This is familiar psychological territory for golfers of all abilities, coping with the potential harrowing effect to their scorecard if the next swing goes wayward and the result is an unrequited search resulting in a lost ball.  As John Updike says in the foreword of this clever book, “this lost ball represents two strokes, and two extra strokes could mean the hole and even, if could be, the match, the entire outing, the day itself.”

In a very creative photographic collection Charles Lindsay has brought life to this unique aspect of our game in a book called “Lost Balls-Great Holes, Tough Shots, and Bad Lies”.

It is worth it for the Updike forward alone where he eloquently frames the issues that lost balls play in our game and why it strikes such a familiar chord for us.  “The whereabouts of the ball are in a sense the key to every ball game, but the whereabouts are most picturesque in golf.  Tangles of raspberry….sandy beds of shallow little watercress-choked creeks….snake infested moonscapes of pre-Cambrian basalt…all these nasty patches of environment can play host to a misplayed golf ball.  We have all been there.”

Through his camera lens Charles Lindsay captures the wild, the innocent, and the five-minute shuffle that accompanies all of these often futile searches.  He includes images of domestic animals, wild animals, and a few upright animals against dramatic topography from Ireland to Idaho and everywhere in between.

As a bonus, Lindsay peppers it with some wonderful quotes you can repeat in your Saturday group.

Mark Twain’s politically correct:  “It’s good sportsmanship not to pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”

Ullyses S. Grant: “It does look like a very good exercise.  But what is the little white ball for?”

Alan Shepard from the moon surface: “Got more dirt than ball.  Here we go again…..”

This is the ultimate coffee table book for your home or office.  Every golfing friend who picks this up will give you that twisted, knowing smile as they leaf through an assembly of engaging photos that depict disturbingly familiar circumstances from notable golf venues around the world.

Lost Balls: Great Holes, Tough Shots, and Bad Lies

Charles Lindsay (2005)