Golfing News & Blog Articles

We want to make bogies easy if frankly sought, pars readily obtainable by standard good play, and birdies, except on par-5's, dearly bought. BOBBY JONES

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I shall never forget my first visit to the property which is now Augusta National. The long lane of magnolias through which we approached was beautiful. The old manor house with its cupola and walls of masonry two feet thick was charming. The rare trees and shrubs of the old nursery were enchanting. But when I walked out on the grass terrace under the big trees behind the house and looked down over the property, the experience was unforgettable It seemed that this land had been lying here for years just waiting for someone to lay a golf course upon it. BOBBY JONES

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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The Masters has a great many things going for it, some planned and some fortuitous. It is played on a superb and scenic course that inspires the fine field of players to spectacular feats and offers singularly good vantage points for spectators. It is held at a wonderful time of year, when practically every golfer, after a long hibernation, finds his fancy turning to thoughts of supinating the left forearm or some other such crucial action that will make the season at hand the big one he has been waiting for. HERBERT WARREN WIND

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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Mounds were often introduced instead of bunkers as they are more pleasing in appearance, less costly to maintain and often serve well to emphasize strategic conceptions. The course is not intended so much to punish severely the wayward shot as to reward adequately the stroke played with skill—and judgement. During the Masters tournament, with the cooperation of the weatherman, we try to keep our greens surfaces firm and the putting speed quite fast. We conceive that the ideal here is that our greens should hold a shot well-struck with backspin but should not hold an improperly played ball. BOBBY JONES

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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Mounds were often introduced instead of bunkers as they are more pleasing in appearance, less costly to maintain and often serve well to emphasize strategic conceptions. The course is not intended so much to punish severely the wayward shot as to reward adequately the stroke played with skill—and judgement. During the Masters tournament, with the cooperation of the weatherman, we try to keep our greens surfaces firm and the putting speed quite fast. We conceive that the ideal here is that our greens should hold a shot well-struck with backspin but should not hold an improperly played ball. BOBBY JONES

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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When discussing the greatness of The Masters, people never fail to speak of the diaphanous beauty of the Augusta National course, and there is no doubt many supposedly sophisticated golfers go there year after year principally to look at the flowers. It was Mr. Roberts who planted them, arranged them, and, in a standard joke among the press, commanded them to bloom every year the week of The Masters. Bob Jones, by contrast, had no more interest in horticulture than he did in, say, needlepoint. CHARLES PRICE

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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When discussing the greatness of The Masters, people never fail to speak of the diaphanous beauty of the Augusta National course, and there is no doubt many supposedly sophisticated golfers go there year after year principally to look at the flowers. It was Mr. Roberts who planted them, arranged them, and, in a standard joke among the press, commanded them to bloom every year the week of The Masters. Bob Jones, by contrast, had no more interest in horticulture than he did in, say, needlepoint. CHARLES PRICE

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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One can readily imagine what would be the ultimate result of a course laid out by an average committee composed of scratch, three, four and eight handicap men. They are most of them, probably subconsciously, prejudiced against a hazard being constructed into which they are likely to get themselves. But they are all unanimous in thinking that the poor devil with a twenty-four handicap should be left out of consideration altogether. The end result is neither fish, flesh, fowl nor even good red herring. ALISTER MACKENZIE

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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Instead of the golf architect taking links land as the example to copy, he is now forced to consider the idiosyncrasies of the modern ball. Instead of nature dominating golf, it is now dominated by the mechanical devices of man. This is the unhealthy state to which golf has arrived, and the psychological tendency is to make further inroads upon nature's side of the balance, for once the human mind succeeds in overcoming natural hazards in life it never remains satisfied until it has devised means to do away with them altogether. MAX BEHR

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

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Instead of the golf architect taking links land as the example to copy, he is now forced to consider the idiosyncrasies of the modern ball. Instead of nature dominating golf, it is now dominated by the mechanical devices of man. This is the unhealthy state to which golf has arrived, and the psychological tendency is to make further inroads upon nature's side of the balance, for once the human mind succeeds in overcoming natural hazards in life it never remains satisfied until it has devised means to do away with them altogether. MAX BEHR

Coming In June And Available For Pre-Order via Amazon: Golf Architecture For Normal People

Bookshop.org Pre-Order option to support local independent bookstores.