Product Description

In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the venerable Pinehurst No. 2 course comes the release of the definitive history of North Carolina Sandhills golf, Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend) written by veteran golf course architect Richard Mandell. It is a story of dumb luck, ingenuity, and grand visions... Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf is the untold story of one of the three most popular golfing destinations in the world: Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend). This 384-page, four-color history is more than just a coffee table book. It is a detailed account of the evolution of the playing fields of the Sandhills area of North Carolina and how it directly affected the game of golf in America. The book chronologically reviews the history of golf course development in the Sandhills and how it mirrored the growth, and often directed the evolution of golf architecture and development in the United States. Few authors have written books about Pinehurst. None of those writers has ever completed such a detailed review of an iconic landmark of the game of golf in the United States. Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf reveals design, construction, and maintenance trends throughout the history of golf development. The book provides insight into the ingenuity and creativity of design and construction techniques of the past and how they relate to decisions made today. Articles from newspapers of the times will reveal the public s exposure to trends of the design industry whose details are not explored in most books written about golf architecture today. Reprinted letters from the major players (Donald Ross, Albert Tillinghast, Tufts family members, Herb Graffis, etc.)in the area give the reader a fly on the wall understanding of day to day operations and challenges. The design evolution of Sandhills golf courses is documented from pre-design site decisions to renovation projects throughout their history, to how these events have defined each golf course as it lays today. Specific design topics such as strategy, golf course features, rhythm of the holes, etc. will all be discussed. The reader will hear directly from the architect about design choices and challenges as well as construction tales which make each golf course s history different. Inside these pages is the story of The Pinehurst Resort, Pine Needles, Mid Pines Golf Club, Southern Pines Country Club, The Country Club of North Carolina, Tobacco Road, and countless other golf courses of the sandhills. Rare, never-before-seen photographs of the early days of sandhills golf include construction scenes of one of the most famous golf courses in the world as well as the only known construction drawings of Pinehurst No. 2. Another feature of Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend) is Mr. Mandell s detailed overlays of historic golf course routings of Pinehurst on top of an aerial photograph from today, allowing the reader access to history only an archaeologist can uncover. The reader can clearly see where features of the past would sit in the present day. Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf is the definitive encyclopedia of Sandhills golf course history and teaches the reader about golf course architecture as it applies to these golf courses. It is written from my perspective as one of the few practicing golf course architects to have ever based my business in Pinehurst.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #211407 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
A Bit O Pinehurst History Paul R. Dunn, Pinehurst Country Club Historian In 1962, Richard Sise Tufts, grandson of the founder of Pinehurst wrote, There is no better way to understand what Pinehurst is all about than to go back to the original ideals of its founder. It was the hope of James W. Tufts to establish at Pinehurst a small friendly community where those in need of it could find health-giving relaxation either for their years of retirement or for the purpose of equipping them to perform their daily tasks more efficiently. Through the course of time the fulfillment of this function by Pinehurst has largely been entrusted to the game of golf. The placement of the confidence is fully justified, as there surely is no occupation which can do more for the individual along the lines the founder had in mind. That paragraph is to be found opposite the Table of Contents in the amazing book, Pinehurst, Home of American Golf, edited and just published by local course architect, Richard Mandell. Tufts words set the tone for Mandell s remarkable study of Pinehurst and its golf. He is well-equipped to provide readers with a comprehensive history of the courses here since he worked directly for course architect Dan Maples, whose father, Ellis learned his golf design craft from the master, Donald Ross, himself. Richard has been involved in over thirty course projects. After studying the book, Rees Jones states in the foreword, By writing this text, rich in detail and folklore, Richard allows golfers around the globe to learn about the area s history and the evolution of one of the greatest golf complexes in the world. The thoroughness of his research goes beyond the famous courses and into the quirks of history. What particularly struck your historian is the exacting way in which Mandell, by using contemporary aerial maps of the Pinehurst resort properties, is able to show the reader how the various tee boxes, fairways, bunkers and greens have evolved since the founding days. It reveals in great detail the true genius of James Walker Tufts, who was able to foresee that a once-primitive sport uprooted from Scotland could become the basis of a successful new American resort community if carefully developed. Fortunately for Mandell, and for all who treasure Pinehurst s unique history, he was aided in his pursuit of accuracy by having at his disposal the rare resources of the Tufts Archives. The book is filled with hundreds of photographs, drawings, architectural elements and old advertisements, all used in such a way that the reader senses the evolution here from very rough beginnings until the modern era. Mandell writes, I had over 100,000 images to choose from for this book. He mentions that the Tufts Archives also provided him with access to over 300 of Donald Ross original field sketches and course layouts. Mandell describes good times and bad, and gives thoughtful insights into the interesting and diverse personalities who came to create the Sandhills many outstanding courses and to compete on their fairways and greens. --Pinehurst Memberabilia Newsletter

About the Author
Richard Mandell is a practicing golf course architect who has worked on more than forty golf course projects (new and renovations) in his seventeen-year career, including golf course restoration work on five Donald Ross golf courses. He first moved to Pinehurst after graduating from The University of Georgia to work for golf architect Dan Maples, whose father Ellis learned directly from Donald Ross. Upon returning to Pinehurst in 2000, Richard began his own golf course design firm, Richard Mandell Golf Architecture. He has written numerous articles on golf architecture for magazines such as Golf Illustrated and Links Magazine and has contributed chapters to three books on the subject: Volumes I and II of Golf Architecture (A Worldwide Perspective) and Favourite Holes By Design: The Architect s Choice.

Customer Reviews

Pinehurst~Home of American Golf Wins Book Award
Golf Architect Richard Mandell's seminal work, Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend) recently won the prestigious International Network of Golf Book of the Year Award. "Richard created a beautiful book full of incredible information and photographs about one of golf's most historical places," declared Mike Jamison, Executive Director of ING. "This is a must read for those whose eyes mist when they think of Sandhills golf." What makes this accomplishment even more impressive is that Mr. Mandell started his own publishing company, T. Eliot Press, in order to properly tell the story. "The publishers I spoke to about this book never really gave it the respect that a complete history of Pinehurst should have," points out Mandell. "A grand vision for this book had to match the grand subject matter. We're talking about Pinehurst."
The International Network of Golf is an eighteen-year old non-profit, media-based networking organization whose mission is to enhance and promote communication and education in golf. For fifteen years, the International Network of Golf has strove to annually recognize the best in media. ING winners and outstanding achievers are determined by an independent panel of three judges in each category. Each judge uses a point system with several criteria overseen by a voluntary category chairperson.
Mr. Mandell's book was a finalist for both Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Award and the USGA's Herbert Warren Wind Book Award as well. "I never imagined the critical success of the book when I started it back in 2003," says Mandell. "For my first effort in the publishing arena, I'm very proud and thankful that I could contribute to the world of golf by preserving a history that could easily have been lost."
Described as "A nice stroll through history" by one of the judges, Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend), is a detailed account of the evolution of the playing fields of Sandhills golf and how it affected golf in America. "To me, the history of the area from an architecture and development standpoint is the real story and an education for anyone who loves the history of golf" says Mandell.

Exhaustive History of Pinehurst for the Golf History Buff
For those that love the The Sandhills of North Carolina, this is a must have for any golf history buff's library! It is an exhaustive and thorough history of the Sandhills region. It has tons of pictures (many of them full-color) and diagrams. It is full of all types of surprising details - so I would advise you to actually read it rather than make it just a coffee-table book. This is huge, heavy book and worth the price once you get it in hand.