Editor Malcolm Peake is one of the great advocates for traditional golf in the UK. A longtime former greens chairman at Temple GC, Willie Park Jr's course close to Maidenhead, and also a member of Royal Cinque Ports, he is well-placed to understand how drying out a golf course can improve both its environmental footprint and its playability.

Temple is among the outstanding examples of a naturally presented inland course in Britain, with fescue-dominated fairways and greens, and wildlife from orchids to buzzards.

With contributions from five times Open champion and course architect Peter Thomson, STRI and R&A agronomist Alistair Beggs and USGA director David Oatis, this volume, while a little tongue in cheek, could be the ideal vehicle – with a visit to Temple? – to convince sceptical clubs of the benefits of drier courses.

STRI, £19.50 www.stri.org.uk