Golf Courses of the British Isles

by Bernard Darwin, Harry Rountree (Illustrator)

The Golf Courses of the British isles has been called the finest book on golf ever written. Written almost 100 years ago it is one of the rarest and most sought-after books in the whole literature of golf, a sharp and opinionated pilgrimage to great temples of golf. This facsimile contains all 64 of Harry Rountree's paintings. For anyone who loves the game this book is an absolute must.

254 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1988

Reviews

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

He’s got a lovely writing style and it’s nice to step back in time and hear about the early day golf courses and games. However purely hearing about the design of courses is a little tough to imagine for the properties you’ve never been to. For the ones I have it was really nice to follow along with how I remembered them, even if this was written circa 1900 and quite a few courses have been rerouted, lengthened and renovated.

[Walker Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best stuff you can read about the golf courses of the British Isles. This is a collection of Bernard Darwin’s (Charles’ grandson, golf writer for a London newspaper) writings on these courses. He was on the ground watching the first Open Championships and wrote on each match.
I thought his writings on London’s heathland courses and the East Lothian courses the best. The rivalry between the Oxford and Cambridge golf teams was great, and how Cambridge has always had the edge due to Royal Worlington & Newmarket being their home course. His views on playing golf on the sabbath were interesting.
The accompanying artwork was great and the modern forward by Ben Crenshaw is worth the price of the book itself.
I finished it just in time for my trip!

[Alan Abbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

great writer