Perhaps the last thing you need to read in a golf column on Thanksgiving weekend is the fact that there are just 27 days of Christmas shopping left, but facts are facts. I”ve been of the opinion that you don”t want to buy equipment for that golfer on your Christmas shopping list. After all, do they want the Pro VI or is it the Pro VIx? On top of that, do they prefer the 2008 version, the one that got Titleist in trouble for patent infringement issues, or would they rather have the less popular 2009 model?
Amateur golfers could certainly use a stronger mental outlook, and what better way to Christmas shop for the cerebral linkster on your gift-giving list than to get them a great golf book. A number of interesting and informative golf books have been published within the last 12 months.
A Course Called Ireland (Gotham Books, $26) by Tom Coyne is the most eye-popping book of the bunch. Coyne, who wrote about his experiences as a mini-tour pro in Paper Tiger, goes one further by walking the periphery of the island of Ireland. Carrying his golf bag and clothing, Coyne plays 990 holes of golf, starting at Kilkee and finishing at historic Ballybunion. Along the way, Coyne meets the locals, drinks in the pubs, and is joined by an array of friends from America who partake in portions of the journey. Even his loving wife shows up for two portions of the trip. If you”ve ever played golf in Ireland, this is a most memorable read. For those of you who haven”t, you”ll want to tee it up on the Emerald Isle after reading this interesting tale.
Doug Dawson took a more localized journey, playing every public golf course in Northern California during the past three years. The result is Northern California”s Best 100 Public Golf Courses (Sureshot Productions, $25). Dawson”s wife, Jess, does the fine illustrations for the book. Dawson also reviews all the courses that ended up outside the top 10. This is a great book for those of you who want to expand your golfing horizons. Dawson has a great eye for what makes a golf course special. I ran into Dawson last month at the Golf Show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds and I believe the best way to purchase this book is to kick into his Web site at www.best100.com. By the way, Pebble Beach is No. 1 and Micke Grove is 100.
Jenkins at the Majors by Dan Jenkins (Doubleday, $26.95) is an easy read as well as a great golf history lesson from the longtime Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest columnist. Jenkins begins this book with Ben Hogan”s win at the 1951 U.S. Open and concludes it 57 years later with Tiger Woods” triumph in the Open at Torrey Pines. Jenkins” book covers six decades of major championship golf and is hard to put down. It features the highlights of great golf in the modern era.
If the golfer on your Christmas list needs help with his or her golf game, a pair of instructional books by the guru of the short game, Stan Utley, will be most appreciated. Utley, along with Matthew Rudy, have written The Art of Putting (Gotham, $25) and The Art of the Short Game (Gotham, $25). A former PGA tour pro who is the hot short game instructor to today”s professionals, Utley focuses upon the process of the putt. He promotes the concept of feel and has lots of great advice on improving the putting stroke as well as all aspects of the short game.
Breaking the Slump by NBC golf ann-ouncer Jimmy Roberts (Collins, $24.99) explores an interesting premise. Roberts interviews a couple dozen top golfers to learn how they got their game back after an extended slump. Among his subjects are Paul Azinger, who got his game back after a public battle with cancer, to Jack Nicklaus, who relied on short game guru Phil Rodgers to return to the top of his game in 1980, to the most recent comeback kid, Steve Stricker, who pounded balls in the snow. I was most surprised at how willing great golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III and Dottie Pepper were to bare their inner thoughts. This is a most interesting book about a hush-hush topic.
James Dodson”s A Son of the Game (Algonquin Press, $24.95) is a two-year anecdotal journey centering around the North Carolina Sandhills. Dodson, the author of the highly acclaimed Final Rounds, a golfing tribute to his father in his father”s final years, is now a 50-something who wants to relocate back to the Pinehurst area from coastal Maine. Dodson is trying to regain his love for the game as well as trying to connect with his teenage son through the game, all within the background of playing famous and historic Sandhill courses. In the end, Dodson happily moves back there with his wife, gets a job writing for the local paper, and rediscovers his longtime love affair for golf.
In light of her win earlier this month on the LPGA Tour, The Sure Thing: The Making and Unmaking of Golf Phenom Mich-elle Wie by Eric Adelson (Ballantine, $25) is an eye-opener about the teenage years of golf”s best known female golfer. A gruesome read when one considers that the main character of the book is basically a child. The Sure Thing is a primer on how not to raise a golfing prodigy. Even before she can drive a car, Michelle is jumping from continent to continent playing against adults, receiving worldwide media attention, and receiving enormous criticism for her attempts to compete against hardened male professionals, all the while wishing she could watch movies, hang out with her high school friends, and go to the mall. Wie will most probably be a successful pro on the LPGA Tour over the next few decades, but if she truly makes it to the top of the game, it will be in spite of her parents. It”s all in the book.
So there you have it. We”ve reviewed eight golf books that have come out in the last year. The golfer on your Christmas shopping list will be impressed with your knowledge of this very strange game, and on some rainy weekend in January, they”ll read your gift book and dream of ways to become a better golfer when the rain subsides and spring blooms. In the meantime, best wishes for filling out your Christmas shopping list.
