I thought Shackelford's choices for best golf architecture books were interesting. No doubt they are 5 of the best, but when Matt G. asked him if one of those books would be a good starting point, I was surprised and a little bummed he didn't select something newer. For the more experienced architectural geek/golf historian, they are terrific books, but they are more difficult to understand than some of the more modern writings because much of the language is different. The first time I read MacKenzie's Golf Architecture I had a lot of trouble understanding what he was getting across just because I was so unfamiliar with the terms he was using (I was also 14 at the time).
His book Grounds for Golf was a great starting point for me. It was incredibly well illustrated and did a good job of using modern terms to coach someone through the basics of architecture. I would imagine that he wouldn't try to self-publicize himself on the show, so perhaps Tom's Anatomy of a Golf Course would have also been a good suggestion, which gets a bit more technical but once again does an incredible job of describing the basic tenants of GCA in modern terms.