America's Worst Golf Courses: A Collection of Courses Not Up to Par

Lists and describes golf courses in America that most golfers would want to avoid, including the course in California built over a landfill that permits methane gas to seep through the soil, and the course in New York that serves as a dumping ground for murder victims

Every golfer, whether U.S. Open champion or municipal-course hacker, has felt victimized by an unfair, or just plain bad, golf course. This book's for them: a compendium of the worst golf courses in the country. Sports Illustrated writer Garrity is careful to define worst as not simply dullest: "The criteria for admission was simple: something about the course had to amuse me." There's plenty to amuse us, too, from the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Gretna, Louisiana, where "brown water and a suspicious-looking white foam gurgle in an open storm drain" behind the second tee, to Ponkapoag Golf Club in Canton, Massachusetts, where, according to Garrity's SI colleague Rick Reilly, the "150-yard markers aren't 150 yards from anything in particular." Along with the humor, there are some substantive sidebars on the evils perpetuated by contemporary golf-course designers, especially Jack Nicklaus. Thank you, Mr. Garrity: it's about time someone cast a satirical eye at the absurd odds most golfers face when they approach the first tee; the course usually always wins, often unfairly, but this time the hapless player gets the last laugh. Bill Ott

Garrity is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated , which recently published a story about a phenomenal ballplayer that turned out to be a humorous hoax. Perhaps in that spirit, Garrity offers this collection detailing more than 30 of the country's worst courses and holes that are not quite up to par, including such golfing paradises as Furnace Creek in Death Valley and Pelham Park in the Bronx. The author's introductory apology states that his "rigorously scientific" selection process "took information only from qualified golf course architects, course superintendents, tournament players, golf writers, friends, and strangers on airplanes." On a scale of one to five, this tongue-in-cheek parody rates a "Fore!" Recommended for public libraries.
- Albert Spencer, Coll. of Education, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.