Golf Books by and about Willie Park, Jr.

Willie Park Jr. was the Open (British) champion in 1887 at Prestwick and again in 1889 at Musselburgh. He was the first person to pursue golf course architecture as a profession. He designed 160 courses in total including the Old course at Sunningdale, Portstewart, Olympia Fields #4, Huntercombe and The Maidstone Links on Long Island. He has a reputation as one of the best putters of all time. He was also an early designer of golf clubs and designed one of the first blade putters, the first driver with a convex face and he is also credited as the first designer to put grooves in irons. Park can best be described as an iconoclast. He was a heavy better and would allegedly take on all comers in match play. Many period photos of Park show him wearing suits that were all white and wearing a white hat.

The Game of Golf 

The Game of Golf was first published in 1896 by Longmans, Green of London. There were five subsequent editions published: the 2nd and 3rd editions also published in 1896, the 4th in 1899, the 5th in 1901 and the 6th in 1904. All the editions have the same content and were simply reprints to keep up with demand. The Game of Golf is believed to be the first book to be written as a instructional. The book also contains chapters on Laying Out and Keeping Golf-Links. It outlines his design philosophy which includes starting with some easy holes, having all hazards visible and allowing for the ability to run a ball up to the green if so desired. There is also a chapter on The Laws of Golf (rules).  
 

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