Confidential Guide Online?

« **Reply #75 on:** February 26, 2007, 04:43:43 PM »

The earliest underground verions of the guide had even stronger words for a "1".

Something to the effect that the designer should be sued for 'architectural malpractice'!

JC

« **Reply #76 on:** February 26, 2007, 08:37:36 PM »

Thanks to a good tip in this thread, earlier today I got in touch with the Library of Congress. And through email someone there sent me a list of every library in the United States that currently has the Confidential Guide in stock. Interestingly enough my hometown is one of them.

Hopefully this could help a few people get out and at least read through the book once or twice!

Here is the list;

All Libraries that Own Item: "The confidential guide to..."Location
Library Code

US,DC LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DLC

US,AL BIRMINGHAM-JEFFERSON LIBR ABJ

US,AL UNIV OF N ALABAMA ANO

US,CA ALIBRIS ALBRS

US,CA AMATEUR ATHLETIC FOUND OF LA OLY

US,CA CARLSBAD CITY LIBR CCP

US,CA SANTA BARBARA PUB LIBR JRW

US,CA SANTA CLARA CITY LIBR JRZ

US,CA SANTA CLARA CNTY FREE LIBR JRY

US,CA THOUSAND OAKS PUB LIBR JTV

US,CO JEFFERSON CNTY PUB LIBR QQ3

US,CO THREE RIVERS LIBR SYST COG

US,IL GLEN ELLYN PUB LIBR JCW

US,IL GLENVIEW PUB LIBR FM0

US,IL MORRIS AREA PUB LIBR DIST OV4

US,IL SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP DIST LIBR GO9

US,IL UNIV OF CHICAGO CGU

US,IN ALLEN CNTY PUB LIBR IMF

US,IN INDIANAPOLIS-MARION CNTY PUB LIBR IMD

US,KY BLUEGRASS COMMUN & TECH COL KUT

US,KY LAUREL CNTY PUB LIBR KI2

US,MI MICHIGAN STATE UNIV EEM

US,MI WILLARD LIBR EEW

US,MO NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIV MNW

US,MO SPORTING NEWS PUBLISHING CO S6Q

US,NC BAKER & TAYLOR INC TECH SERV & PROD DEV BTCTA

US,NC NEW HANOVER CNTY PUB LIBR HQD

US,NV WASHOE CNTY LIBR SYST NUW

US,NY BUFFALO & ERIE CNTY PUB LIBR VHB

US,NY QUEENS BOROUGH PUB LIBR ZQP

US,NY SUNY COL OF TECH AT DELHI XDM

US,NY US MERCHANT MARINE ACAD VYM

US,OH BAKER & TAYLOR BAKER

US,OH CLEVELAND PUB LIBR CLE

US,OH COLUMBUS METROP LIBR OCO

US,OH OHIO STATE UNIV, THE OSU

US,OH TOLEDO-LUCAS CNTY PUB LIBR TLM

US,OH WESTERVILLE PUB LIBR OWL

US,OR MULTNOMAH CNTY LIBR ORX

US,PA OIL CREEK DIST LIBR CTR PCQ

US,PA PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV UPM

US,PA SLIPPERY ROCK UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA SRS

US,SC COASTAL CAROLINA UNIV, KIMBEL LIBR ZKJ

US,TX TEXAS A&M UNIV TXA

US,WA SEATTLE PUB LIBR UOK

US,WV KANAWHA CNTY PUB LIBR WVK

CA,ON BIBLIOCENTRE B9B

Hong Kong CHINESE UNIV OF HONG KONG CVU

United Kingdom BRITISH LIBR UKM

United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIV CUD

United Kingdom UNIV OF OXFORD EQO
Record for Item: "The confidential guide to..." The confidential
guide to golf courses /

Tom Doak
1996 English Book iv, 361 p. : col. ill., col.
maps ; 29 cm. Chelsea, MI : Sleeping Bear Press, ;
ISBN: 1886947090

Availability: FirstSearch indicates your institution owns the
item. Libraries worldwide that own item: 51

« **Reply #77 on:** February 26, 2007, 09:15:58 PM »

Pat:

That's a very interesting list. I guess the US Merchant Marines are looking for someplace to play golf when they hit port!

Hopefully this will allow more access to the book, instead of causing a bunch of thefts from the public libraries of America. I do know that back in the old days, a lot of original editions of Thomas's and Colt's books were in the card catalogues but no longer on the shelves.

« **Reply #78 on:** February 26, 2007, 09:47:21 PM »

Mr. Doak,

It really is interesting. As simple as it is, people forget that the best place to find books are in libraries!

One thing you do notice when searching for the book is that it carries a note of it not allowed to be checked out.

Pat

« **Reply #79 on:** February 27, 2007, 07:09:21 AM »

At those prices, I wish I'd looked after mine a bit more, it's falling apart.

« **Reply #80 on:** February 27, 2007, 10:04:03 AM »

Tom:

I really hope your comment about '. . .instead of causing a bunch of thefts from the public libraries of America.' was a joke?

Pat

Thank you very much for posting the list of all of the libraries where the book is availible.

Chris

« **Reply #81 on:** February 27, 2007, 12:01:20 PM »

I would think not. A book that could fetch up to $2000 on ebay would be a candiate to be stolen.

As Tom said, hopefully this won't happen.

Of course Tom, you could put an end to the madness and print out another 10,000 for sale.

« **Reply #82 on:** February 27, 2007, 12:31:46 PM »

I would hope so, especially at the inference that now that someone on this site knows that there are some copies available at X, Y, and Z public library that they are going to run off and steal them to turn a quick profit.

Also, $2,000.00 seems high as amazon has at least 4 available for under $900.00. Also, Ebay has two, one with a buynow option around $900.00

« **Reply #83 on:** February 27, 2007, 01:37:23 PM »

Well I certainly did not post that list to condone stealing the book. I'm sorry if it looked like I did.

I just thought it could be used as a referrence tool for anyone just wanting to look through it.

Like I said in an earlier post...the book is not allowed to be checked out. Could that be to cut theft?

This really is a neat case study.

Pat

« **Reply #84 on:** February 27, 2007, 10:50:50 PM »

Are all the Confidential Guides worth $800? Is supply really that low? I bought mine at a used bookstore on South Street in Philadelphia for like $7.50!

« **Reply #85 on:** February 28, 2007, 11:04:42 AM »

Chris,

The reason why you found it that cheap is because the used bookstore didn't look it up online to see what they could really get for it.

So for the rest of us, its either fork over the massive amount to buy it on ebay or amazon, or hope to get lucky in a used book store.

« **Reply #86 on:** February 28, 2007, 12:11:31 PM »

I wonder now if maybe the best thing to do is get a list of the larger used book stores in a particular city, and call each looking for the book.

Considering my limited knowledge of book collecting, do you think the chances are slim to none? There are a few posts within this thread with people finding them for cheap.

Pat

« **Reply #87 on:** February 28, 2007, 12:37:45 PM »

Maybe I should ask, how many people have tried looking in used book stores for the Confidential Guide?

« **Reply #88 on:** February 28, 2007, 01:16:59 PM »

Pat,
I poke around in a lot of used bookstores here in Calif. and I haven't seen a copy in years. If I found any reasonably priced copies I would buy all of them so I could give them as gifts.

For those searching look at addall.com and abebooks.com.

« **Reply #89 on:** February 28, 2007, 02:01:50 PM »

Thanks Ed

I checked both of those sites, and the prices are right along the lines of Ebay. I think I may make a point to go snoop around a few book stores here around school in Boston. One in a million shot, but what the heck!

Pat

« **Reply #90 on:** February 28, 2007, 03:07:19 PM »

Perhaps Mr. Doak was right...

While looking through the internet for a copy, I found this on ebay;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140090665442

Apparently Library copies are not too safe.

Pat

« **Reply #91 on:** February 28, 2007, 03:34:18 PM »

I wonder if the book is hot...who do we know in Seattle?

Wasn't there a copy that is found in seattle on that master list?

« **Reply #92 on:** February 28, 2007, 03:36:57 PM »

I wouldn't be too surprised about a library book showing up for sale. Libraries have sales all the time to raise money to buy new books. These library sales are primarily frequented by used book dealers.

Pat,
You are aware of the two different versions right? One is worth substantially more.

« **Reply #93 on:** February 28, 2007, 04:01:25 PM »

Kalen,

There certainly was/is a copy at Seattle's Public Library. Who knows?
I always thought that the "security" at a library was pretty tight, is it really that easy to be dishonest?

Ed,
I did not know that libraries had sales, I'm sure that they would be pretty neat to go to, and maybe that explains the ebay book.
I know of the different versions, I feel like by now I would like to get my hands on anyone of them. Ironically I think the library is the only choise I may have in the matter!

Pat

« **Reply #94 on:** February 28, 2007, 10:34:41 PM »

I just sent an email to the Seattle Public Library notifying them of the sale on ebay. If it was stolen from them we should get some action. I have also asked the seller to identify the library from where the book came.

« **Reply #95 on:** February 28, 2007, 10:45:04 PM »

Good for you John.

« **Reply #96 on:** February 28, 2007, 10:51:01 PM »

Quote from: ed_getka on February 28, 2007, 10:45:04 PM

Good for you John.

Ed...don't roll your eyes at me. I would say there is less than a 1% chance that a library dumped this book as surplus. The funniest thing is the seller saying that since it wasn't checked out it isn't stolen. Nobody checks out a book to steal it.

« **Reply #97 on:** February 28, 2007, 11:06:06 PM »

Pat:

Madison WI has a pretty darn good selection of used book stores, and I visit the lot of them pretty frequently, and the CG is the one book I always look for. It was carried new for awhile by our local Barnes and Nobles, and I'd sometimes go there and sit in a couch and read it for insights and even some planning back when I was mapping out my trip to Scotland. I was struck by Doak's -- for lack of a better work -- assuredness (arrogance?) regarding the courses, and I thought: Who does this guy think he is? But its insights more than compensated for the occasional off-tone; I'd never heard of Lancaster CC as a great course, and I used to live less than two hours from it, and Doak put it into his top 31. And, as I've noticed more and more the paucity of good, opinionated thoughts on course architecture, I've grown to appreciate his frank assessments. I still hold out some hope I can find it at a used bookstore somewhere.

« **Reply #98 on:** March 01, 2007, 01:48:18 PM »

John,

I can honestly say that I would not have thought to look at the seller's where-abouts, not a bad detective job on your part.

I do ask this question, granted there was a Wall Street Journal Article on the Confidential Guide, but really how well known is the book? Even from within the golf community? Do libraries tend to know if certain books of theirs are high value books on the internet?

John, let us know if you hear anything back from either the seller or the library.

Phil,

Thanks for your post, I think there are many of us who wish we had bought the book when we had first saw it. I to used to see it all the time at the local Borders and never thought it was that great...dumb of me not to have bought it then.

I have been trying randomly over the last couple days looking over Used Book Stores' Websites here in Boston. The chance is slim...but what the heck.

Thanks guys!

« **Reply #99 on:** March 02, 2007, 02:21:24 AM »

The Seattle Library has emailed me and indicated that the book is not from their collection. The seller of the book has not replied to me about the library of origin that is on the book. I can only hope that if the buyer is from this site that he contacts the library of origin and returns the book if it is truly stolen or missing.

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