A Round of Golf Courses: A Selection of the Best Eighteen

by Patric Dickinson

In this book, Patric Dickinson selects 18 of his favourite golf courses for analysis. He examines in detail the origins of courses including Ganton, Hoylake, Little Aston, Portrush, Sunningdale and Walton Heath, and also considers the effects inventions such as the rubber-cored ball had on course design. Dickinson's approach conveys to the reader both the delights and the hazards of each of the courses, adding touches of humour to his commentaries.

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1990

Reviews

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book about eighteen golf courses in Great Britain. The book was written in 1951 and the author gives his impressions of the courses from his personal experiences. He writes with a mixture fine English literature and humor to make this often a challenge for the reader but in the end you find that you have a good idea about the beauty and complexity of the golf course being described. He draws from English poetry to help describe his feelings about the difficulty of a particular course. This book has been in my golf library for years and I am happy that I finally took the time to read it. If you like golf and have an appreciation for literature you will enjoy this book if you can find it.

[Robert Dodds · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no easy thing to describe the assorted man-made landscapes that create the settings for the game of golf. There are, on the face of it, only so many ways to describe a line of trees or a set of hillocks. But Patric Dickinson has made a brilliant fist of it, applying lyrical and sometimes overtly 'over the top' imagery to the subject. So, for example, he describes the green lines of fairways seen from a nearby hill as being like the slime trail of a slug - and, as I recently observed a slug, this struck me as very apposite, as like a golf course slugs are liable to return to their point of departure. A highly entertaining read for a golfer, and a great introduction to eighteen of the best courses in Britain. Patric Dickinson joins a select band who employ literary intelligence in their writing about golf. In fact, I would whimsically propose these as a 'big three' to rival Palmer, Player and Nicklaus: Patric Dickinson, P.G.Wodehouse, and John Updike.