Writing
Writing came first with never a thought that golf course architecture might follow.
Donald Steel's working life began with his appointment- hotfoot from Cambridge- as golf correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph in London, a brand new newspaper launched on February 6th 1961. This made him the youngest specialist writer in Fleet Street at the age of 23.
Arnold Palmer added spice to his indoctrination by winning the first two Open championships that Steel covered. Altogether Steel reported 32 Opens in succession. After leaving the Telegraph at the end of 1989, he continued to write for Country Life having, in 1983, become only the magazine’s fourth regular writer on golf. He followed the distinguished line of Horace Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin and Pat Ward-Thomas.
Books of which Steel was author, co-author, editor or co-editor include.
The Classic Links of Great Britain and Ireland (the only book devoted solely to Links).
Volume III of the R&A History Traditions and Change (with Peter Lewis).
2 Golfers Bedside Books.
13 Editions of the Telegraph’s Golf Course Guide which he instigated.
Three books for Guinness on Facts and Feats.
Shell’s World Encyclopedia of Golf (with Peter Ryde and Herbert Warren Wind). This was described as one of the best three golfing reference books ever compiled.
What Makes a Good Golf Course? By Donald Steel
Article reproduced from GOLF MONTHLY - July 1974
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The Open - Golf's Oldest Major
Donald Steel / Rizzoli International
Foreword by Arnold Palmer
Published to coincide with the celebration of 150 years of the Open championship at St Andrews in 2010.
The Open- Golf's Oldest Major- is a feast of the finest links golf, highlighting the history and unique experience of the fourteen courses on which the championship has been held together with pen portraits of the most famous champions and an incisive introduction tracing the Open's evolution and development.
It also presents an astonishing photographic record of a championship that almost all the legendary names have won. There are classic images of unforgettable moments with vintage pictures from the archives and brand new photos taken by David Cannon.
ISBN: 978-0-8478-3308-5
