World's Toughest Golf Course Critic?
World's Toughest Golf Course Critic?
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Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.
He's got all the finesse of Bill Belichick!
Tom Doak is a renowned golf course architect who has created masterpieces like Cape Kidnappers and Pacific Dunes. Doak is also known for being fearless in his assessment of the world's most famous courses.
Doak has recently produced an update of his 1988 book entitled 'The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses.' He and three other expert design critics have compiled grades and comments for more than 2,500 courses worldwide in a five-volume series of books.
The man's brutal honesty.
Believe me, and you will be entertained, as I am, by this man's brutal honesty in assessing some of the so-called 'best golf courses in the world.' Doak is American but indicates in his book that it's challenging to find any bad courses in Great Britain and Ireland “... because Great Britain and Ireland have largely avoided the monstrous displays of earth-moving muscle foisted upon the earth by golf architects in America and, especially Asia.” Ouch!
Thanks to Joe Passov, for GOLF Magazine, for providing this story on the world's toughest golf course critic!
Imagine if Bill Belichick offered candid reviews of every NFL team -- and of each team's head coach. That's effectively what Tom Doak has done with course designs and their architects in The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, Volume 1: Great Britain and Ireland, a fresh update of his classic book, first published in 1988. Doak is among the most revered architects in the game, authoring Pacific Dunes, Cape Kidnappers and Streamsong (Blue), among other modern classics. He's also design's most candid critic, and his reviews are catnip to course connoisseurs.
Tom Doak has written 5 Volumes on 2500 golf course reviews.
This updated guide adds grades and comments for an additional 1,700 courses, bringing the total to more than 2,500 courses reviewed in a total of five volumes. To assist in assessing the additional courses, Doak enlisted the aid of three other expert design critics -- Ran Morrissett of the United States, Masa Nishijima of Japan and Darius Oliver of Australia.
The four other volumes will be released over the next year or two and will span the globe, including the U.S., the Caribbean and the Far East. "Volume 1 will be the least controversial of the set," Doak writes in the introduction, "because Great Britain and Ireland have largely avoided the monstrous displays of earthmoving muscle foisted upon the earth by golf architects in America and, especially, Asia. If there are bad courses in Britain and Ireland, we haven't found many of them -- though perhaps we've been smart enough to avoid a few."
Still, Doak pulls no punches, as evidenced by the "O" grade he leveled at St. Andrews's Castle Course in Scotland, a David McLay Kidd design. This first volume educates, entertains and engages. Whether you agree or disagree with his assessments, you'll benefit by having them at your fingertips. Here are some of Doak's sharpest insights on the best (and the rest) in Great Britain and Ireland.
To Read Tom Doak's assessment of some of Scotland and Ireland's top courses, go here.
Source: GOLF.com Joe Passov Mel Sole Golf School
Pictures: Evan Wilson easylocum
Thanks for reading - World's Toughest Golf Course Critic? He certainly is opinionated!
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