Tony Dear is a regular contributor to Links Magazine and Colorado AvidGolfer and the editor of Cascade Golfer in Seattle. He has contributed to over 40 publications worldwide and is a former golf correspondent of the New York Sun. He has authored five books, the latest of which is ‘The Story of Golf in Fifty Holes’. Before emigrating to the US in 2001, he was a British PGA apprentice pro.
Whose writing have you learned from the most?
About golf, or how to write about it? I could probably answer both questions with one name – Geoff Shackelford. Of course, there are several others whose writing I’ve always enjoyed and who have probably influenced me in some way or other. I don’t feel like I’m trying to imitate other writers (does anyone?), but having read so much I suppose others’ characteristics/ style/ vocab/ syntax have rubbed off on me at some point.
How did the idea for The Story of Golf in Fifty Holes come about?
The British publisher had the initial idea of chronicling the history of golf through holes of note – holes that have somehow been a significant part of the game. Together we decided on the final number of holes and format.
You write regularly about golf course architecture, including for Links Magazine. What trends in design do you like? What don’t you like?
I have loved seeing a return to simpler, lay-of-the-land designs and the design-build approach over the last 30 years. Minimalist golf, mimicking the thinking/ methods of the Golden Age architects is more affordable, sustainable and interesting. As minimalism and natural design became popular, the architects became superstars and, subsequently, the courses have become cover-material and expensive to play, which isn’t ideal but there you go.
The best and purest minimalist-style courses rely on suitable sites, of course. When you combine an interesting site with good soils and an intelligent architect, the result is invariably fantastic. I love courses where the architect has allowed the land to talk; where a single bunker or contour influences every decision you make and every shot you hit; and where the designer hasn’t added much to stamp it with his/ her identity.
I don’t mind architects having trademarks (all of them do to a degree), but keep it quiet. Bill Coore recently told me “If you’re given a naturally-gifted or interesting site, allow it to be the lead designer. Let its natural features create the overall character and steer the detail and strategy of the holes”. That’s my favourite type of golf, but not the only type I like.
The only golf I genuinely dislike (most golfers dislike it) is that which puts rows of identical houses on either side of the hole and where the golf is beyond bland. You can still design interesting holes where the developer’s priority is/ was housing, but instances of that are rare. Thankfully that concept and business model is largely a thing of the past, but it still exists certainly.
I prefer greens with deceptive/ tricky breaks to those with massive lumps, but that doesn’t mean I dislike heavily-contoured greens. I think greens are generally too fast. I like holes with wide fairways that allow everyone to advance without having to look for their ball but which give golfers who find the ideal part of the fairway a significant advantage over people who bail to a safe part.
I’m not a fan of big, sandy scrapes if they’re alien to a course and created just because they happen to be en vogue at the moment. In the right place, however, they are attractive and functional.
I really don't like concrete paths (really, concrete anywhere on a course), and anything (boulders, grass islands in bunkers, etc) that are positioned symmetrically or systematically.
Basically, you can sum it up by saying subtle, delicate, and cunning over ostentatious, pretentious, and obvious.
Can you recommend an article or book you are reading that others might enjoy
Where do I start – there are so many books worthy of recommendation. The 20 I have learned the most from, and enjoyed the most, over the years are probably:
The Golf Omnibus – PG Wodehouse
The Spirit of St. Andrews – Alister Mackenzie
Grounds for Golf – Geoff Shackelford
Little Red Book of Golf Course Architecture – Tom Doak (and Robert Crosby)
The Anatomy of a Golf Course – Tom Doak
Little Red Book – Harvey Penick
The World Atlas of Golf – Various
A Golf Story - Charles Price
My Usual Game – David Owen
Seve: The People’s Champion – Paul Daley
Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes – Stephen Goodwin
St Andrews - The Evolution of the Old Course – Scott MacPherson
On Learning Golf – Percy Boomer
The Golf Courses of the British Isles – Bernard Darwin
The Greatest Game Ever Played – Mark Frost
A Course Called Ireland – Tom Coyne
Four Iron in the Soul – Lawrence Donegan
To the Linksland – Michael Bamberger
True Links – George Peper/ Malcolm Campbell
A Swing for Life – Nick Faldo.
These aren’t necessarily the best golf books ever written (some are), rather those I’ve just enjoyed the most at various stages of life. As with course rankings, they aren’t the only books I think others might enjoy. There are dozens of others that I love and revisit repeatedly.
I'd also like to mention Jim Hartsell’s When Revelation Comes and Stephen Proctor’s Monarch of the Green and The Long Golden Afternoon. They’re so well-written and, in time, might creep into my all-time list. And thefriedegg.com is extremely good at what it does. It has a number of excellent writers, but right now Garrett Morrison is probably producing the game's best writing on course architecture.
Which three courses would you most like to play for the first time?
Muirfield
Cape Wickham
National Golf Links of America.
Who would be in your dream four-ball - current or past players? Where would they play?
Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, Tommy Morris at the Old Course.
What question would you like to ask other golf writers?
What would make me a better golf writer?
I know Tony Dear back from our times on golf magazines in the UK. Very nice guy. I wish I knew him better. This interview serves to highlight that thought with a luminous marker.
Loved this. So much of value in here, not least the reading list!
And the best line of all..."subtle, delicate, and cunning over ostentatious, pretentious, and obvious"
Perfect!