Misc. 2004 Book Reviews

Derek Duncan reviewed "Books to own" for Travelgolf.com. Here's what he had to say about Grounds for Golf: "An absolute must-have for the thinking player and architecture aficionado, Shackelford wields a broad knowledge base to illuminate the essence of strategic course design and set-up."

And on The Art of Golf Design: "A supremely beautiful collection of Miller's paintings of classic golf holes accompanied by Shackelford's spot-on writing and observations - an exhilarating collaboration."

And finally, on Masters of the Links: "Sort of a "Best of" from this list, this is a stirring collection of essays by noted architects and authors from Tillinghast to Dye to Doak."

From Bob Fagan of Golf Today: "There are a precious few contemporary writers such Tom Doak and Brad Klein that I really look forward to reading. Add to that list Geoff Shackelford. Grounds For Golf explains the basics of golf course architecture as well as any book I’ve read. What’s more, it’s entertaining and exceedingly well illustrated with diagrams, photos, and interesting sidebar quotations. (The diagrams are courtesy of architect Gil Hanse.) Shackelford'’s presentation is complete, easy to understand, and exceedingly well illustrated. He used a number of relevant quotations that keep the text moving, easily keeping my attention. In the second half of the book, Shackelford addresses modern topics that affect golf course development and architecture. The result is as if you were sitting listening to some industry insiders discussing their business. The author is quite opinionated and also shares his experience in building and designing the highly acclaimed Rustic Canyon Golf Club in Moorpark, California...Grounds For Golf is exquisitely written, its presentation superb, and a definite 'two thumbs up' as a best buy.

P.S. The putting surfaces at Hanse's, Shackelford's, and final collaborator Jim Wagner's Rustic Canyon Golf Club, I judge to be the most interesting and perhaps also the most subtly challenging in the California."