Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Volume 5 Asia, Australia and New Zealand Hardcover

Fascinating and interesting perspectives

The latest in a series of insider looks at golf courses around the world, this volume reviews 447 courses. One of the themes that comes through after reading the book is how hilly the terrain is throughout Asia; many of the courses are built on challenging mountainous terrain. As such, the courses of Australia garner half of the best rankings. To some degree this is not a surprise given the topography of Australia and the influence that Alister MacKenzie had on design in the country even though he only visited briefly. Among highly praised courses, the usual standards are present including Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath. Two newly built tracks also scored very high: Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand. Three Japanese courses also rated among the top 10 in rankings: Hirono, Kawana and Naruo.In the book’s introduction Doak laments the fact that the media and others give too much attention to courses that rate zero. This edition includes two: one hapless course in China and another in South Korea. Fans of Doak’s honest and sometimes acidic commentary (your truly included) also won’t be disappointed. He reveals, for instance, that he was blackballed from an (undisclosed) golf magazine panel for criticizing the Korean course Nine Bridges. Hooray for Tom for sticking to his principles and calling things as he sees them.