cover image The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes

The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes

George Peper, Golf Magazine. Artisan, $29.95 (456pp) ISBN 978-1-57965-237-1

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.