Miracle On Breeze Hill

One of the more unusual--and entertaining--golf books I've read recently is Miracle On Breeze Hill: The Making of Atlantic Golf Club by Lowell Schulman, the man who created this great golf course on Long Island. What makes it unusual is that much of the narrative deals with the business side of building the club from scratch. This may sound like a dry subject of interest only to bean counters, but Schulman brings it to life with a chatty, effervescent style that adds a lot of human interest to the topic.

I've had the pleasure to play the golf course, too, which makes the story even more fascinating. Atlantic is a spectacular track that ranks right up there with its neighbors in the Hamptons, The National Golf Links, Shinnecock, and Maidstone. Schulman found the property, envisioned the course it could become, and hired Rees Jones to make it a reality. The story of how they turned farmland into a fine links-style golf course makes a fascinating read for any golfer with more than a passing interest in the sport.

In addition to telling his side of the story, Schulman enlisted the other major players in the tale to give their accounts. Rees Jones, greenkeeper Bob Ranum, and general manager James J. Glover all added insights. I was especially fascinated by Tom Julius, who shepherded the project through a Byzantine approvals process that could easily have brought it to a halt. The golf world is a better place for their efforts and the world's library of golf books is better for Lowell Schulman having added this volume to it.

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.