The original edition of The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses was written when Tom Doak was 27, for forty of his friends: a dead-honest review of every course he had seen in his travels, and whether it was worth going out of their way to see. Its uncensored, pithy and insightful reviews quickly became controversial, but also a must-have collector’s item, with Xeroxed pirate copies circulating around the golf business until the book was officially published in 1996. In this completely new edition, loaded with fantastic photography, Tom reviews every one of the more than 1,500 courses he has seen to date, and his three co-authors bring the total up to more than 2,000 courses around the world. If a course is worth seeing, it’s in the book — and if it’s not worth seeing, The Confidential Guide will save you the trouble and expense of finding out for yourself.
Volume 3 of the new edition includes more than 500 courses in North America that you might visit in the summer months — from New England to the Great Lakes, the Sand Hills of Nebraska, and the Pacific Northwest. Many of the courses covered in this edition are private clubs with limited access for non-members, but the most worthy resort and public courses are also reviewed, from Tom’s home in northern Michigan to Banff Springs and Bandon Dunes.