A Summertime Selection of Reads Worth a Tree or Two … And Your Time

by Vic Williams
illustration by Calder Chism

Maybe it’s just that journalists have more free time on their hands these days — heck, even I’ve let my newspaper subscription lapse, a fact that would make my dearly departed father-in-law cringe and possibly threaten disownment. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence, but there seems to be a bumper crop of new golf books to read this summer.

Until mid-April, most of this embarrassment of linguistic, green-tinted riches had set up residence on a corner of my desk in the form of pre-publication bound galleys — the version just before the final edit, which is then turned into the bound tome you find at your friendly neighborhood mega-chain or, preferably, mom-and-pop bookstore. I’ve since received final versions of several of the same books, plus a couple new ones.

Time was wasting. Spring would soon morph into summer, which for some reason is generally considered reading season though I personally seem to pull off more words per day over the winter months when golf is usually a distant dream, even in dry-as-a-bone Northern Nevada. So as the leaves came out and the days lengthened, I set to work scanning, dipping through and finally reading in earnest several of these books. And I’ve been playing catch-up ever since though with all the other flotsam and jetsam of modern life pulling me in a million directions, I sometimes find it tough to knock out more than a few pages at a time. I’m doing the best I can, and it’s worth it. My iPhone does the job for the news of the day or brief features, but there’s still nothing like settling in with the ages-old paper-and-ink medium to bring a passionately penned story to three-dimensional life, especially if you’re lucky to be on a 10-hour flight to Scotland (I’m not … yet), or you’re just knocking out some beach time between rounds at your favorite stateside summer golf destination.

Golf literature is really its own genre, different from any other sports category simply because of the nature of the game itself — its difficulty and addictiveness, its social possibilities, its bottomless well of characters and caricatures, its deep reservoir of universal truths.

To me, if you don’t read at least one golf book each summer, you’re not a real golfer.

There’s some great wordsmithing to savor in this year’s lineup: Autobiographical reminiscences by award-winning magazine writers; detailed journalistic accounts of young golf phenoms both overexposed and completely unknown; an out-of-left-field series of golfing celeb Q&As by a female Hall of Famer; a couple instruction books that are actually worth spending some time with; and at least one 10-pound coffee table tome worth of display in any traveling hacker’s living room. Some of them pulled me all the way into their worlds, some not so much. Some, to be honest, I haven’t finished. Guess I’ll see you on the beach.

Golf Courses: Fairways of the World

Photography by David Cannon | Rizzoli

OK, it’s slobbering time, and there’s no reading required — well, maybe a little, but only if you want to read Ernie Els’ forward to official Royal & Ancient shooter Cannon’s handsome, full-color, foldout-rich love letter to the world’s great golf courses, written through the wide-angle lens of his trusty camera. Organized by continent, each section shows all the usual suspects — Augusta, Pebble, St. Andrews, Sawgrass — and many lesser known beauties in all their glory, at various times of day, under cloudless skies and in the fire-orange gloaming, hard by the sea or soaring Rocky Mountains or otherworldly desertscapes. This is golf porn in its best possible light, so savor it, guilt-free.

A Son of the Game

By James Dodson | Algonquin

The author of acclaimed father-son memoir Final Rounds goes the other generational direction, using his old stomping grounds of Pinehurst, N.C. — considered by easterners, at least, to be the “Home of American Golf” — as a rich setting to explore his relationships with a somewhat golf-averse son, old friends including amateur legend Harvie Ward and new friends made during a local newspaper writing gig. Dodson is humorous, self-effacing and reverent in his effort to create a family golf legacy.

The Sure Thing

By Eric Adelson | Ballantine Books

Any FG reader knows we’re big Michelle Wie fans, for better or worse. Her recent finishes as a full-fledged LPGA member show her nearing that elusive first win, but in many minds she’s been the ultimate hype-and-bust story. A writer for ESPN The Magazine, Adelson tells that story from the start, through direct interviews, anecdotal data and unsparing opinion on just what happened to the Next Great Golfer. By the end you think she’s been around forever, though she’s barely 20. This is less an indictment of the girl wonder than the culture that created her.

The Leaderboard

By Amy Alcott with DonWade | Atria Books

Hall of Famer and Southern Cal native Amy Alcott goes 27 here — as in 27 celebrities from film, TV, business, politics and her own world of professional golf — to get to the true meaning of why so many famous folks play this crazy game, and why they seem connected by a thread of passion and purpose of a fabric that can only be found on the course. Done in Q&A format with Alcott’s own comments laced through the narrative, it reveals her as a great sounding board for our big-name fellow addicts.

100 Sporting Events You Must See Live

By James Tuchman | Benbella Books

Not a golf book per se, though he begins his compendium of competitions worth the outlay (face value or otherwise) with the world’s most famous golf “toonament” — The Masters. Also making the cut are The Ryder Cup (No. 21), British Open (No. 27), U.S. Open (No. 64) and Presidents Cup (No. 91). Tuchman gives detailed reasons why every event in the book deserves to be experienced live at least once, and gives advice on nailing down tickets, how to get there and where to stay once you do.

Shooting For Tiger

By William Echikson | Public Affairs Books

Wie’s talent, beauty and commercial potential have made her the poster child for golf dreams gone awry, but there are many thousands if not millions more kids sharing those same dreams — to someday take on Tiger. Writing for an audience that might know little or nothing about the sport, Echikson follows the AJGA, America’s largest youth golf association, into a world where parents, coaches and society in general threaten to turn their kids’ love for the game into a burnout-riddled, money-grubbing scramble.

Jenkins at the Majors

By Dan Jenkins | Doubleday

An irreverent and irascible Texan who has made a career of juxtaposing golf’s absurdities and venerable truths both through reporting and fiction — sometimes in the same sentence — Jenkins has covered more majors than just about anyone over the past six decades. This compilation shows his singular, stinging wit and encyclopedic knowledge of the game, his curmudgeonly resistance to change … and an obvious love for the characters each generation brings, and the drama they produce.

Caddie Confidential

By Greg “Piddler” Martin | Triumph Books

We all know the PGA Tour caddie’s main job description: “show up, shut up and keep up.” In this revealing and hilarious collection, dozens of Tour loopers break rule
No. 2. They talk about getting that first big gig, doing anything to help their guy make the cut, nicknames on Tour (our favorite: “No Pockets”), inside wisdom, swing tips for amateurs, random bitches, amazing pro-am stories, and on and on. Dip in and out of this tasty trip whenever you feel the need to get inside the ropes. It’s a great ride.

Freddie & Me

By Tripp Bowden | Skyhorse Publishing

Freddie Bennett ranks right up there among history’s best caddie masters, not only because of the place where he’s done his work over the years — Augusta National — but because of the depth of knowledge he brings to his reminiscing, refracted through the author’s keen eye. An Augusta native, Bowden learned the caddie’s craft from Bennett, even as he went on to get a college degree and try his hand as a player. But what resonates here is a friendship as pure and special as Tiger Woods’ swing.

Golf: The Art of the Mental Game

By Dr. Joseph Parent | Universe

This is the latest in a series of books that keep the amazing pen-and-ink mastery of artist Anthony Ravielli — who illustrated Ben Hogan’s iconic Five Lessons — alive. Editor Christopher Obetz takes Dr. Parent’s well-regarded thoughts, practices and tips on the mental game and gives them added dimension with classic drawings from the Ravielli archive. The result is an inspiring and instructive take on the most overlooked yet undeniably crucial part of the world’s toughest game. It’s an attitude-changer.

Ancestral Links

By John Garrity | New American Library

Hot on the heels of Tom Coyne’s charming A Course Called Ireland — which I lauded in the last edition of Weekend Wisdom — is longtime Sports Illustrated golf writer John Garrity’s own odyssey into his familial Irish past. In his quest to discover why golf plays such a big part in his brood’s history, passed like an old 9-iron from father to son to son, and continent to continent, Garrity takes us through mounds of personal research to weave a wistful tale of tee times, new connections and old obsessions.

Published in FG Magazine, July 2009

AMERICA'S MOST HONORED MAGAZINE AT ING AWARDS
It’s getting to be a habit, and we can’t seem to help ourselves. For the fourth straight year, FG racked up an impressive load of hardware at the International Network of Golf Media Awards announced at January’s PGA Merchandise Show. We scored six awards in all, besting writers and photographers from such national publications as GolfWeek and Sports Illustrated. First-place honors went to Vic Williams in Competition Writing for his piece on Tiger’s historic U.S. Open victory (July-August 2008), Joann Dost for her epic shot of Tiger’s 72nd hole putt on Open Sunday; and Calder Chism for his “Weekend Wisdom” drawing of Vic in the May-June 2008 issue. Outstanding Achievement awards went to Williams and Darin Bunch for Travel Writing. Other FG contributors who took home awards included Tony Dear and Bob Seligman. Next year, look for the clean sweep.