Finegan's "Where Golf Is Great" Wins 2006 USGA Book Honors


March 9, 2007

Far Hills, N.J. -James W. Finegan's "Where Golf is Great: The Finest Courses of Scotland and " has been named the recipient of the 2006 United States Golf Association's Herbert Warren Wind Book Award.

"Where Golf is Great" celebrates the rich tradition of golf in and . A noted golf writer, Finegan describes more than 150 courses through and , detailing their rich history and charm. Well-known courses like St. Andrews, Gleneagles and Royal County Down are featured, as are many unheralded courses such as Bora in and 's Carlow. 

Accompanied byLaurence 's stunning photographs, "Where Golf is Great" is the ultimate travelogue for the golfer. In addition to course histories and factoids, Finegan adds insight into the best places to stay and dine after a day on the links. 

"For forty years, I have believed that Herb Wind was without peer among American golf writers and that his masterpiece, "The Story of American Golf", is the single-best golf book, from either side of the ocean, ever written," said Finegan.

"My book on the courses of and was actually inspired by two of Wind's most memorable New Yorker pieces: "North to the Links of Dornoch" in 1964 and "The Greens of Ireland" in 1967.  It is safe to say I will forever be in his debt."

Beginning in 1954, Finegan worked as a copywriter at Gray and Rogers, an advertising firm. He retired in 1990 after serving as chairman and CEO since 1973. He began his writing career in 1976 when he started to contribute golf-travel articles to newspapers and magazines.

Since being retired, he has written six previous golf books, drawing on his more than 40 visits to and since the mid-1970s. He is the author of "Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens," "A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of ," "Emerald Fairways and Foam-Flecked Seas," "All Courses Great and Small: A Golfer's Pilgrimage to and ," "A Centennial Tribute to Golf in Philadelphia," and "Pine Valley Golf Club: A Unique Haven of the Game." 

For the past 20 years, Finegan has served on the Golf Magazine panel that annually chooses the top 100 greatest golf courses in the world.  He currently resides in Villanova, Pa. 

Finegan will be presented the award on April 5 in Augusta, Ga., at the Golf Writers Association of America's annual awards dinner during the week of the Masters Tournament.

Presented by the USGA Museum Committee, the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award is the top literary prize awarded by the Association. Established in 1987 and renamed in Wind's honor in 2006, the award recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to golf literature, while attempting to broaden the public's interest and knowledge of the game of golf.

Wind, who passed away in May 2005, is the only writer to win the Bob Jones Award, the USGA's highest honor. For nearly 30 years he was a volunteer on two USGA committees, the Bob Jones Award Committee and the Museum and Library Committee.

Wind's portrait hangs in the UGSA Library, where copies of his 14 books and countless essays and articles also reside. He was a long-time essayist for both The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated . Among his many contributions to golf, he is credited with naming "Amen Corner" at Augusta National Golf Club, site of The Masters Tournament.

Previous Winners
 

Note: No award was presented in 1988 or from 1993-96.

The USGA currently accepts submissions for the 2007 Book Award. For more information, contact Doug Stark, USGA curator of education, at (908) 234-2300 or dstark@usga.org .

To be eligible, a book must be an original full-length work about golf, written in English, and published in the preceding year. "Where Golf is Great" was published by Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing of New York, N.Y. It was selected from among more than 50 submissions.

"Where Golf is Great" can be purchased by contacting the USGA Publications Department at 1 (800) 336-4446 or www.usgapubs.com . 

The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this country and , a combined territory that includes more than half the game's golfers and golf courses. 

The Association's most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open.  Ten additional USGA national championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur.

The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, maintains an official Handicap System and administers an ongoing "For the Good of the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $53 million over 10 years to programs that seek to grow the game.  For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org .