The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes Paperback - 2003

What makes a great golf hole? For starters, you look at strategy and difficulty. Next, the kind of hole that gives an average player a chance but allows an exceptional, thinking player an opportunity for a sub-par score. Then, the ability of a hole to play with the golfer's head-along with the hole to play with the golfer's head-along with the hole's physical attributes like hazards, pitch of the fairway, and green speed. Finally, the beauty of the whole itself, the ingenuity of its design, and its reputation among those who have played it.

The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes, a compulsively comprehensive book by George Peper and the editors of Golf Magazine, is an invitation to visit - and perhaps replay - five hundred great golf holes, those that most inspire, challenge, and excite golfers worldwide.

To decide just which holes to include in this book, Golf Magazine's editors teamed up with an international panel representing other publications across the globe, from the Buenos Aires Times in South America to Svensk Golf in Scandinavia, The Compleat Golfer in South Africa to Asian Golfer in the Far East.

The result is 125 par 3s, 250 par 4s, and 125 par 5s of golf greatness - holes at such revered courses as Augusta National and Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Turnberry, and at lesser-known spots like Prairie Dunes in Kansas and Yarra Yarra in Australia.

Arranged alphabetically by par in three sections titled The Eighteen, The One Hundred, and The Five Hundred, the book includes more than eight hundred full-colored photographs, anecdotal and strategic description of each hole, and hand painted topographical renderings of the first eighteen. A final, surprising chapter highlights holes that share special features: the most punishing holes that share special features: the most punishing holes, most scenic, best by the great course designers, hardest courses to get on to and those with the most public access, best with bunkers or hardest to putt, the holes that have produced great moments in golf history, etc.

Whether you are looking for a golf hole in particular or are just particular about great golf holes, this all-embracing book offers hours of pleasure. If you want to play the world's great holes, here's where to go and what to expect. If you're interested in the lore of the hole, its championship history, the personal triumphs and defeats of its challengers you'll find much to excite you. Whatever your level, here's your chance to tee up at the world's best holes - Without ever leaving home.