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A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf
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A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf Hardback - 2014

by Hansen, James


Summary

The definitive account of modern golf’s foremost architect from the New York Times bestselling author of First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong 
 
Robert Trent Jones was the most prolific and influential golf course architect of the twentieth century and became the archetypical modern golf course designer. Jones spread the gospel of golf by designing courses in forty-two US states and twenty-eight countries. Twenty U.S. Opens, America’s national championship, have been contested on Jones-designed courses.
 
New York Times bestselling biographer James R. Hansen, author of First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, recounts how an English immigrant boy arrived in upstate New York in 1912, just as golf was emerging as a popular pastime in America. Jones excelled as a golfer, earning admission to Cornell University, whose faculty consented to a curriculum tailored to teach him the knowledge needed to design golf courses. Cornell provided the springboard for an act of self-invention that propelled Jones from obscurity to worldwide fame.  
 
Jones believed that every hole should be “a difficult par but an easy bogey.” As gifted as he was at golf design, Jones was equally skilled as a salesman, promoter, and entrepreneur. Golf Digest’s annual rankings of the 100 Greatest Golf Courses have regularly featured about fifty Jones designs, paving the path for his two sons, Robert Jr., and Rees, whose work would carry on their father’s tradition. Hansen examines Jones’s legacy in all its complexity and influence, including the fraternal rivalry of Jones’s distinguished sons.

From the publisher

The definitive account of modern golf s foremost architect from the "New York Times "bestselling author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong"
Robert Trent Jones was the most prolific and influential golf course architect of the twentieth century and became thearchetypical moderngolf course designer. Jones spread the gospel of golf by designing courses in forty-two US states and twenty-eight countries. Twenty U.S. Opens, America s national championship, have been contested on Jones-designed courses. "New York Times "bestselling biographer James R. Hansen, author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," recounts howanEnglish immigrant boy arrived in upstate New York in 1912, just as golf was emerging as a popular pastime in America. Jones excelled as a golfer, earning admission to Cornell University, whose faculty consented to a curriculum tailored to teach him the knowledge needed todesign golf courses.Cornell provided the springboard for an act of self-invention that propelled Jones from obscurity to worldwide fame.
Jonesbelievedthat every hole should be adifficult par but an easy bogey. As gifted as he was at golf design, Jones was equally skilled as a salesman, promoter, and entrepreneur. "Golf Digest" s annual rankings of the 100 Greatest Golf Courses have regularly featured about fifty Jones designs, paving the path for his two sons, Robert Jr., and Rees, whose work would carry on their father s tradition. Hansen examines Jones s legacy in all its complexity and influence, including the fraternal rivalry of Jones s distinguished sons."

Details

  • Title A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf
  • Author Hansen, James
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition 1st
  • Pages 498
  • Language EN
  • Publisher Gotham, New York
  • Date 2014-05-01
  • ISBN 9781592408238

Media reviews

Praise for First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

“Even if you think you know everything about Neil Armstrong and America’s historic mission to be the first to land men on the Moon, this remarkable book by Dr. James Hansen contributes a host of fascinating new insights into not only the character of Apollo 11’s enigmatic commander but also into the nature of the spacefaring enterprise itself. It is a book for all time.”—Walter Cronkite
 
“A powerful, unrelenting biography of a man who stands as a living testimony to everyday grit and determination. . . . Hansen has achieved something quite remarkable.... A magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century. . . . A must for astronaut buffs and history readers alike.”Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
“Let it be said at once that his book is an outstanding success.... Immaculately researched and packed with detail, but written in a way that will appeal to readers of all kinds.... This is an important book, and should be in every scientific library.”—Sir Patrick Moore, London Times Educational Supplement
 
“A fine authorized biography brimming with groundbreaking research, fresh anecdotes and fair-minded analysis. . . . Hansen should be commended for decoding the enigmatic Armstrong: a space hero short on words but sky-high on Midwestern integrity.”—Douglas Brinkley, New York Times Book Review
 
“[Hansen’s] mastery of detail is put to splendid use. The narrative of the moon mission is crisp and dramatic, the science clear. He deftly takes us back into those few days of global fascination with the adventure of the three distant voyagers, and the tense uncertainty about how it would turn out. The moon landing is old mental furniture for everyone of Baby Boom age and older….I finished Hansen’s Apollo story with a wholly fresh sense of awe at the magnitude of NASA’s achievement…. a compelling and nuanced portrait of the astronaut…. to understand Armstrong on his own terms is to see a large truth of our time.”—James Tobin, Chicago Tribune
 
“A riveting chronicle…. [T]he book is a work of a true scholar…. The dramatic description of the actual landing … actually makes one’s heart pound, and one feels like going through it again and again….A must book not only for space buffs but for the general reader as well.”—Srinivas Laxman, The Times of India
 
“[A] taut, well-told tale of our nation's race to the moon and the man who took the first step.”—Doug Allyn, The Flint Journal  
 
“A great read.”The Kansas City Star, Noteworthy Book of 2005 

About the author

Besides being an acclaimed"New York Times"bestselling author, James R. Hansenhas always been an avidgolfer and playsto a six handicap. Hansenhasplayed and studiedmore than six hundred courses around the world. He lives inAuburn, Alabama."
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