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Brent Carlson

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #100 on: October 30, 2014, 12:29:13 AM »
Gauche?  Nice.  Very French.   ;)



I am only going to take orders for signed books for the first 1000 books, however long they last [there are somewhere between 100 and 200 left of these].  If there is a Christmas rush, there is no way I'll be able to keep up with signing them all.


No excuse, I hadn't competed my order yet. Tonight I go online and get it done, the processing system works flawlessly and informs me I am order #946. Personal opinion, I think it a bit gauche to request a signed copy upon ordering. But I sure am glad I got in under the 1000. Looking forward to it!

Tom Birkert

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #101 on: October 31, 2014, 01:24:37 PM »
Order placed, looking forward to receiving it! If it's signed even better!

John Kirk

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #102 on: October 31, 2014, 01:34:41 PM »
Hi.  Quick comment for Tom and Renaissance Golf:

My billing address and physical address are different.  I have a post office box.  When ordering my book, I had to guess whether you were sending the books via the postal service, or one of the private delivery companies (UPS, FedEx), who deliver directly to my physical address.  I guessed you would send UPS or FedEx, so the instructions were to deliver to my home.

In the U.S., the books are sent via the US Postal Service, and therefore I should have given my post office box as the destination.

I received my book just fine, but that's because I've lived here a long time, and the local post office knows us, and where to put it when that happens.

Just a heads up for future purchases.  Otherwise, thanks a lot, and I'll look forward to reading the book!

Paul Gray

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #103 on: October 31, 2014, 02:33:01 PM »
Tom, Ran, anyone involved..........

Sorry to go on but I'm getting twitchy about getting my signed copy for Christmas via the slow shipping channels. Any news on this or should I continue to hold fire?

If it's going to be a problem I can just tell the Lady of the Manor to go ahead and accept that $40 is the shipping cost. She'll tell me it's expensive for a book but it's not her present!
In the places where golf cuts through pretension and elitism, it thrives and will continue to thrive because the simple virtues of the game and its attendant culture are allowed to be most apparent. - Tim Gavrich

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #104 on: October 31, 2014, 05:25:07 PM »
Tom, Ran, anyone involved..........

Sorry to go on but I'm getting twitchy about getting my signed copy for Christmas via the slow shipping channels. Any news on this or should I continue to hold fire?

If it's going to be a problem I can just tell the Lady of the Manor to go ahead and accept that $40 is the shipping cost. She'll tell me it's expensive for a book but it's not her present!


Paul:

I have not identified a "slow boat" way to ship the books to the UK.  The best and only real solution is first class air mail which costs about $33 after we've packaged up the book.  So we are charging a flat rate of $25 for that and getting a bit of a reduced return on the book ... which I'm okay with.  If you go and order the book on our web site, that's how it will be billed, and you should have it within two weeks [2-3 days to process it and get it to the post office, and about a week to arrive at your door].

Several people have volunteered to redistribute books if we shipped them to one UK address, but by the time we paid an extra round of postage and the volunteers something for their trouble, it would burn through whatever was saved on bulk shipping.  We've also had booksellers in the UK offer to handle it all, but then I'm making even less money by selling at wholesale ... which I have no real desire to do right now.

Paul Gray

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #105 on: October 31, 2014, 06:31:11 PM »
Tom,

No problem at all. That's all I needed to know and will now ask my good lady to buy me a very eagerly anticipated Christmas present.  ;D
In the places where golf cuts through pretension and elitism, it thrives and will continue to thrive because the simple virtues of the game and its attendant culture are allowed to be most apparent. - Tim Gavrich

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #106 on: January 26, 2018, 03:22:42 AM »
Dear esteemed authors,

I would like to purchase all five volumes and wanted to know what is presently the best way in which to do so?

Also is there a electronic version (I live in Saudi Arabia so shipping is pricey)?

Thanks
God bless,
Jeff
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #107 on: January 26, 2018, 09:58:26 AM »
Dear esteemed authors,

I would like to purchase all five volumes and wanted to know what is presently the best way in which to do so?

Also is there a electronic version (I live in Saudi Arabia so shipping is pricey)?

Thanks
God bless,
Jeff


Jeff:


No electronic version, except on my home computer - because it's too easy to pirate !


Shipping is pretty expensive.  If I had any plans to come to where you are, I'd offer to bring them, but there are no courses on my list to see in Saudi Arabia.  Some buyers have gotten around the shipping costs by having them delivered to a friend in America whom they'll visit, or who will visit them.

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #108 on: January 26, 2018, 12:52:20 PM »
Dear esteemed authors,

I would like to purchase all five volumes and wanted to know what is presently the best way in which to do so?

Also is there a electronic version (I live in Saudi Arabia so shipping is pricey)?

Thanks
God bless,
Jeff


Jeff:


No electronic version, except on my home computer - because it's too easy to pirate !


Shipping is pretty expensive.  If I had any plans to come to where you are, I'd offer to bring them, but there are no courses on my list to see in Saudi Arabia.  Some buyers have gotten around the shipping costs by having them delivered to a friend in America whom they'll visit, or who will visit them.

No worries, after all it is "Confidential"  ;D .

I'll just order and pay the shipping, there are always trade offs living over here and getting things here is one of the tough ones. Looking forward to it and volume #4 later this year.
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Blake Conant

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #109 on: January 26, 2018, 10:15:19 PM »
Just out of curiosity, what does it cost to ship the book/books to Saudi Arabia?

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #110 on: January 27, 2018, 01:39:55 AM »
Just out of curiosity, what does it cost to ship the book/books to Saudi Arabia?

Just ordered yesterday and I was charged $75 bucks.  I get 3 of them so about $25 per, which is about what I would expect for that weight. I hope they aren't using US Postal Mail as that gets handed off to the KSA Post Office, which seems to work 1 day a week.  ;D Oh well you learn to be flexible living over here, which is quite different to the convenience expected for those back in the states.

For the future 2 books I'll probably ship them to my parents and let them read them until I make my way home 1-2 a year.
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #111 on: February 08, 2018, 07:44:17 PM »
Just received my 3 books of the CG in just 2 1/2 weeks!  US Post Office which is like a record!  Thanks so much Tom and much appreciated to send it all the way here.  Already looked through the America's quickly and certainly will give me hours of joy! ;D
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #112 on: February 08, 2018, 09:49:07 PM »
Just received my 3 books of the CG in just 2 1/2 weeks!  US Post Office which is like a record! 


That's a bit longer than I would have thought.  I have no idea how these are shipped ... can't be by boat, so it's gotta be by air, so what takes so long?  Are they required to delay things on the way out so they don't compete with the big international delivery services?

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #113 on: February 09, 2018, 02:21:55 AM »
Just received my 3 books of the CG in just 2 1/2 weeks!  US Post Office which is like a record! 


That's a bit longer than I would have thought.  I have no idea how these are shipped ... can't be by boat, so it's gotta be by air, so what takes so long?  Are they required to delay things on the way out so they don't compete with the big international delivery services?

First you are right, they shouldn't take that long, however we are talking about the government run Saudi Arabian post office.  The US post office passes it off to the KSA post office and therein lies the delay. Items sit there, in some cases a couple months IME for customs to clear, although there is nothing in there that is illegal. I'll give an example of what they can do.

I purchased a wall map of the world, big one like 4 feet by 6 feet that was rolled up in a tube and came with a metal frame and shipped from the USA by US Post Office.  The problem is that once it gets to KSA post office it doesn't matter if you have expedited, express or whatever from the US Post Office, it will grind to a halt.  In this example it was over 7 weeks to get to me.  When I got it I could see they repackaged some of it as they opened it up to inspect.  I'm thinking jeez, it's a MAP for crying out loud.

So I unroll it and start assembling the frame and pull it tight to affix it in place. i see this black mark on the map and brush at it thinking it is something I can move.  I brush a couple times and it is still there and very dark.  I'm like WTF happened.  I look at where this mark is and now realize that the customs guy took a black sharpie marker over the country name ISRAEL.  Yep that happens here and they are directed to do such.  They do it to women's, legs or hair in magazines, even believe it or not.

We are guests here, so it is their rules for some of these things, which can be limiting and really a no logic zone for many. So items just sit in customs (particularly a box or package) until they actually get around to inspecting, despite 5 prayers and 4-5 tea breaks a day for maybe an hour or work a day. Envelopes or regular letters will get here in a couple weeks as well, which doesn't seem normal either, but it is the customs clearance of packages that takes forever.

The DHL's, UPS, FEDEX seem to have a way to ferry their packages to their destinations pretty much on time as their clients expect. Thus, I'm sure they have an agreement with the customs office to inspect their items first, or probably have their own in house customs officers stationed at their warehouses.  Although you pay significantly more for that and it isn't worth it unless you need something now.

BTW I didn't order it yet, (I will when I get home in the summer) but I received a book jacket only in the box to your little red book about architecture, so if you sent the book erroneously it was removed.  If there are naked ladies in there that would explain it.  :o
« Last Edit: February 09, 2018, 02:28:47 AM by Jeff Schley »
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #114 on: February 09, 2018, 07:05:02 AM »

I look at where this mark is and now realize that the customs guy took a black sharpie marker over the country name ISRAEL.  Yep that happens here and they are directed to do such.  They do it to women's, legs or hair in magazines, even believe it or not.

BTW I didn't order it yet, (I will when I get home in the summer) but I received a book jacket only in the box to your little red book about architecture, so if you sent the book erroneously it was removed.  If there are naked ladies in there that would explain it.  :o


There aren't any photos in the Little Red Book, so that's not it.  Maybe they thought it was Communist propaganda because of the title.


P.S.  You are lucky Bill Schulz isn't sending you mail  :)

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #115 on: September 25, 2018, 04:05:34 AM »
Just got an email that Volume 5 is shipping end of October/late November!  Great news.  This is the Asia, Australia, New Zealand.  Looking forward to it. 8)

FYI Volume 4 said to be ready in 2020.
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

John Kavanaugh

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #116 on: September 25, 2018, 07:39:37 AM »
Damnit, my daughter just asked me where to play on the south island of New Zealand. I told her I would look at my confidential guide that I keep at work.  Somebody get my phone. My daughter is a girl that insists on hearing bad news at once.

Rees Milikin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #117 on: September 25, 2018, 07:53:50 AM »
Damnit, my daughter just asked me where to play on the south island of New Zealand. I told her I would look at my confidential guide that I keep at work.  Somebody get my phone. My daughter is a girl that insists on hearing bad news at once.


Roxburgh Golf Club
Arrowtown Golf Club
Chisholm Links

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #118 on: September 25, 2018, 06:39:14 PM »
Damnit, my daughter just asked me where to play on the south island of New Zealand.


Roxburgh Golf Club
Arrowtown Golf Club
Chisholm Links


I am not familiar with Roxburgh, but Chisholm Park in Dunedin is a cool Links muni (in iffy condition) and Arrowtown, a modest club near Queenstown, is the first up in the Gourmet's Choice for Volume 5.


Jack's Point near Queenstown is the one deluxe modern course on the South Island.  I've not heard of anything worth seeing in the wine regions in the northern half of the South Island, there aren't many courses there at all.  Ran liked Shirley Links in Christchurch, I've not seen that.

John Kavanaugh

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #119 on: September 25, 2018, 08:17:06 PM »
Katie says thank you very much.

Jeff Schley

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #120 on: October 31, 2019, 09:45:24 AM »
Anyone know the ETA for Volume 4?
Volume 4 - Europe, Middle East and Africa
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Wayne_Kozun

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #121 on: May 09, 2020, 07:04:38 PM »
@Tom Doak - Any update on when Volume 4 will be published.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #122 on: May 09, 2020, 08:23:06 PM »
The impetus for the series was to prod myself to go and see all the courses I wanted to see.


All the travel for Volume 5 took a lot out of me, and since then, work, and now the coronavirus, have limited my opportunities to travel in Europe.  So, Volume 4 is on hold until I've seen what I want to see.


Perhaps, once I have rounded up Darius and Masa's reviews for Europe, I will do an "interim" version until I get to complete my travels.


In the meantime, next year is the 20th birthday of Pacific Dunes, so plans are afoot to dust off that old manuscript and finish it.


And I am also considering adding a new contributor for a revamp of Volume 1, who would add a bunch of little courses the four of us have missed.

Jeff Schley

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Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #123 on: December 04, 2021, 12:50:15 AM »
Tom,


Guessing maybe 2022, but seeing when u think you will finish  Volume 4?
Volume 4 - Europe, Middle East and Africa

I would do a preorder for Christmas to a few I'd so. ;)

Look forward to it.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2021, 12:53:36 AM by Jeff Schley »
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +1/-1
Re: Ordering information for The Confidential Guide
« Reply #124 on: December 04, 2021, 11:08:45 AM »
Tom,


Guessing maybe 2022, but seeing when u think you will finish  Volume 4?
Volume 4 - Europe, Middle East and Africa

I would do a preorder for Christmas to a few I'd so. ;)

Look forward to it.



Jeff:


I still have quite a few places I want to visit in Europe for Volume 4, and a pandemic looming over any travel plans I make.  Plus I have seven new courses to build.  I would be surprised if I finish that book before 2025.

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