Book News

We have received a number of new publications in the Library.

Why are there eighteen holes? St Andrews and the evolution of golf courses 1764 – 1890, by Peter Lewis. Published by The R&A. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary sources, Peter Lewis takes readers on a journey from 1764 to 1890 to discover why there are eighteen holes on a course. He reveals that early courses had varying numbers of holes and were judged by the quality of their turf, putting greens and hazards. He shows why, during the 1880s, as golf became more popular, the ideal number of holes was increasingly seen as being eighteen. In addition, he traces how St Andrews came to be perceived as the ‘metropolis of golf’ and why the Royal and Ancient Golf Club emerged as a governing body of the game. He draws multiple strands of evidence together to answer finally the questions of how and why eighteen holes became the ideal number for a golf course.

The book retails at £12.00, with Royal Mail Standard 1st class postage (UK) £3.07. (EU £6.55 / World Zone 1 £9.85 / World Zone 2 £10.70). Contact Claire Cooper on ClaireCooper@randa.org

Construire un Golf, published by the Fédération française de golf. The "Building a golf facility" folder, for the project leader, is the reference document of the ffgolf in the creation of golfing facilities. It explains the different types of golfing facilities, discusses the supply and demand of French golf, and guides the client in defining his project and then carrying out the future operation of it. (Le dossier « Construire un golf ». Destiné au porteur de projet, c’est le document de référence de la ffgolf en matière de création d’équipement golfique. Il explique ce qu’est un équipement golfique, évoque l’offre et la demande golfique française, guide le maître d’ouvrage dans la définition de son projet, puis du montage à l’exploitation de son futur équipement.)

It is available for reading online (Fluidbook format) or download in PDF format by clicking here . We also have copies in the Library.

Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas: Jugando al golf desde 1891. An addition to our Centenary Book Collection, this tells the history of Las Palmas Golf Club and includes an article by Jonathan Gaunt on Philip Mackenzie Ross. This book was donated by Alejandro Nagy, who is the founder and manager of golfindustria.es who wants you to know that you can join their business directory free of charge. One of the main targets of golfindustria.es is helping international golf industry professionals to contact Spanish golf course decision makers. Both the experience and skills of the team help them stay in close touch with a number of Spanish golf industry operators, so golfindustria.es could be an excellent way to promote your products and/or services.

I wrote in March about the donation of golf club histories by Mr Alan Jackson. Many of these are from the 1990s and early 2000s and fill in many of the gaps in the collection which now stands at around 600 volumes. Most of these are from clubs in the UK but there are some from those in mainland Europe, such as Royal Ostend, Golf-Club de Cannes-Mandelieu, Hamburg and Frankfurt, and from further afield such as Bangalore and Royal Melbourne. I can now report that all these books can be found in the Library Catalogue

Finally, for those of you with fond memories of the Study Tour , I have a book about Leeds Castle, often said to be ‘the loveliest castle in the world’, with an illustrated history and description.

Please contact me on sue@eigca.org if you would like to borrow any of these titles.