Fifty more Places to Play Golf Before You Die on the mark

The best way to review the book, “Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die,” is to take a look back at the first golf book by author Chris Santella in the series.

In the first golf edition, “Fifty Places to Play Before You Die,” Santella enlisted an A-list of golf personalities to recommend their favorite places to play in the world. Pros Mark O’Meara (Pebble Beach) and Nick Faldo (Royal Melbourne West) chimed in. Architects like Robert Trent Jones Jr. (Sugarloaf in Maine) and Pat Ruddy (The European Club in Ireland) chose layouts they designed. The combination of good photography and intimate personal reflection about each course in the text led to a successful run of 122,000 copies in print.

Santella is a pro in this format. This is his fifth book in the series (the others are not golf-related). The followup book is no sequel flop like so many movies are. He enlisted enough golf greats to contribute and there are certainly more than 100 places to play before you die to keep this series alive another three or four books.

In the latest edition, some big-name courses finally make the cut, notably Cypress Point and the Ocean course at Kiawah Island. There are two Irish courses and four from Scotland. Even obscure places like Hungary, Vietnam and Uruguay get course profiles. The If You Go section after each profile will help you find the course and any accommodations nearby should you be so moved to take the journey.

The only complaint I have with the book is that public golfers like myself do not have access to many of the places profiled. We will never have the money or the privilege to get on private courses like Cypress Point. I guess that is why they publish books like this … so we can read and dream.

Published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, the book retails for $24.95.