Macdonald elegantly chronicles how golf grew from a little-known Scottish oddity with a mere handful of American courses in 1890 and spread like wild fire to some 4,000 courses by 1927. And Macdonald, who designed America’s first 18-hole golf course (Chicago Golf Club) witnessed and shepherded the game across critical thresholds. Having shared the links with Young and Old Tom Morris, Macdonald knew the game -- as many contended -- as it was "meant to be played": on narrow, unmanicured fairways skirted with punishing gorse and played with the gutta percha ball. He lived to see Bobby Jones master the modern era and become a national hero, solidifying golf’s popularity and strength in America. Clearly, he was the right man at the right time to help golf firmly take root in America. Macdonald also captures the drama surrounding the U.S.G.A.’s early days, and how it unified a game once on the perilous verge of splintering into myriad forms and factions. Also shared are his ground-breaking theories and insights on golf course architecture, best illustrated by his masterstrokes at the Chicago Golf Club, Yale, National Golf Links of America and Mid-Ocean in Bermuda. Indeed, Macdonald’s seminal thoughts on golf course design captured in Scotland’s Gift lay the very foundation of the field. Seth Raynor and Charles Banks were among his proteges.