My top 10 golf books of 2009

So I have basically spent the last two months reviewing all the golf books that end up at my door. My wife is pleading with the Fed-Ex man to stop dropping them off, but it never ceases to amaze me how many people love to write about golf. The passion for the game runs feverishly through their computers into the pages.

Since it is my job to make sense of it all, here is the list of the 10 best golf books I have read this year. All of them would make great holiday or birthday gifts:

1, Sports Illustrated’s The Golf Book. It’s as complete a golf book as you’ll find. If you’re going to have just one golf book in your house or on your coffee table, this is it.

2, Planet Golf USA, by Darius Oliver, looks at the country’s best golf courses with solid narratives about their routings, but more important spectacular photos that allow us to peek through the gates of all these private clubs.

3, Golf’s Dream 18s, by David Barrett, celebrates the game’s greatest holes, turning them into fantasy courses by topics such as most scenic or longest.

4, A Course called Ireland, by Tom Coyne, is easily the best pure read of any golf book. The tale is a tall one indeed – what other nut would really walk the entire Emerald Isle? – and the storytelling of the courses and people entertaining.

5, Fifty More Places to Golf Before You Die, by Chris Santella, follows up his first book with another installment of great courses beloved by golf personalities.

6, Jenkins at the Majors, by Dan Jenkins, is sixty years of golf history bound into one volume by a man who’s been in the front seat.

7, Pebble Beach – The Official Golf History, by Neal Hotelling, walks through the fascinating past of the world’s most famous golf course. If you’ve played Pebble, you’ll crave this book.

8, The Golf Architecture Book, by Paul Daley, is another of my favorite genre of golf books, epics that look at courses and architecture.

9, Haunted Golf, by Anthony Pioppi and Chris Gonsalves, brings two of my favorite topics together, golf and ghosts. Yes!

10. Golf’s Sacred Journey, by Dr. David Cook, is more of a spiritual journey for any person looking for inspiration.

For a different point of view, check out the top 10 lists of Joe Passov and Jeff Silverman.