Novel Course Guides are something familiar and something new.
Course Guides have been around for a long time, but we believe their use has fundamentally changed.
What was once a 'yardage book' to help you navigate the course is more often a memento to help tell its story and let you really understand what's going on.
That's why we created Novel.
Stripped back course guides with the most beautiful imagery and insightful words. Giving you the insider's perspective on why the course is the way it is and how best to approach it.
How Novel Works
A Novel Course Guide is fully intended to be light on yardage and specific hole information. These things can change each year, quickly becoming obsolete. The story of the holes and the course itself are of far more interest to us.
The first step in creating a Novel is in the artwork. We produce a high resolution orthomosaic model of the course, which Joe turns into his gorgeous artwork.
Next, it's Sam's turn to write the words. Researching the course's evolution and providing an architect and links expert's eye on the course.
Finally, Harriet puts the work together. Managing the details of the ordering and printing process.
Sam Cooper
Sam grew up playing the game Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake.
In 2020, he and wife Harriet packed their belongings (and two dogs) into a converted camper van and set off to play every links course in Great Britain. They finished the journey at Elie in November 2022. To our knowledge, Sam is the only person to have played every links in Britain - 225 of them.
He works as an architect with the firm of Clayton, DeVries & Pont and writes extensively about links golf for a number of golfing magazines.
Telling the stories of the golf courses, the strategies, how they evolved and the histories behind them is very much his passion.
Joe McDonnell
Like Sam, Joe also grew up playing his golf at Hoylake.
He's a true creative. From fronting a band that played gigs to thousands, to developing software used by millions. Now, he's indulging his true passion - combining his artistic and technical talents in the world of golf.
Joe has created golf graphics and animations used by some of the leading architects and sold by some of the world's greatest courses.
Most importantly, he has developed a technique which captures the beauty of golfing landscapes in a truly novel way.
Get in Touch
Please email info@novelcourseguides.com for more information.