Golf courses, especially those that have held
major championships, look beautiful when
captured in just the right light, from the
perfect angle. If you’re like me, your
“golf room” or office probably has more than
one large image of a famous course on the
wall, whether an original painting, print, or
photograph. (If you’re Jack
Nicklaus, you’ve got more than one painting
by Linda Hartough, the acclaimed artist who
began the golf portion of her career at none
other than Augusta National.)
I’ve got several golf coffee table books full of
large pictures and descriptions of some of the
most famous golf courses in the world. But
Ms. Hartough’s new book in
conjunction with photographer Patrick Drickey,
Green Glory, is truly one of a kind in my
collection – a unique combination of paintings
and photographs from courses
that have hosted modern majors.
Two things about this well crafted hard cover
book stand out immediately.
First of all are the warm introductions by Jack
Nicklaus and Rees Jones. Nicklaus, with his
record of playing 154 straight majors,
discusses how he prepared to play
the course, and not the field, while Jones
recognizes the importance of the golf course
superintendent in bringing these courses to
their peak for major
competitions.
The second is the organization of the book and
how it captures you to flip through the pages
slowly. Spanning the calendar order of the
four majors, Green Glory
walks you through multiple courses except for
one of course, The Masters. For this venerable
tournament, each of Ms. Hartough’s paintings
is presented on its own
page. These wonderful paintings let the mind
wander to what it would be like to hit, for
example, the tee shot on No. 16 with the tall
pines reflecting off the water,
a back-left pin, and no grandstands or
spectators in sight. The same goes for all of
the others – and it would be hard to pick a
favorite – they give you a
perspective of the hole like you may not have
considered. (The green on No. 6 looks
particularly daunting when viewing the hole in
reverse.)
Moving through the other majors is one piece
of eye candy after another. Some of the two-
page spreads are mind-blowing. Looking at
Shinnecock, the classic Long
Island venue and then flipping through the
first-time U.S. Open host Chambers Bay of
Washington and naysayers might “see” why
it’s a USGA venue. (The U.S.
Open visits Chambers Bay in 2015.)
I don’t want to take anything away from the
course descriptions, which accompany many
of these images, because they are really
good. You’ll get a history lesson
and golf architecture update with each page
you turn.
I’ve saved the best thing for last – a portion of
the proceeds benefit the First Tee. I highly
recommend Green Glory for the young, old,
and especially any golfer that
sets his calendar around those four key
Sunday’s every year.
Green Glory is available at the following
locations:
Hartough.c
om and
Ston
eHouseGolf.com.