Note: this contest is now closed. A winner will be selected and notified via e-mail, and an announcement will be made on or before May 31, 2010. Thanks for all the great entries!
This is it! The day has finally arrived. Well, I suppose the day has only been hotly anticipated since I announced the contest yesterday, but whatever. I have to generate hype somehow.
Anyway, this is day one of the Big May Golf Book Giveaway. Today’s book is Golf Courses of the World: 365 Days by Robert Sidorsky.
This is an updated edition of the original edition of Golf Courses of the World: 365 days, which was originally published in 2005. Here’s a blurb from the publisher Abrams Books about the original 2005 edition:
An invitation to the ultimate golfing journey, this new addition to Abrams’ highly successful 365 Days series takes the reader around the globe to visit 365 of the most sensational courses ever created. Stunning photographs by the world’s leading golf photographers capture the spectacular scenery and signature views of each course, while informative texts discuss their history, natural setting, design, notable holes, and native vegetation. The vast array of distinctive layouts shows golf’s enduring ability to adapt to every type of terrain or ecosystem, and Golf Courses of the World: 365 Days covers them all. The book includes renowned courses in golf strongholds such as Pebble Beach in the U.S., Royal Melbourne in Australia, and St. Andrews in Scotland, as well as hidden gems in exotic locales like Indonesia, Nepal, Dubai, Kenya, and Brazil. For everyone from armchair golfers to serious players who want to add a little variety to their game, this sumptuous volume is the ultimate golfing companion and dreambook.
The new updated 2010 edition includes 200 new courses from around the world. I will be publishing a detailed review at a later date, but I can tell you that this book is filled to the brim with beautiful photographs of some great golf courses. It makes a great coffee table book and would be a wonderful gift for Father’s Day and a great addition to any golf library.
The Contest
Please note that the contest is only open to residents of the United States and Canada. However, I encourage everyone to feel free to participate in the conversation. Just let me know if you’re not from the United States or Canada so your entry will not be included in the drawing.
To enter for a chance to win this book, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite golf course in the world is, and why it’s your favorite. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a course you’ve ever played.
For a second chance to win, tell me in your comment what your favorite golf hole in the world is and why. It doesn’t necessarily need to be from your favorite course, but it certainly can be.
The contest will remain open for one week. The winner will be chosen by random drawing. Be sure to tune in for the rest of the contests this week. Winners will not be disqualified from winning the other contests so be sure to get your entries in for all of them.
Please review the comment policy before entering. Any entries that violate the comment policy will be discarded.
Winners will be notified via e-mail, so please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address with your entries. I will also publish a summary post at the conclusion of all four contests. The book will be shipped to the winner directly from Abrams Books. No P.O. boxes, please.
Good luck! I’m looking forward to reading all your entries.
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Be sure to enter the other contests this week:
Big May Golf Book Giveaway, Day 2 – GOLF Magazine Private Lessons
Big May Golf Book Giveaway, Day 3 – Bad lies
Big May Golf Book Giveaway, Day 4 – Moment of Glory
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Great contest! Narrowing it down to one course is tough, I have so many favorites including Pebble Beach (the setting), Bethpage Black (rugged Tillinghast design that’s hosted 2 US Opens), Winged Foot (another Tillinghast classic, hosted the ’06 US Open), Brooklawn CC (another Tillinghast design where I caddied growing up in CT), Shinnecock (hosted the ’04 US Open), Carnoustie (bear of a course and 18th hole carnage in 2 Open Champs), Old Head (unbelievable cliffside course in Ireland), Torrey Pines South (classic Billy Bell gem hosted the ’08 US Open) and my local Phoenix favorite Papago (also a Billy Bell design).
But if I have to narrow it down to one, I’d have to go with…
St. Andrews Old Course – because simply, it is the home of golf.
I would say Bethpage Black is my favorite. It is a public course only 20 minutes from my house yet I have never played it because I am not good enough. Yet….
In Canada, The National (Ontario), Highland Links (Nova Scotia), Wolf Creek (Alberta), Jasper Golf Club (Alberta), Furry Creek (BC, where Happy Gilmore and Bob Barker fought)
In US – Pinehurst #2, Pine Valley, and Cypress Point
Fictitious – Bushwood and Burningbush
Great choices. So far, it’s a “Who’s Who” on my dream list of places to play.
I have to check, but I’d venture a guess that most are featured in the book. OK, I had to check. Just about all of them are.
TP, bonus points if you can tell me which of your Canadian nominees is in there (there’s only one from your list).
Oh, and I’m surprised that so far no one has elected to get a second entry in the drawing by answering the second question.
By quoting “vast array of distinctive layouts shows golf’s enduring ability to adapt to every type of terrain” from the books description. I would venture to guess Jasper Golf Club because its set in the Rocky Mountains (And I am biased since I live 3 hours away). However Highland Links is a close second. Both courses were designed by Stanley Thompson in 1925 (Jasper) and 1934 (Highland Links). Thompson has four courses that consistently are in the top 15 Canadian Golf Course rankings.
To answer the second question I want to pick a hole from a course I have played. The only course on my list that I have played. The 2nd hole from Wolf Creek’s East nine. It is a Par 5 which is slightly downhill off the tee and it dog legs slightly to left for the second shot. The green is reachable with a long tee shot. From the landing area the fairway drops into a small valley for 100-150 yards before a creek crosses between the fairway and green. The green is protected by a creek and is elevated above the creek by 30-40 feet. To reach the green in two a golfer needs to carry the ball over the creek and the protective rough/scrub/fescue and the green looks to be the size of a postage stamp from the fairway. Like most greens at Wolf Creek the greens have wild undulations and have 2-4 distinct target areas.
In fact, it’s your second choice, Highland Links.
Jasper seems like one I’d like to play, for sure. The Canadian Rockies look pretty spectacular, but I’ve never visited. I’ve seen photos of places like Banff and they just blow me away.
My favorite golf course in America is by FAR Augusta National! I live in Greenwood SC which is an hour north of it. Even though I live that close I’ve only been once. The one time I went my Uncle took me. We went for the par 3 contest in 1993. I felt the whole time like I had escaped to a magical place like no other. A place that before this I though had only existed in fairy tails. At the time I went I was 14 and was a VERY mis-guided youth. I was on the verge of totally throwing my whole life away. That day at the MASTERS changed my life forever. It showed my a whole new world that before that day I had never knew existed. That day made GOLF my new life. No more of the wrong road for me, just rough layups and gentle putts. In one day I had been changed and too this day I am still in love with Augusta National and more over in love with golf. A few years ago the uncle who had saved me from drowning in a pool at the tender age of ten and who had also saved me from a life of turmoil, died in a very tragic accident. Since then I have dedicated my life to helping people through golf, and Augusta National is a staple in my home. Who knew that one lil course in Augusta Georgia which was a brain child of the great Bobby Jones, could impact one person so much just from stepping foot on it. So Augusta National is MY favorite course. I can 100% proove this story and am very willing to do so. I know with soooo many people on the internet faking stuff these days that my story may just sound like one of them, but it’s not! Even if I don’t win the give away I hope that my story may inspire or help atleast one person.
Great story, Joe. We’re all friends here, there’s no need to prove anything to anyone.
There are so many ways that life-changing events can be presented to us. It’s cool that yours happened at Augusta National.
The Upper Montclair Country Club course in NJ is spectacular, I love the combination of difficult and even more difficult, in a gorgeous setting.
pebble beach because it is so famous
Okay I am late getting into this contest because my hubby and I could not agree but since I AM the one posting I am going to choose my answer which is Torrey Pines….because it is right on the beach in beautiful La Jolla and you have that ocean breeze. (His choice was Augusta because he is a HUGE Mickelson fan).
For my second entry I will let my hubby choose
I am fair haha.
Our favorite golf hole is at a little local place called Chriswood Golf Course in Alabama and it is hole #14. We like it because it reminds us of one of the Augusta holes that has a creek about 40-50 yards from the green.
I got to play TPC Sawgrass last month 3 weeks before the tournament. Then watching the tournament on TV I could say that I had played the 17th hole.