Good books on golf are a treasure house of golfing techniques for serious golfers. In fact, for golfers who are willing to take up the game as a profession the golf books are of great help for them. The golf books are generally penned down by world renowned golfers who share their secrets of golfing techniques with beginners.

If you prefer to savor the rich golf literature of the past, and here I’m thinking of the great golf reporters whose words described the action on the golf course long before the advent of moving pictures and television, then books by Bernard Darwin could be the focal point of a golf book collection.

Staying with collecting golf instruction books, here are a couple of collecting themes which might inspire some ideas of your own.

1. Because of the vast amount of books published on golf instruction you could limit a collection to say, 1950. Or it could be any other year of your choice. I know of some golf collectors who have chosen only to collect those books published in the year they were born.

2. Limit your collection of golf books to a few of your favourite golf authors. For example you could start by collecting golf books written by Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Cary Middlecoff, Arnold Palmer, Harry Vardon, David Leadbetter, Nick Faldo, Henry Cotton, Ben Hogan. This list can be as long or short as you like. That’s the whole point of collecting golf books there are so many collecting variations and themes to choose from to build a worthwhile collection of your own.

Are there any golf books I should avoid collecting?

It depends what your motives for golf book collecting are. If you are buying for investment only, I would not buy remaindered stock or book club editions. I would be wary about buying reprints as well. Though with older books, it depends.

If you are buying for pleasure, then everyone buys what they want and the only person you are pleasing is yourself.

In the next article I shall discussing the history of the golf game, and mention the key golf literature in this area of golf book collecting.