What golf books have influenced people associated with golf the most? What books separate themselves from the more than 15,000 books that have been published on the subject for the last 200 years? Which books are more meaningful, provide more insight and are most prized?
We have set out to provide some insight into this challenging question by looking at what the leaders in the field have to say on the subject. Not only have we culled through older golf books searching for clues, but we have asked (and continue to ask) thought leaders in the industry and golf world for their inspirations and noteworthy thoughts.
With the early returns in, it appears that the 1920s were not only the Golden Era of golf course architecture, but they were also were a prime time for publishing golf books which still influence golf today. Many of the influential titles were published in the '20s. George Thomas's Golf Architecture in America has the most individual mentions to date. Thomas designed both
We will update the books below with new material on a regular basis with a new entry. We hope you find it stimulating.
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John Sabino |
Golf book dealer |
"Herbert Warren Wind's writing has had the most influence on my interest in golf books. His succinct and detailed writing style is unparalleled, especially his writings that appeared in The New Yorker. Right behind Wind is Longhurst, whose wit is amazing. Doak's Confidential Guide turned me on the architecture and the Legendary Golf series are elegant and inspirational." |
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Following Through by Herbert Warren Wind (1985) |
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Herbert Warren Wind |
Legendary golf author |
In the introduction to his book The Complete Golfer Wind mentions, "I was impressed by two golf books above all others: Down the Fairway and the Duffer's Handbook. They were always around the house and you dipped into them whenever you had time on your hands and didn't know what to do with it." In the acknowledgment to The Story of American Golf, Wind mentions Down the Fairway again as well as two other books: Martin's Fifty Years of American Golf and the official history of the first American golf club: St. Andrews. |
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Down the Fairway by Bobby Jones and O.B. Keeler (1927) |
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Dr. Michael Hurdzan |
Author, Architect |
“The single most influential book on me was the first one I received which was on Christmas Day 1968 and it was George Thomas' Golf Architecture in |
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Golf Architecture in Golf Architecture by Alister Mackenzie (1920) |
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Daniel Wexler |
Golf historian and writer |
"Fifty Years of American Golf is the most underrated, overlooked historical volume in the history of American golf. The World Atlas of Golf is the book that first sparked my interest in courses, course design, etc. The Game of Golf is my primary source in all matters literary. |
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The World Atlas of Golf (multiple publishing dates) |
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Lorne Rubenstein |
Author & golf writer for the Globe and Mail |
The Story of American Golf by Herbert Warren Wind (1948) and pretty much anything by Herb The Happy Golfer by Henry Leach (1914) A History of Golf by Robert Browning (1955) My Life and Soft Times by Henry Longhurst (1971) The Golf Courses of the British Isles by Bernard Darwin (1910) Down the Fairway by Bobby Jones and O.B. Keeler (1927) Five Lessons by Ben Hogan (1957) Swing the Clubhead by Ernest Jones (1952) Scotland's Gift: Golf by C.B. McDonald (1928) Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy (1972) |
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Geoff Schackelford |
Author, golf blogger, architect and historian |
Golf Architecture in |
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Ben Crenshaw |
Professional golfer, 2 time Masters champion, author, architect & World Golf Hall of Fame member |
Golf Architectures in |
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Darius Oliver |
Author of the Planet Golf series of books |
"If I had to nominate one book that I enjoyed more than any other it would be the Spirit of St. Andrews." |
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The Spirit of St. Andrews by Alister Mackenzie (1995) The World Atlas of Golf (Multiple publishing dates) |
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James Finegan |
Award winning author whose titles include Where Golf is Great and the definitive history of Pine Valley |
"Wind's The Story of American Golf is the best and most useful golf book ever written." |
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The Story of American Golf by Herbert Warren Wind (1948) |
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Gary Player |
Professional Golfer, 9 time Major champion, Author, Architect, World Golf Hall of Fame Member |
"The book that has had the most effect on Gary’s life and golf career including his design career and he truly loves what Mr. Peale wrote" |
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The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (1952) |
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Bradley S. Klein |
Award winning golf book author, senior writer Golfweek magazine, former PGA tour caddie and university professor |
Golf Architecture in America by George Thomas, Jr. (1927) |
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John Updike |
Pulitzer Prize winning author, novelist and critic |
"As the barren months of each winter stretched long, consoled myself vacariously with the pages of such silver-tongued bards of the game as Bernard Darwin and Herbert Warren Wind. It was P.G. Wodehouse, however, who brought me resoundingly into the imaginary world of golf. His wonderful, comical golf stories collected in the Golf Omnibus. Wodehouse's golf stories delighted me years before I touched a club. " |
| The Mystery of Golf by Arnold Haultain (1908)
The Golf Omnibus by P.G. Wodehouse (1973) Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy (1972) |
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| Donald Steel | Golf correspondent and writer, Architect and winner of the President's Putter |
"I was reared on the books and other writings of Bernard Darwin, Henry Longhurst, Herbert Warren Wind and Pat Ward-Thomas. So readable and they never date. The book to which I have referred most often is Darwin's Golf Between Two Wars followed by Herb Wind's Story of American Golf. They were researched so accurately, you never question a word." |
| Golf Between Two Wars by Bernard Darwin (1944) The Story of American Golf by Herbert Warren Wind (1948) |
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| Henry Longhurst | Legendary golf writer, former British MP and golf broadcaster |
Longhurst was a big fan of P.G. Wodehouse. He writes in The Best of Henry Longhurst, "Another great writer of English as I see it, is P.G. Wodehouse, and from him I learnt two things, one of them particularly comforting, namely, that to write well you do not have to write on a serious subject. The other was that good writing flows, in other words, you may well have the right words, but not have them in the right order. However trivial or hilarious the subject, Wodehouse’s writing always flows. What must by common consent be the greatest of the stories, The Clicking of Cuthbert." |
| The Clicking of Cuthbert by P.G. Wodehouse (1922) The Heart of a Goof by P.G. Wodehouse (1926) |
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| Arnold Palmer | Professional Golfer, 7 time Major champion, World Golf Hall of Fame Member, Architect and Author | As a youngster Arnold read and was influenced by the Bobby Jones/O.B. Keeler book, Down the Fairway. He also had a high regard in those days for Byron Nelson and his writings about golf |
| Down the Fairway by Bobby Jones and O.B. Keeler (1927) Winning Golf by Byron Nelson (1946) |