Synopsis

The original text of the book by Aleck Bauer is Hazards, Those Essential Elements In a Golf Course Without Which the Game Would Be Tame and Uninteresting. The original version is a compilation of writings from Dr Alister MacKenzie, Edward Ray, Lewis Crosby, Laidlaw Purves, and Harry Colt. The writings help one see the golden age perspective of hazards and how they have, in many ways, been emasculated.

The in-depth discussion of famous golf holes and their merit focuses on the 8th, 11th, 14th and 17th holes at The Old Course St Andrews. Moving inland, the 17th hole at Walton Heath and the 8th at Sunningdale are considered before returning to the seaside for the 10th and 16th at Westward Ho!. Cardinal is presented at Prestwick before going to East Lothian for Perfection and Redan at North Berwick and the 15th at Gullane.

Editions

Hazards was first published in 1913, Grant Books republished 750 copies of the book in 1993. It is near on impossible to find the first edition of Hazards and the reprint from 1993 is almost as tricky. Peter Thomson provides the Forward, Fred Hawtree the Introduction, and Peter Dobreiner and Philip Truett contribute two essays.

Read If...

You want a first-hand account on the perspective of hazards and their role in the game from the golden age era.