Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die

All golfers dream about playing famous golf courses, historic courses, exotic courses or finding a hidden gem that's Off the Beaten Cart Path. Let's face it, we would all like to play just one round at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews both of which are open to the public. This would assuredly be golf nirvana. But the cold, hard truth is that most of us will never set foot on such hallowed links. Time or money seems to hinder our best intentions.

But let's just imagine that we win the golf lottery and have virtually unlimited resources with which to travel and play any courses we so desire. Which ones do we select? Where can we go to whet our golfing appetite? Fifty More Places to Golf before You Die will help to answer these questions.

Written by freelance writer Chris Santella as a sequel to his successful Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die, Fifty More … takes us on a world wide journey to familiar and not so familiar courses. Familiar courses include Pebble Beach, Harding Park in San Francisco (site of the recent President's Cup) and Pinehurst #2. Courses that are perhaps little known to us in the United States include Devil's Paintbrush in Ontario, The Machrie Golf Links in Scotland, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club in China. Santella catalogues these six and forty-four more around the world.

Each course has been recommended by someone who knows the golf course well and provides insight for playing the course. You will recognize many of the names of those who have shared their stories for this volume. Consider Amy Alcott, Bob Charles and Ian Baker-Finch for starters. And if you do just happen to get the inclination to go, Santella has provided us with “If You Go” information at the end of each chapter that includes Getting There, Course Information, and Accommodations.

Santella has hit a successful niche with this style of book - Fifty “Whatever” Before You Die. He has penned five other titles in this series. And Abrams Books is a master at publishing these picturesque and entertaining coffee table-style books. This volume is well appointed with forty pictures from the fifty chosen courses.

Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die is an engaging read and well worth consideration as a Christmas gift for all golfers. It will stir the wanderlust of your favorite golfer.

Ancestral Links

(Editor's Note: Originally published April 21, 2009)

Each man’s journey in life - and golf - is special and unique. Each step we take or each swing we make is different from the last and peculiar to each one of us. It is only when we pause during the journey and take time to look into the past that we get a true meaning as to who we really are. Each one of us should be required to take time for such reflection somewhere along the passage.

John Garrity has done this and then put it on paper for us to read in his latest volume ANCESTRAL LINKS: A Golf Obsession Spanning Generations. Garrity is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated (still active) and contributor to Golf Magazine. His other books include such titles as Tour Tempo and Tiger 2.0.

With ANCESTRAL LINKS Garrity takes us on a two-part adventure. On a somewhat self-imposed writing sabbatical in Ireland Garrity’s mission is to explore and discover his ancestry, obviously Irish and heavily steeped in golf while simultaneously attempting to conquer the devilish par-4 seventeenth at the Carne Golf Links. It is these two quests that constitute the essence of the book. He skillfully weaves these concurrent pursuits throughout the book by alternating chapters that focus on the goal.

The story of Garrity's search for his paternal ancestral links is skillfully done so as not to bore us with a scavenger hunt for relatives. We can feel his anticipation and his joy as he looks under the leaves of the family tree. Yet at the same time these chapters did not hold my attention as well as those which chronicle his determination to conquer Carne.

So, for the golf fanatic, the real story is the details of his mission to conquer the seventeenth hole at the Carne Golf Links. Carne is located in the town of Belmullet on the northwest coast of Ireland and it is a true links course artfully carved along the coast and through the dunes. Garrity holds the belief that he can play the seventeenth, a long difficult par-4 in 90 strokes. That's playing three balls at a time on six different occasions. He brings us on this odyssey sharing the physical and the emotional. To get a better feel of what he is up against, I recommend that you explore the Carne Golf Links website.

I also advocate that you delve into this volume to discover how one golf fanatic satisfies his golf fantasies.

Freddie and Me perfect for life's lessons

(Editor's Note: Originally published April 27, 2009)

Occasionally a golf book comes along that has golf at its nerve center, but is not totally about golf. Such is Freddie & Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddy Master. Freddie and Me is the tale of one man whose life was directly influenced by Freddie Bennett, long time caddie master at the famed Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters. The story spans approximately thirty years of Tripp Bowden's life from a young boy of about ten to a grown man with a career and family. It is an entertaining and at times an educational journey that we take with Bowden.

Freddie... is Tripp Bowden's first book. Bowden was the first full-time white caddy at Augusta National Golf Club formerly a bastion for white golfers and black caddies. Today, as a direct result of Bennett's mentoring, Bowden is a stable family man and owns an advertising company.
Not every individual who has a dynamic influence on the game of golf is a high profile person securely lodged in the upper echelons of the game. Not every specific agent who has a motivating influence on an individual life is a long on education. Such is the case of Freddie Bennett. In bite-size chapters Bowden gives us snapshots of thirty years of his life and how it was gently guided by Bennett.

There are fun and fascinating stories along the way. Throughout this literary journey we learn how PGA Tour player Charles Howell III got his first set of clubs. We are also let in on the secrets of playing AGNC as part of a chapter in which Freddie takes Bowden through the nuances of each hole as part of his caddie education. But the most fascinating instruction we receive are the Freddie-isms, Bennett's bits of wisdom for life.

Get ready at the end for a few tears or at least a little lump in the throat. Even though you know the inevitable is coming, you still can't control that emotion. Why is that? It's because Bowden has drawn us into his life and thus Freddie's life. He has made us care about the characters. We rejoice in their successes and mourn at their demise.

The question Bowden wants each of us to answer is this: Who is the Freddie in your life?

Make sure you answer and thank him immediately after you finish this book.

Jenkins at the Majors - great golf history

(Editor's Note: Originally published May 6, 2009)

Love him or hate him, there's no way to be inattentive to golf writer Dan Jenkins. Jenkins has been following the trials and tribulations on the fairways and greens for nearly sixty years. Regardless of one's appreciation of his body of work – books include Dead Solid Perfect, Semi-Tough, and most recently The Franchise Babe - that longevity alone should earn the reader's respect. Whether or not he “invented the art of golf writing” as claimed by John Feinstein on the jacket is another discussion.

Jenkins' latest volume is Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty years of the World's best golf writing, from Hogan to Tiger. It is collection and re-editing of his essays and press room work from 1951 to 2008. The bottom line on this book is quite simple: If you are a golf fan and have even the slightest interest in the history of the game, you need to read Jenkins at the Majors. It is a massive history lesson presented with the Jenkins' flavor. It is a time travel odyssey from Ben Hogan's victory in 1951 U.S. Open to Tiger Woods' win at the 2008 U.S. Open with 92 other layovers along the way. Unfortunately these 94 majors are less than half of the number (198) that Jenkins has covered.

The history aspect here is important. Whether we care to admit it or not, we are all to some degree interested in the history of the game. It may not reach back fifty or sixty years, but every golfer knows who Tiger Woods is. Our knowledge of the history of the game can always be improved and there is no substitute for getting it first hand.

Jenkins has a knack for catching just the right facts and quotes and then passing them along to his readers. For instance in his essay on Gene Littler's 1961 U.S. Open victory, Jenkins quotes Mike Souchak providing some unintentional prophecy, “I'm winning the Open and I hit a 5-iron 230 yards over the green...Nobody can hit a 5-iron that far!”

This volume also affords us the opportunity to watch Jenkins' literary style evolve over the years. His literary approach is sometimes off beat but always colorful. You'll enjoy some classic Jenkins' lines like the opener concerning the 1966 U.S. Open, “Nobody knows how to cook buffalo, bear and elk meat, so they probably thin Billy Casper eats it raw.”

And that's what makes this book so entertaining – a colorful history lesson from someone who has been there.

Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book

Editors Note: As advertised when we started this site, we want contributions and input from all golf book lovers. And now we have our first. Rick Woelfel, based in Philadelphia and the editor and publisher of Women's Golf Report, has provided us with a review of the recently released Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book. You can also check out some of Rick's work at the Golf Scribe.


Depending on your age, and the depth of your passion for golf The Golf Book, Sports Illustrated Books’ latest endeavor, is an overview of the history of the game, an educational tool, or perhaps a mechanism for stirring precious memories.

The book spans the history of the game, dating back to the 15th century, but concentrates on the era from 1955 (Sports Illustrated was first published in August, 1954) to the present day.

The best players of the last half century are selected by era, beginning with the period from 1955-69, not coincidentally the era of Arnold Palmer, and continuing from there, with pages devoted to 1970-82, when Jack Nicklaus had his greatest success, then moving on to the period from 1983-95 and from 1996 to the present day.

In addition to the top players, the most memorable milestones of each period are listed, whether they occurred on or off the golf course. The roll call for the period from 1970-82 for instance, includes the birth of Tiger Woods on Dec. 30, 1975, along with the first playing of the Legends of Golf three years later, which late to the formation of what is now the Champions Tour.

The text is comprised primarily of excerpts from SI articles, authored by writers like Rick Reilly, Frank Deford, and Michael Bamberger, as well as the likes of Bobby Jones and Bernard Darwin. Reading these accounts of championships past takes the reader back in time, and allows them to get a sense of the likes of Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Mickey Wright and even Jack Nicklaus and Nancy Lopez as the all-time greats they were instead of “merely” historic or ceremonial personages.

The heart of this volume however, consists of more than 300 photographs, taken by some of the finest photographers in the world. These photos, some of which date back to the early 20th century, combine to weave a historical tapestry of their own. Some are arranged to provide a historical contrast as well as context. In one instance, full-page photos of a female member at Shinnecock Hills, circa 1900, and Paula Creamer doing a handstand at St. Andrews in 2007 are laid out on facing pages, one in black and white, the other in full color.

Readers also get a glimpse of 20-year old Francis Ouimet, moments after his win at the 1913 U.S. Open, a handshake between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus at the peak of their rivalry, and a U.S, Army captain hitting balls off the desert sands in Iraq, just to name a few.

If you’re a golf enthusiast The Golf Book will be a welcome addition to your library. And it’s ideal for the golfer on your holiday gift list, particularly if they have an interest in the history of the game.

This book will be a lasting treasure.