **Reply #16 on:** April 12, 2006, 09:57:25 AM »

I did too, Tom was very generous and responsive.

This thread just prompted me to pick up "Anatomy" and "Grounds for Golf" (Shackelford) on AMZN.

« **Reply #17 on:** April 12, 2006, 12:21:40 PM »

I have actually bought the Confidential Guide as a gift for a friend in the past, and own a different copy myself and love it.

I was more commenting on/asking about the other titles in his resume as an author. I find it odd almost all of his books are out of print or hard to come by.

Thanks for all the comments and help!

« **Reply #18 on:** April 12, 2006, 12:35:57 PM »

Pat,

I just received this email from Amazon..Please let me know if the book does not arrive by the indicated time...

Amazon Payments has charged your credit card (Amex) for this purchase, and
the funds have been credited to your Amazon Marketplace seller. On behalf
of the seller, removed to protect identity, we thank you for your purchase.

The seller has agreed to ship by 14-April-2006. This message serves as
advance notification of your shipment--most sellers will NOT send a
separate shipment confirmation.

Your order will be shipped via an Expedited Shipping method. The arrival
expectation is 3 to 6 business days. If your shipment does not arrive by
24-April-2006, please contact the seller to check the status of the
shipment. Your seller should provide the same level of customer service you
expect from Amazon.com.

« **Reply #19 on:** April 12, 2006, 06:15:43 PM »

Brian and Andy....Wow, he must like you guys....I sent in my $100 to Tom and I was informed I needed to add $85 for shipping and handling and that an autographed copy would be for what the going E-bay rate might be for his autograph five years hence [estimated at $120].........for a grand total of $305.

....but , call me crazy, I think I made a shrewd deal

« **Reply #20 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:04:47 PM »

Paul:

You just needed to call his Shipping and Handling bluff like I did by including a prepaid return UPS shipping label.

I also avoided the competing architect surcharge.

Andy

« **Reply #21 on:** April 12, 2006, 09:07:41 PM »

John

The changes in the Gourmet's Choice between the two editions are:

Additions:

Commonwealth
The Creek
Desert Highlands
Durban Country Club
Forest Highlands
Garden City
High Point
Kawana
Lancaster
Pinehurst #2
St. George's
St. George's Hill
Sand Hills
Shadow Creek

Those taken off the Gourmet's Choice:

Cape Breton
Cruden Bay
Cypress Point
High Point
Lahinch
Long Cove
Machrihanish
Royal Melbourne
Muirfield
Royal County Down
Pennard
Royal Portrush
Royal St. George's
Seminole
Swinley Forest
Whitinsville/Mildenhall

Some of the courses taken off are because he limited his selection criteria to one course per architect on the list, and obviously they are all great courses so you can't read too much into them coming off, other than maybe an evolution in his thinking and greater exposure to courses between the two books.

The changes in text are too numerous to go into (and I want to respect the copyright). Suffice it to say they are worth reading and insightful.

T

« **Reply #22 on:** April 13, 2006, 06:19:06 AM »

High Point added and taken off?? Only Tom could get away with something like that!

JC

« **Reply #23 on:** April 15, 2006, 03:00:28 PM »

Joe:

If you look carefully at the latter list you will see that the architects of all those courses are represented in the latter version by another entry. I think only a couple of them were "replacements" which I had seen between editions; for the rest I had more than one course for the architect and was forced to choose.

However, some of the reviews of lesser courses in the first book were supremely harsh (the byproduct of a 26-year-old's childish humor) and I would appreciate your not printing those!

« **Reply #24 on:** April 15, 2006, 03:08:17 PM »

Harsh, but dead on balls accurate....

You should never be making a single excuse for that book ever.

EVER!

In fact, you should still be just as vibrant with no need to ever change, only evolve.

News:

PCCraig

John Kavanaugh

Tyler Kearns

PCCraig

peter_p

Ryan Farrow

Tyler Kearns

Jay Flemma

peter_p

peter_p

Eric Franzen

John Sabino

John Kavanaugh

Brian_Sleeman

Andy Doyle

Brian_Sleeman

Matt MacIver

PCCraig

John Kavanaugh

paul cowley

Andy Doyle

John Sabino

Jonathan Cummings

Tom_Doak

Tommy_Naccarato