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By Bernard Darwin A collection of Bernard Darwin's best articles from The American Golfer magazine, 1922-1936. Foreword by Herbert Warren Wind. -
By Pat Ward-Thomas A collection of this distinguished British golf journalist's best essays, concentrating on Hogan and Palmer in the 1950s and 1960s when they reigned supreme. Afterword by Arnold Palmer. -
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By Robert Hunter A masterpiece of architectural literature, this is the first volume fully addressing the complexities of the golf course in terms of design, construction and definition of the game. The few previous books in the field were either narrowly defined — as Hazards by Bauer — or a compilation of essays such as Golf Architecture by Mackenzie and Some Essays on Golf Course Architecture by Colt and Allison (all Classics of Golf selections.) Robert Hunter conceptualized The Links as a complete study, a manual for the golfing field of play, especially written to those about to develop a course. That an intellectual from an alien discipline would expend his considerable analytical talents on a book about golf course architecture was somewhat surprising—but more surprising was the quality of the effort. Upon publication, it stood as a lighthouse against a sea of confusion and crosscurrents and its beacon has lost little of its luminosity throughout the decades. It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely author for what is recognized by many in the design field as their “bible.” A free thinker from a wealthy Midwest family, Hunter was not a golf course architect, or even a golfing professional. He was a dedicated socialist reformer, world renown for his actions against child labor, poverty, and public malaise in Chicago and New York. Hunter’s unique understanding of the relationship between golf’s playing surface and the game itself did not come by accident. His hobby was at such an acute stage that in 1912 he spent six months touring courses in Great Britain. Hunter was an astute observer and an original thinker. He concluded that diversity made golf the great game it is and that the severity and singular nature of the famous links contributed to its unconventional nature. If golf was played on a dead-flat fairway bounded by walls to keep every shot in play, with all slopes pitched toward an over-sized hole, he postulated everyone would quit out of boredom. “It is not the love of something easy which has drawn men like a magnet for hundreds of years to this royal and ancient pastime; on the contrary, it is the maddening difficulty of it.” Without challenges, there is no “game” in the game of golf. To emphasize the point, Hunter tells a superb story about playing with John Ball, the best British amateur before World War I (eight-time British Amateur Champion.) One day, during the course of two rounds, Ball had on five different occasions, asked Hunter if he wanted to agree to a half on the hole. On each occasion Hunter was in a superior position and refused Ball’s request for the half. After each refusal, Ball proceeded, not to halve, but to win each hole, once holing out from the rough and once holing out from a bunker! Ball had demonstrated that, in Hunter’s words, “The keenest delight in golf is given to those who, finding themselves in trouble, refused to be depressed, and, with some recovery, snatch from their opponents what seemed for them certain victory.” This is the reason for hazards then—to keep sport in the game! No wonder the shots that offer the drama of decision-making and the chance for risk-taking, are precisely those often found among the wind-swept dunes of links land.Hunter’s formula is not to replicate but to assimilate, to allow the nature of the site to dictate as much of the design of the hole and its components as possible. Supported by excellent photographs and drawings, Hunter discourses on sand bunkers, and their defining role in golf and golf course design. His 15-points on hazard construction is a concise abridgement of his theories. Another important lesson from The Links is that the climax in golf should be the putting green. Greens must be molded to fit the hole, with sufficient undulation to frequently challenge putts, transitioning smoothly through the approach. Hunter appreciated the radical, sometimes absurd ridges and folds found on classic links, but clearly judges that an architect would be crucified if he intentionally worked such abnormalities into a “modern” design. Many golfers familiar with the Pebble Beach Golf Links may not know Hunter remodeled 9-holes there in 1928 with Chandler Egan and Roger Lapham. Other courses Hunter collaborated on in California were the Meadow Club, Valley Club of Montecito, Mita Vista Golf and Country Club, Northwood Golf Club, Pittsburgh Golf Club, and Green Hills Country Club. To read The Links is to transcend the act of playing golf, and understand the correlation between the terrain golf is played upon and the quality of the experience. In the final section, Other Things of Importance, Hunter’s continual quest for better golf leads him to call for the publication of books on turf grasses and greenkeeping, equipment and tools, construction and course administration. Why does he care so passionately? The simple answer is he loves the game like we do, but ultimately hears an even stronger inner draw. As a social reformer and theorizer, he sees that, “Golf is rapidly becoming the national sport, and as a sport is far more valuable to us as a nation than baseball or football…As a recreation for all classes, golf seems destined to become as universal as it is beneficial.” More than 75-years later, that prophetic statement, that golf’s popularity would overtake baseball’s and eventually become a world game, seems even more amazing. -
By Arnold Haultain No one has come closer than Haultain to explaining the ultimate riddle of the game. Foreword by Herbert Warren Wind, Afterword by John Updike. -
By H.N. Wethered A dozen essays on various aspects of the game, each envisioned in its ideal form. The course, clubs, style, temperament, champions, architecture, all considered in Wethered's search for perfection. Foreword by Robert S. Macdonald. -
By Herbert Warren Wind Wind's masterpiece is one of the great books in golf. In the second half of the twentieth century, Wind contributed as much to golf as the force of nature with which he shares a name. He helped Ben Hogan codify his knowledge of the swing and Gene Sarazen and Jack Nicklaus tell their life stories in riveting fashion. (He also gave Amen Corner its name.) And, like a certain famous Englishman, he took golf reportage to a new level of specificity, insight and narrative grace, writing primarily for the New Yorker. He always saw himself as the heir and apprentice to Bernard Darwin, but in some ways he surpassed the master, translating his principles into a lively, colloquial American idiom. First published in 1948, Wind's most cohesive work traced American golf from its earliest stirrings in Yonkers, New York, in 1888. He updated the book in 1956 and again in 1975, nearly doubling its size. The Story of American Golf is just that—a great story. You can't put it down even though you know how it all turns out Afterword by Robert. S. Macdonald. -
By Bernard Darwin Autobiographical information about Bernard Darwin. Originally published in 1955, this book celebrates the life and accomplishments of one golf's greatest personalities. Foreword by Herbert Warren Wind. -
By Gene Sarazen
This candid autobiography of the legendary golfer gives a fine account of golf during the 1920s and 30s. This is such an enjoyable read by one of golf's true greats with one delightful story after another about Sarazen's life in golf, which began as like many others in this time period as a caddie.
From his infamous double eagle at Augusta to his touching story with the elderly caddie Daniels and their win at The British, this book is jammed packed with golf told through the eyes of a man who played alongside the like of Vardon, Cotton, Armour, Snead, Hogan and Hagen, among others. What a fascinating insight into not only this wonderful champion and his life, but the game itself. Expertly written with Herbert Warren Wind. Afterword by Peter Ryde. -
Edited by Robert S. Macdonald A collection of the finest golf fiction from the first half of the 20th century, beginning with “The Haunted Major”, the earliest and most famous of all golf stories. Also included is what many consider the best golf story ever written: “Dormey One”, by Holworthy Hall, a powerful tale of an old champion and a young challenger. Plus three Bernard Darwin stories, never before published in book form. The criteria for selecting the stories, nine in all, was that you, the reader, could not put any of them down unfinished. Foreword by Robert S. Macdonald. -
Edited by Herbert Warren Wind and Robert S. Macdonald Harry Vardon--6 time Open Champion and a true golf superstar. This is the best of Vardon's writing, including autobiographical and instructional material. A gem of a book. An original publication by The Classics of Golf. Afterword by S.L. McKinlay. -
By Dick Aultman and Ken Bowden
This is a puzzling book to categorize. While not exactly a book of instruction, you will learn more about the golf swing digesting Ken Bowden and Dick Aultman’s The Methods of Golf’s Masters than you will at the practice tee. It is a unique blend of astute analysis and historical exactitude, probing the origins and evolution of the modern swing, using 16-famous players, each emblematic of a particular nuance of style, for demonstrative purposes. The authors also have an exciting new premise: “A recurring theme in this book is the influence the master golfer’s personalities have had on their playing methods.” It is a curious viewpoint that can ultimately assist us in our own development. The authors’ theory is that the most influential factor determining both a golfer’s swing and his style of play is his temperament and that forcing technique outside of a natural comfort zone can only end in disaster. That personality should be so dominant a component is surprising, but the evidence they present is convincing. -
By Jack Nicklaus with Herbert Warren Wind Written at the height of his powers--this books is a fantastic insight into one of the great sportsman in history. The chapters on instruction are terrific, reflecting Nicklaus' focus on a few fundamentals and his uncomplicated approach to the game. What you see in this book is an amazing attitude and mentality that carries Nicklaus to the most majors ever won and doing it with class. The book was written with the Dean of American Sportwriters, Herbert Warren Wind, who writing brings out the real Nicklaus. -
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By Walter Hagen with Magaret Seaton Heck One of the game's most dashing and feared players, he is summed up in his most-remembered saying: " I never wanted to be a millionaire - I just wanted to live like one". This is Walter Hagen's own story of the two decades when he ruled the golfing world as king. Hagen not only won a major tournament every year for twenty years-a record never even approached by any other golfer-but his personality dominated the game during that period. A fascinating read that also shows how he opened up the golf world to professionals--who previously weren't even allowed in the clubhouse. Foreword by Herbert Warren Wind.
