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Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
Golfers dream of playing the legendary courses of the St. Andrews, Augusta National, Pinehurst, Pebble Beach. And anyone who has played the royal and ancient sport is an armchair architect at heart. From alterations for their home course to visions of their very own backyard dream course, most golfers would love to test their hands at course design.
What makes certain courses timeless? Unlike the venues of other popular recreational sports like tennis and racquetball, whose playing fields are bound by strict measurements that do not vary, each golf course is unique. Offering an endless topographical variety, from short to long, flat or hilly, wet or dry, every course represents a compelling blend of risks versus rewards, with decisions and challenges to test every golfer’s game and mental toughness.
Combining Geoff Shackelford’s informative narrative with detailed illustrations by architect Gil Hanse, Grounds for Golf explains the fundamentals of golf course design in an understandable and entertaining style. Modern photographs, anecdotal sidebars, and witty quotations augment a course design primer that will enhance readers’ enjoyment of golf's lore while introducing the fundamentals of course design. By explaining the golf course from the ground up, Grounds for Golf will not only help readers in their understanding of the game, but will help their games themselves.
What makes certain courses timeless? Unlike the venues of other popular recreational sports like tennis and racquetball, whose playing fields are bound by strict measurements that do not vary, each golf course is unique. Offering an endless topographical variety, from short to long, flat or hilly, wet or dry, every course represents a compelling blend of risks versus rewards, with decisions and challenges to test every golfer’s game and mental toughness.
Combining Geoff Shackelford’s informative narrative with detailed illustrations by architect Gil Hanse, Grounds for Golf explains the fundamentals of golf course design in an understandable and entertaining style. Modern photographs, anecdotal sidebars, and witty quotations augment a course design primer that will enhance readers’ enjoyment of golf's lore while introducing the fundamentals of course design. By explaining the golf course from the ground up, Grounds for Golf will not only help readers in their understanding of the game, but will help their games themselves.
- GenresNonfictionSports
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2003
39 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 5, 2021
Great introduction to golf architecture.
p. xvi: "Like developing a taste for fine wine, one you start you'll never be able to get enough golf architecture."
p. xviii: "Jack Nicklaus used to pass time between shots by wondering how he would redesign a hole. So design daydreaming can't be all bad for your game, right?"
p. 48: "Fine players tend to discourage design features that require thought, usually at the expense of adventuresome golf for the majority."
P. 57: "The reason for the survival of the award system is purely commercial." -- Robert Henri, artist
p. 63: "There are many of us who firmly believe that a contest between flesh and blood is the only true form of golf, and that too much attention to score play is detrimental to the real interest of the game."
p. 72: The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament
p. 75: "The biggest temptation is ... to settle for too little." -- Thomas Merton, monk and poet
p. 88: "The four elements to keep in mind when analyzing a hole include the strategy, the green, the naturalness and artistry of construction, and finally the often misunderstood role of 'playability.'"
p. 106: "The par-3 sixteenth at Cypress Point plays over the Pacific Ocean with the wind blowing in off the seas. It is easily the most famous and awe-inspiring hole in golf."
p. 116: Features of Classic Designs: 1) Routing and Variety of Holes; 2) Hazards and Strategy; 3) Greens; and 4) Beauty, Experience, Ambiance
p. 130: "The variety is not forced, which is why the course [National Golf Links of America] is a true original."
p. 133: "[The greens] are massive, they are undulating and they are the most fascinating man-made greens in the world."
p. 154: Alister Mackenzie (1870-1934)
p. 159: Donald Ross (1872-1948)
p. 163: Albert Warren Tillinghast (1874-1942)
p. 168: Pete Dye (1925-2020). Inspired Bill Coore ( ) and Tom Doak (1961-)
p. 173: "Golf is a game of balance." -- George Thomas
p. 178: "One great modern golf myth is that you use yardages 'to the hole." Shotmaking is an art from, not a science."
p. 179: "Don't worry about par. The practice of printing par figures is literally a mental hazard." -- Bobby Jones
p. 183: Seven Course Management Principles Related To Golf Architecture:
1) View hazards as a challenge, not your enemy.
2) Be aware of your limitations when analyzing the design.
3) Be weary of an inflexible preround game plan.
4) First instincts are best.
5) Acknowledge and take advantage of design features.
6) Learn the architect's school of design and tendencies before playing.
7) Avoid dwelling on numbers.
p. 190: Ground Features and Design: Naturalness, Irregularity and Randomness
p. 191: Is There Any Strategy?
p. 193: Memorabilty
p. 195: Dead or Alive?
p. 195: Daydreaming on the Links
p. 197: The Banal, Boring Hole
p. 198: The Sadly, Overbuilt Hole
p. 202: Don't use "sand trap" for "bunker"
p. 203: "Links describes a specific type of sandy soil that is created by the meeting of river and sea terrain. It is the land the ocean once covered, but thanks to the sea salt left behind, links became areas unsuitable for farming."
p. 204: "Avoid using 'signature hole' under any and all circumstances."
p. 206: Use "hole location" and "flag" instead of "pin location" and "pin"
p. 206: Use "green fee" not "greens fee"
p. 212: Cool-Season Grasses: various bents, ryes, fescues and poa annuas.
p. 213: Warm-Season Grasses: Bermuda, zoysia and kikuyu
p. 235: "By walking the site with us, they saw how we planned to 'place' the course on to the site instead of 'erecting' a course there."
p. 243: "It's easy to visualize how a hole will play for good players, but weaker golfers are often forgotten."
p. 254: Armchair Design:
1) Start at the Green
2) Temptation
3) Comic Relief
4) Function and Playability
5) Maintenance
6) The Paper Effect
p. xvi: "Like developing a taste for fine wine, one you start you'll never be able to get enough golf architecture."
p. xviii: "Jack Nicklaus used to pass time between shots by wondering how he would redesign a hole. So design daydreaming can't be all bad for your game, right?"
p. 48: "Fine players tend to discourage design features that require thought, usually at the expense of adventuresome golf for the majority."
P. 57: "The reason for the survival of the award system is purely commercial." -- Robert Henri, artist
p. 63: "There are many of us who firmly believe that a contest between flesh and blood is the only true form of golf, and that too much attention to score play is detrimental to the real interest of the game."
p. 72: The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament
p. 75: "The biggest temptation is ... to settle for too little." -- Thomas Merton, monk and poet
p. 88: "The four elements to keep in mind when analyzing a hole include the strategy, the green, the naturalness and artistry of construction, and finally the often misunderstood role of 'playability.'"
p. 106: "The par-3 sixteenth at Cypress Point plays over the Pacific Ocean with the wind blowing in off the seas. It is easily the most famous and awe-inspiring hole in golf."
p. 116: Features of Classic Designs: 1) Routing and Variety of Holes; 2) Hazards and Strategy; 3) Greens; and 4) Beauty, Experience, Ambiance
p. 130: "The variety is not forced, which is why the course [National Golf Links of America] is a true original."
p. 133: "[The greens] are massive, they are undulating and they are the most fascinating man-made greens in the world."
p. 154: Alister Mackenzie (1870-1934)
p. 159: Donald Ross (1872-1948)
p. 163: Albert Warren Tillinghast (1874-1942)
p. 168: Pete Dye (1925-2020). Inspired Bill Coore ( ) and Tom Doak (1961-)
p. 173: "Golf is a game of balance." -- George Thomas
p. 178: "One great modern golf myth is that you use yardages 'to the hole." Shotmaking is an art from, not a science."
p. 179: "Don't worry about par. The practice of printing par figures is literally a mental hazard." -- Bobby Jones
p. 183: Seven Course Management Principles Related To Golf Architecture:
1) View hazards as a challenge, not your enemy.
2) Be aware of your limitations when analyzing the design.
3) Be weary of an inflexible preround game plan.
4) First instincts are best.
5) Acknowledge and take advantage of design features.
6) Learn the architect's school of design and tendencies before playing.
7) Avoid dwelling on numbers.
p. 190: Ground Features and Design: Naturalness, Irregularity and Randomness
p. 191: Is There Any Strategy?
p. 193: Memorabilty
p. 195: Dead or Alive?
p. 195: Daydreaming on the Links
p. 197: The Banal, Boring Hole
p. 198: The Sadly, Overbuilt Hole
p. 202: Don't use "sand trap" for "bunker"
p. 203: "Links describes a specific type of sandy soil that is created by the meeting of river and sea terrain. It is the land the ocean once covered, but thanks to the sea salt left behind, links became areas unsuitable for farming."
p. 204: "Avoid using 'signature hole' under any and all circumstances."
p. 206: Use "hole location" and "flag" instead of "pin location" and "pin"
p. 206: Use "green fee" not "greens fee"
p. 212: Cool-Season Grasses: various bents, ryes, fescues and poa annuas.
p. 213: Warm-Season Grasses: Bermuda, zoysia and kikuyu
p. 235: "By walking the site with us, they saw how we planned to 'place' the course on to the site instead of 'erecting' a course there."
p. 243: "It's easy to visualize how a hole will play for good players, but weaker golfers are often forgotten."
p. 254: Armchair Design:
1) Start at the Green
2) Temptation
3) Comic Relief
4) Function and Playability
5) Maintenance
6) The Paper Effect
December 30, 2018
Enjoyed this book.
Great read if you are really into golf course architecture. Graphics were not as clear on Kindle when enlarged as I would like.
Great read if you are really into golf course architecture. Graphics were not as clear on Kindle when enlarged as I would like.
May 7, 2019
Really great but avoid the Kindle copy - the drawings are basically unreadable and I think would have moved this to a 5/5 had I been able to read them.
February 3, 2023
Great book to start a an amateur study in golf architecture.
January 25, 2025
Fantastic history of golf course architecture and what makes a course great.
February 20, 2017
Great book
Very entertaining,informative, and enjoyable to read. The uses history and human to explain his subject in clear concise chapters listed as holes. Well done thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommended.
Very entertaining,informative, and enjoyable to read. The uses history and human to explain his subject in clear concise chapters listed as holes. Well done thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommended.
December 30, 2022
What makes a golf course great? Memorable? Difficult? Are these the same thing, or not?
Anyone who has spent more than a year or two chasing the white ball towards the elusive hole starts thinking to varying degrees about the courses he's played... or desires to play.
Sgackleford's book is arranged in eighteen "holes" (chapters), though I promise he treats golf with more respect than the goofy arrangement of his book. The holes range from the basics of golf course architecture to the history of certain design styles/trends, to the examination of great courses, holes, and architects, to more mundane topics like grasses and greenkeeping.
Very interesting. Very fun. Recommended for any fan of the humbling game.
Anyone who has spent more than a year or two chasing the white ball towards the elusive hole starts thinking to varying degrees about the courses he's played... or desires to play.
Sgackleford's book is arranged in eighteen "holes" (chapters), though I promise he treats golf with more respect than the goofy arrangement of his book. The holes range from the basics of golf course architecture to the history of certain design styles/trends, to the examination of great courses, holes, and architects, to more mundane topics like grasses and greenkeeping.
Very interesting. Very fun. Recommended for any fan of the humbling game.
July 4, 2018
A well-written, readable, and informative book for the golfer. As the title states, it follows the history and basic fundamentals of golf course design.
It would have been helped by the inclusion of color photos, which capture the drama of some golf holes. The plain black and white photos don't do the great holes discussed justice.
It would have been helped by the inclusion of color photos, which capture the drama of some golf holes. The plain black and white photos don't do the great holes discussed justice.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews