Inspiration | Golf Ball Driver

Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations by Chris Santella

August 8th, 2008 — Book Review, golf courses

Whether you are a die hard golfer, or just someone that likes to dream big, this is an incredible book. Inevitably, when you're dealing with a book that lists the "50 Best", you're going to have a lot of controversy. Instead of getting bent out of shape that perhaps your favorite courses weren't included, this is a book to be read for fun, not for critiquing. When you're done, take some inspiration from the book and make your own list of 50 courses that you must visit before you die - now that is a lot of fun.

The author is well known for his previous title on Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, and he is also a fanatical golfer. We liked the approach of asking several people, such as Donald Trump, where they would love to play golf. The result is a great list, but one that not a lot of golfers will be able to attain. For example, there are a few courses on the list that are simply too expensive for the average golfer, or shut to the public.

However, if you're just reading for fun, the book takes you on a fantastical journey literally around the world. You'll be seeing courses in the most exotic locations and the accompanying photographs are worth the cost of the book alone. This can serve not only as a dream book, but as a wonderful conversation piece among friends. Our main complaint was that pictures were not included for every single course in the book. That would have bumped the book up a lot further in our estimation, and it seems almost silly not to include at least one picture for every course.

That aside, this is a terrific book that belongs on every single golfer's coffee table, if for nothing else than the inspiration it can bring. The next time it's a rainy day and you can't get on the links, open this book and prepare to travel around the world in style. The overall style of the writing is well suited to a book of this type and it's all too easy to get swept away and wonder where the hours went.

As we mentioned previously, this type of book usually generates quite a bit of controversy, simply because everyone has a set idea of what the best courses are. However, this works in the book's favor and while there are those that might criticize it, this is an inspirational read that really made us love the game even more.

The one thing that would have made the book better is perhaps steering clear of being "safe" with some of the more well known courses. We would have liked to have seen more out of the way courses that are real diamonds in the rough so to speak. But, then again, this isn't our top 50 list.