Art of Golf Design »

Michael G. Miller was the Director of Golf at Riviera Country Club from 1993-98 and a golf professional for 28 years. He began painting in 1985 and trained for 10 years in a nineteenth century style. He currently resides in Los Angeles and has been creating golf landscapes since 1994.

Geoff Shackelford’s previous books on golf include The Riviera Country Club…A Definitive History, The Captain, Masters of the Links, The Good Doctor Returns, The Golden Age of Golf Design, and Alister MacKenzie’s Cypress Point Club. He resides in Santa Monica, California and can be reached at geoffshakelford@aol.com.

Painter Michael Miller has depicted in breathtaking detail some of the great golf holes from different time periods by the leading golf architects. These 62 luminous paintings are accompanied by essayist Georff Shackelford's riveting historical and architectural descriptions begging the question, is it golf or is it art?

Augusta National, Cypress Point, Pine Valley, The Old Course at St. Andrews, Crystal Downs, Winged Foot, Baltimore Country Club, Pebble Beach, and Pasatiempo are just a few of the courses found in The Art of golf Design. Miller's paintings are the Nineteenth Century style based largely on black and white photographs of the period. This method allowed him freedom to portray the time of day, the season, and the weather, but the features of the hole were not exaggerated or romanticized.

Introduction: What Is Art in Golf Architecture?

What Is Art in Golf Architecture? By Max Behr.

Genuine Variety.

The Architect's Canvas and Colors by Max Behr.

Temptation.

The Correct Use of Penalty by Max Behr.

What Is Strategy?

Architectooralooral by Bernard Darwin.

A Triangular Contest by H. N. Wethered and Tom Simpson.

Sunken Pits with Raised Faces.

The Old Course by St. Andrews Links Management Committee.

The Ideal Hazard by Robert Hunter.

Artificial Hazards - Nature the Model by H. S. Colt.

Luck and Wind.

Natural Golf and Legislation by Max Behr.

What Happened to the Revolution?

Progress Dearly Bought?

What Are We Missing? Daniel Wexler.

To Frame or Not to Frame?

Blindness by Max Behr.

Naturalness in Golf Architecture by Max Behr.

Afterword.

The Need For Criticism in Golf Architecture by Anonymous.

The Progress of Golf Architecture by Anonymous.