- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Paper) (28 July 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743259866
- ISBN-13: 978-0743259866
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product Description
Review
George Peper "Editor-in-chief, "Golf Magazine Few men know the golf courses of Scotland and Ireland better than Jim Finegan, and no one writes of them more movingly. On one level, this is an indispensable guidebook; on another -- in the tradition of Bernard Darwin -- it is simply a great read.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Every golfer alive knows that he or she has two ancestral homes: one's own, and Scotland. On her rolling shores the game of golf had its origins, and to walk the links of St. Andrews is to feel at one with the shepherd who decided one day to see how far he could whack a stone with his crook. Most serious golfers will make the pilgrimage to Scotland, to try to hit the Postage Stamp green at Troon, to trace the footsteps of Ben Hogan at Carnoustie, and to brave the challenge of the Road Hole at St. Andrews; all golfers dream of taking such a trip.
For the tourist or the dreamer, there can be no better guide than James W. Finegan. A passionate advocate of the game that's played on the links between land and sea, Finegan combines a writer's eye, a historian's knowledge, and a golfer's sense of wonder and apprehension to provide an impossibly ambitious grand tour of golf's native land.
In a loop of a thousand miles that begins in Edinburgh and ends across the Firth of Forth in St. Andrews, Finegan covers some sixty courses, visiting the true shrines of the game, the courses that are well known and respected, and the little-known gems you might otherwise pass right by. He shares the history of the courses, both of their creation and of the most famous matches played there; he also writes marvelously about the scenic and strategic charms to be found as you play them yourself. And he provides all the information you need to make your arrangements to do just that -- because, unlike most championship courses in the United States, the great courses of Scotland are available to the public.
In addition to his delightful descriptions of the golf to be found there, Finegan gives us his recommendations for places to stay, ranging from the most modest bed-and-breakfast to the most magnificent castle hotel. He describes the pleasures to be found off the beaten track: the spectacular views from a country road, or the ancient cathedral that's worth a stop on the way to the first tee. And because all the travel within the country is done by car, he spells out the actual routes from town to town and course to course.
"Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens" is a book to be read, to be savored, and to be tucked away in your suitcase when you finally undertake the journey of your dreams. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
It was morning in August, the sun was fighting a losing battle with the thick cumulus clouds above the city, and I was playing alone. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was morning in August, the sun was fighting a losing battle with the thick cumulus clouds above the city, and I was playing alone. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
A friend gave me this book as a gift just before my first golf trip to Scotland. I played 10 of the 40 courses he reviewed. I read the entire book before the trip but enjoyed it much more after having played the courses. Many great tips in the book, as well. For example, we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Gullane and the author mentioned a restaurant there which he considered the best in Scotland. He is correct and we would have missed this wonderful experience without his book. His descriptions of many of the golf holes on the courses he covered were just great. For the golfer who enjoys the British Open and the Ryder Cup, this book will be delicious.
Format:Hardcover
My husband and I are planning our once-in-a- lifetime pilgrimage to Scotland in July 1999. So far, this is the best and most comprehensive book we have read regarding the courses recommeded to us by our travel agent. Other books only highlighted the most famous courses (British Open quality) and left out many of the "less famous" but equally charming golf courses available to the public.
Format:Hardcover
James W. Finegan, the retired golf columnist of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has written a gem of a book.This book is a companion of his "Emerald Fairways and Foam Flecked Seas" about the great courses of Ireland. Both books are boundless with their descriptions and characterizations of those legendary links courses of the Irish and Scottish Islands. Mr. Finegan takes us for a delightful ride through both countries for the golf of our life. We live through him, and his non-playing wife, the joy of heather, gorse and salt air blowing down the sand dunes. The people we meet are ordinary and extraordinary but the real heroes and heroines are the courses. From the isolated Macharanish on the Kintyre penisula of Western Scotland to the blue collar resort courses of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. There on the first tee of Portstewart we feel the extrasensory thrill of blasting our drive down into the wild mix of towering sand dunes toward an unknown finish. Mr. Finegan has done for golf travel what Bruce Chatwin and Bill Bryson did for the intrepid shoe-hoofing vagabound. Read both books and be doubly rewarded. No bogies here.
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