The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes succeeds in hitting precisely the two targets any book purporting to present golf's greatest anything must aim for: it'll have golfers both arguing with and dreaming about its contents. Simultaneously.

This is an altogether magnificent volume, big in size, big in contents, visually rich, and thoroughly engaging. Peper's opening essay explains how he and his editors identified the ultimate one-tenth of 1 percent of the 500,000 or so holes on the planet, and explores the question of what exactly makes a great golf hole. Challenge and difficulty, certainly, but also beauty, fairness, reputation, history, and the way it begins to eat into a golfer's mind as he or she takes it in from the tee box. It's all in the mix. Then the fun really starts, with a comprehensive look at the best 18--the 15th at Cypress Point (but not the more terrifying 16th), the 18th at Pebble, the 16th at Merion, the 17th at St. Andrews, the 6th at Royal Melbourne, and the 13th at Augusta among them--complete with lush photography and an artist's depiction of each. The next 100 are then rolled out in somewhat less depth, with the remainder of the 500 receiving a thumbnail sketch and photo, along with either appreciation or curses from golfers everywhere.

And then a different kind of fun starts. The last section of the volume is devoted to lists: the most scenic holes, the most difficult, the most strategic, most penal, best ocean, best mountain, best American, best European, best links, best Ross, best Tillinghast, the holes that have produced historic moments. If, as a golfer, you can't dispute or defend the choices that make up these lists, it might be about time to hang up the clubs. --Jeff Silverman


From Publishers Weekly
While books dedicated to the world's best golf courses abound, this sleek volume narrows the focus down to individual golf holes. Five members of the Golf Magazine staff (Peper, James A. Frank, Brian McCallen, Greg Midland and Gary Galyean) have compiled more than 800 striking photos of the golf holes to illustrate their choices, and for each hole they list course, location, architect, length and par. The first 100 holes get the fullest coverage, with two-page spreads: not surprisingly, in the U.S., warm-weather states such as California and Florida tend to dominate the picks, as do courses in New York; abroad, the British Isles stand out, but Spain offers a nice selection of top-notch holes. Heading up the list is hole number four at Banff Springs Golf Course in Alberta, Canada, with its "small, bowl-shaped green, ringed by six bunkers of varying depth and shape, which is set on an oval terrace enclosed by spruce and fir." This volume makes for a wonderful wish book for worldly, itinerant golfers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The ultimate dream getaway for every golfer, The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes features more than 800 stunning, full-color photographs (and 400 hefty pages), all celebrating the best holes the world over. In glorious detail -- through captivating images and evocative essays - the finest holes from around the globe are dramatically presented.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

There are five hundred thousand golf holes in the world, Here are the five hundred most beautiful, difficult, exotic, thrilling, and notorious:

The best golf holes from forty different countries and territories, including the United States, Canada, South America, Great Britain, Ireland, Continental Europe, Africa, Australia, and Japan

The fairways and greens, bunkers and hazards, that have thwarted Tiger Woods and David Duval, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones - and those they have conquered

Anecdote and history, strategy and geography, illustrated with more than eight hundred full-color photographs and breathtaking hand - painted topographic renderings

FLAP COPY: What makes a great golf hole? For starters, you look at strategy and difficulty. Next, the kind of hole that gives an average player a chance but allows an exceptional, thinking player an opportunity for a sub-par score. Then, the ability of a hole to play with the golfer's head-along with the hole to play with the golfer's head-along with the hole's physical attributes like hazards, pitch of the fairway, and green speed. Finally, the beauty of the whole itself, the ingenuity of its design, and its reputation among those who have played it.

The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes, a compulsively comprehensive book by George Peper and the editors of Golf Magazine, is an invitation to visit - and perhaps replay - five hundred great golf holes, those that most inspire, challenge, and excite golfers worldwide.

To decide just which holes to include in this book, Golf Magazine's editors teamed up with an international panel representing other publications across the globe, from the Buenos Aires Times in South America to Svensk Golf in Scandinavia, The Compleat Golfer in South Africa to Asian Golfer in the Far East.

The result is 125 par 3s, 250 par 4s, and 125 par 5s of golf greatness - holes at such revered courses as Augusta National and Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Turnberry, and at lesser-known spots like Prairie Dunes in Kansas and Yarra Yarra in Australia.

Arranged alphabetically by par in three sections titled The Eighteen, The One Hundred, and The Five Hundred, the book includes more than eight hundred full-colored photographs, anecdotal and strategic description of each hole, and hand painted topographical renderings of the first eighteen. A final, surprising chapter highlights holes that share special features: the most punishing holes that share special features: the most punishing holes, most scenic, best by the great course designers, hardest courses to get on to and those with the most public access, best with bunkers or hardest to putt, the holes that have produced great moments in golf history, etc.

Whether you are looking for a golf hole in particular or are just particular about great golf holes, this all-embracing book offers hours of pleasure. If you want to play the world's great holes, here's where to go and what to expect. If you're interested in the lore of the hole, its championship history, the personal triumphs and defeats of its challengers you'll find much to excite you. Whatever your level, here's your chance to tee up at the world's best holes - Without ever leaving home.

FROM THE CRITICS

BookPage

The ideal gift for passionate golfers and armchair duffers alike.

Star

This huge effort by the greatest golf minds in the world is perhaps the definitive guide to the sport.

BookPage

The ideal gift for passionate golfers and armchair duffers alike.

Publishers Weekly