Good Walks: Rediscovering the Soul of Golf at Eighteen of the Carolinas' Best Courses

by Lee Pace

This book celebrates the beauty, tradition, and variety of golf across the Carolinas, featuring eighteen beloved courses as experienced by the walking golfer. One of golf's earliest appeals was its health-giving benefits, with players walking some four miles over varied terrain, making stamina and endurance an important part of the sport. Most recreational players today choose motorized carts. But Lee Pace believes that the slower pace and on-the-ground view associated with walking gives one an opportunity to savor the experience, understand the nuances of course design and landscape architecture, and appreciate the small touches that make our region's best clubs and courses special. The Carolinas are a cradle for the game in the United States, making walking its courses an ideal way to connect past and present.

Attractively illustrated with full-color photography, each essay tells the story of a course and how it is experienced on foot. Guiding readers around fabled courses like Pinehurst No. 2 and new classics like Kiawah Island's Ocean Course, private clubs and municipal courses, resort destinations and urban gems, Pace reflects on legendary course architects, famous tournaments, notable players, ties between the game's founders and the Carolinas, and more. Whether you're a committed traditionalist or new to the game, this book will inspire you to slow down and enjoy the best of what golf has to offer.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 3, 2021

Reviews

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main point of this book is that golf is a walking activity. The author is an avid golfer and makes the point that it is best when the golfer walks. He visits eighteen golf courses in the Carolinas that have a reputation of encouraging walking. His descriptions of the courses include a history of the the design and building of the layout. At each place he plays a round and gives the reader a feel for the beauty of the course that could be missed if one used a riding cart. His stories were some of the best parts of the book. The pictures of the golf courses added to the overall enjoyment but too often he added a picture of his golf bag resting on a bench. Once would been fine to make his point but there are several. I would have liked to see more pictures of challenging golf holes that were mentioned in the text. While he hopes to encourage golfers to walk, he is a bit too repetitive. Eighteen chapters plus an Epilogue with the same sermon gets old after the front nine.

[Ted Barringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book, especially for those of us who play golf walking and carrying our sticks. I have been fortunate enough to have played 5 of the featured courses and 3-4 others that are mentioned. I am glad the walking/carry traditions are alive and kicking. I hope this book, albeit, published in 2021 will help with the resurrection of walking the golf course. Come join us. Hey Lee, can you get me on the 13 courses I have not played, and a return to Grandfather would be great!