“. . . an important book for those seeking great new golf experiences in Northern California . . . offers excellent insight on which courses are either the best in quality, or the best in value . . . what better way to find an outlet for the joy of the game than using (Dawson’s) advice to find new places to play.”

Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

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About the book:

Northern California's Best 100 Public Golf Courses is author Doug Dawson's first book. He saw a need for up-to-date information about NorCal golf because 40 percent of the 18-hole public courses are either new or have had major renovations since in 2002. The only comprehensive similar book he could find written on the same subject was California Golf *, published in January 2002.

In addition, he found it very difficult to find reviews of courses that provided both good course descriptions and opinions written by an unbiased source. Most publications provide either bare-bones descriptions with numbers and course statistics, or PR copy written by course managers themselves. The combination missed the mark on suggesting accurate suggestions of where to play when traveling. He decided that one writer with a good understanding of the game should play all 219 courses and rate them in a consistent, unbiased manner. Then, essays/reviews could be developed for each, giving comments on course history, quality, condition, style, location, weather, related facilities, walk-ability, clubhouse service, etc . . . advice that would be really useful and accurate.

And finally, any book with this much detail might as well add a section for local golf trivia, opinions about toughest holes, rankings of the Best Value courses, plus other obscure information that nerdy golfers could argue about and debate with their buddies.

The resulting book took 27 months to research and write, and was certainly a joyous project during the golfing phase. Here is an abbreviated Table of Contents:

* 10th edition edited by George Fuller and published by Foghorn Outdoors/Avalon Travel, Emeryville, CA 94608.