Golf Courses of the World 365 Days

If you're a fan of golf literature containing lavish photographs and light reading, Robert Sidorsky's latest volume Golf Courses of the World: 365 Days will have great appeal. And, if this title may has a familiar ring, your right. Sidorksy did a similar version with the same title published in 2005. The 2010 version is revised and updated and includes over 200 new courses many of which have opened since the original version was published.

Working on the assumption that you are familiar with Abrams Books, the leader in dynamic, visually appealing golf volumes, and Robert Sidorsky, you can fully expect that this latest volume will be a picturesque edition to your library. Sidorsky has also written Golf 365 Days: A History and Golf's Greatest Moments (title self explanatory). The book is designed as a “golf devotional” – 365 days of the year each one separately dedicated to a golf course. In fact each page has a date assigned to a golf course. That's one of the entertaining elements of the volume; you don't have to attempt a complete reading in a short period of time. One day at a time will get you through the entire book in a year. In fact, if you want to find a particular golf course, you must go to the index which refers you to a date, not a page number.

For a little fun go to February 14 featuring the Green Monkey Golf course at the Sandy Lane Hotel – Barbados and look at the accompanying picture. You'll know why it's call the Green Monkey.

My only complaint with books of this ilk is that they all contain the same core golf courses. Yes, there are a few that you may have not seen before, but you can make a safe wager that a large selection of someone's top 100 courses or famous courses will be included. We still waiting for a book of golf courses that does not include Pebble Beach or St. Andrews.

Golf Courses of the World: 365 Days is an enjoyable read and needs to be in the library of every golf enthusiast who must get his golf fix every day.

A Course Called Ireland

There is no coincidence that we have chosen to review A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee on this date. What could be more appropriate?

Walking a golf course is not unusual, well, perhaps a bit more unusual in 2010 than say 50 years ago. But thinking an entire country is a golf course and walking around it creates a completely new perception. Tom Coyne’s adventure as he walked through Ireland determined to play each and every golf course in his path and dive into every pub that he stumbled across is a gem from start to finish. A Course Called Ireland is less of a golf travelogue and more of a historical and geographical stroll across Ireland with golf courses luring the magnetic point of the compass.Yes, there are tales of the courses he plays, but it is also a human interest saga and a cultural odyssey. Occasionally Coyne blends the golf and the cultural and cleverly instructs us on the missing element in American golf. This is readily seen when he relays to us a pub scene where,”Kids came into the bar and bought Cokes..., heading out to play twilight golf in their sneakers with a handful of clubs between them. He tackles this subject again on page 79 with this precise statement, “While greatness for an American golf course was granted according to how many people you could keep off it, a course's quality in Europe was determined by how many people wanted on.”

As he begins his hike from the southeast coast in a counterclockwise route, we learn of his personal physical struggles to walk the entire coast of Ireland and one man’s search for his Irish roots. The characters, the countryside and the politics are all here.

Coyne is the author of two previous books A Gentleman's Game and Paper Tiger, both volumes intimately involved with golf. His style is easy to read and incorporates a humorous self-deprecating sense of humor. A Course Called Ireland was originally published in hardcover in February 2009 and had now just been released in paperback.

Golfers will find this book interesting and non-golfers will read with fascination of Coyne’s encounters with all that Ireland has to offer. It will make golfers want to book the next flight to Ireland and set out on their own Irish golf odyssey. It will compel non-golfers to discover the rich cultural phenomenon that is Ireland.

Editor's Note: And on this St. Patrick's Day for another great Irish golf adventure you might consider Ancestral Links by John Garrity reviewed here or here.

Golf's Dream 18s

All of us who love to play the game of golf have a number of favorite holes that we have played. Our fantasy is to transplant those holes to a mythical course that we could play forever. It would be a place where we could visit to get a small taste of golf utopia. Alas, these courses that we build in our hearts and minds are a daydream, a mental image that we conjure up as we envision a life with nothing but the greatest game of all to occupy our time.

Fortunately, we now have been provided some visual and written assistance to serve as guidance along the paths of our fantasies. David Barrett's newest volume, Golf's Dream 18s, has taken the daydreaming to a new level. Recently published by Abrams Press, the leader in dynamic, visually appealing golf volumes, Barrett takes the fantasy course scenario to the ultimate extreme. Golf's Dream 18s is a collection of fantasy courses, 18 to be exact, that teases the golfer's mind and pleases his visual senses.

Barrett is well equipped for the job. He has served as a senior editor at Golf Magazine and he also produced a similar volume from Abrams Golf Courses of the U.S. Open.

Barrett's organizational structure of this volume provides us with a fun look at over 300 holes from around the world. He starts us off with a short introduction and then guides us through 18 holes on 18 individual fantasy courses with each “course” having a specific theme. We get to tour courses with Scenic Holes, Historic Holes, Exclusive Holes (ed. op., holes virtually no one can play), Holes Anyone Can Play (ed. op., which is more like it), Modern Holes, Classic Holes, and twelve other themed, fantasy courses culminating in The Ultimate Dream 18, an all-star team of the holes in the book.

What really makes Golf's Dream 18s really enjoyable is that each hole is accompanied by a first-class picture (This is what Abrams does quite well.) and informative text. We learn a little about each and every hole. Unfortunately, there are no diagrams of each hole which at times left us wondering how the entire hole looks.

This book is a heavyweight, literally and figuratively. It comprises 324 full-color photographs and 304 pages. Together with the hardcover and the eye-catching jacket, it tips the scales at approximately four pounds. But its content is also fascinating.

To date this is our second favorite book of the season, ranking right behind SI's The Golf Book. (But that may be because we are slightly more interested in golf history than course architecture.) You can't go wrong with this volume for your favorite golfer who loves golf courses (and a little bit of fantasy).

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.