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For
both professional golfers and those of us who treat golf as an affliction rather
than a vocation, Fourth of July weekend marks the traditional halfway point for
another golf season. Two of the major professional championships --- the Masters
and the U.S. Open --- have been completed, and the third leg of the Majors, the
British Open, is being held this week at the Old Course at St. Andrews. For the
balance of golfers, the holiday halfway milestone once again has brought us to
the realization that our golf game continues along the same path that it has followed
in previous years. Some magical moments, some frustrating times, and some total
anguish have been in our past and will be in our future. Nevertheless, golf remains
our passion.
Throughout the year, publishers recognizing the continued popularity of golf have
made available a number of books for the avid reading golfer. This summer has
been no different. A wide range of titles occupies the shelves of bookstores in
anticipation of the interest in golf that peaks in June, July and August. Some
wonderful fiction, biographical essays and several books that offer a few tips
to frustrated golfers all are available to take along for reading on this summer's
vacation or golf trip.
 As a modern golf writer, one would be hard pressed to find a finer essayist than Dan Jenkins. While his irreverent style clearly sets him apart from classic scribes such as Bernard Darwin and Herbert Warren Wind, Jenkins is perhaps America's most read and respected contemporary golf writer. In addition to his reporting for Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest, Jenkins has found time to publish several golf novels. SLIM AND NONE, a sequel to THE MONEY WHIPPED STEER-JOB THREE-JACK GIVE-UP ARTIST, once again follows the adventures of professional golfer Bobby Joe Grooves, a common man on the professional tour who wins a lot of money but not many tournaments. Most golf fans would recognize Grooves even though his name might escape their memory. When readers first met Bobby they followed his quest to qualify for the United States Ryder Cup team. This time, Grooves seeks to lose his membership in a somewhat exclusive club that no accomplished professional golfer seeks to belong to: the group of near great golfers who have never won a major championship event.
A Dan Jenkins book is a long series of one-line jokes searching for a plot. Be careful where you read SLIM AND NONE because sooner or later you're going to burst out laughing at one of the countless outrageous observations about life, politics and the vagaries of contemporary sports and the professional golfing scene that Jenkins includes in this book. Very few issues discussed in contemporary sports media escape Jenkins's caustic wit. He has the remarkable ability to skewer with a very light hand those people and policies he finds arrogant, foolish and downright dumb.
From Augusta and the Masters to the PGA Championship, the reader follows Grooves through a series of downright unbelievable calamities that seem destined to keep Bobby's name off of any major championship trophy. Be prepared to learn a little about the rules of golf, including a few parts of the rulebook you may find surprising. Along the way Bobby Grooves also finds a romantic interest, Gwen Pritchard, the mother of the tour's latest young rising star, Scott Pritchard. Romance is a complex problem for Bobby. Indeed, he has more marriages and divorces than he does tournament victories.
In SLIM AND NONE, Jenkins offers his views on the major issues of the modern professional tour. From allowing women at Augusta National, to young female golfers playing in men's tournaments, to the impact of equipment and technology on the game of golf, to the rich and famous lifestyles of professional athletes, Jenkins has thoughts and comments to offer his readers. It is a feast of humor combined with many prescient observations. Dan Jenkins is one of those rare breeds of sportswriters who is also a sage observer of Americana. This book is a great read.
 Whether golf discussions occur at work, on the course, in the tavern or traveling to the next round, the one commodity common to those discussions is advice. Immediately upon the slightest indication that the latest suggestion may yield promising results, golfers love to share tips they have received from whatever source. Repositioning the hands cures the slice; a low takeaway cures the curse of three putts. Solutions abound for all that ails your golf game. Just ask your friends or read the latest golf magazine or listen to the announcers covering the professional tour. Apparently even a man with an ego as large as Donald Trump is more than willing to seek out and accept aid and assistance for his golf game. TRUMP: The Best Golf Advice I Ever Received is the Donald's compendium of wisdom from countless sources covering the never ending quest to get that little round ball into the hole in as few whacks as possible.
Contributors to the book come from all walks of life. Professional golfers, sports psychologists, giants of industry, entertainment and politics all have wisdom to share. Much of what is contained in the book will not come as a revelation to the reader. Common themes are relaxation, visualization, and slowing down your swing. Still, this is a good book to take on your next golf trip. It will remind you again of what you can do to shave a few strokes off your score.
 When it comes to golf advice, most golfers acknowledge that the key to lowering your score comes from mastering shots within the final fifty yards of the hole. Success, or lack of success, at the short game is what distinguishes most high handicap golfers from their lower scoring counterparts. SAVING PAR: How to Play the 40 Toughest Shots in Golf by Todd Sones is an outstanding source of material for any golfer who needs help around the green. It offers a wide range of problem-solving techniques for shots from deep rough, over trees, and other all too common problems frequently faced by golfers of all skill levels. The majority of the material included by Sones, a well-respected teaching professional, centers on play around the green. Each problem shot is introduced by reminiscences from a recognized and respected professional golfer. Techniques are clearly photographed and explained. Finally, a brief summary, usually less than one page, crystallizes techniques for the golfer to employ. Every golfer will recognize in this instructional book at least one or two problems that are costing strokes and creating anxiety. A trip to the practice area with SAVING PAR definitely will shave some strokes off your score.
 While spending time on the practice range will often yield lower scores, golf is more than a good-looking swing. As the golfing legend Bobby Jones remarked seventy-five years ago, "When a man stands up to the ball ready to make a decisive stroke he must know he can make it. He must not be afraid to swing…there must be a good swing with plenty of confidence to let it loose." Having the talent to make a good swing means nothing unless the mind allows that good swing to be accomplished. Golfing legends Jones and Ben Hogan were extraordinary ball strikers who were forced to overcome fear and anxiety in order to achieve golfing success.
Golfers at all levels must confront fear. Clearly, standing on the tee of the final hole of a major golf championship with a one-shot lead can paralyze a golfer with fear. But even the weekend golfer faces fear of embarrassment, fear of failure, fear of water hazards, bunkers, short putts, long irons, and an endless list of angst-causing activities. FEARLESS GOLF by Dr. Gio Valiante is based upon a simple premise: the greatest golfers play fearless golf.
Overcoming fear and playing confidently are simply two sides of the same coin. Sports psychologist Valiante focuses on the destructive ways in which fear impacts the physiology of the golf swing. Fear creates tension, and tension destroys the swing. FEARLESS GOLF recounts the experiences of many great golfers and how they overcame what confronted them in major championship events. Those experiences form the basis for mastery drills presented in the book that will allow golfers to break free of fear's grasp and perform at their best on the course. Golfers of all levels will find FEARLESS GOLF a valuable primer on confronting the demons that often spoil an otherwise enjoyable round of golf.
 One of golf's most endearing qualities comes from the opportunity it presents families to participate in the game together. Fathers and children can toss around a football or a baseball and can attend a game together, but golf is one of the few sports where a father and son or daughter can match athletic ability in a true contest. Most children are introduced to the game of golf by their fathers. Timothy O'Grady's ON GOLF is the story of one such relationship. At the age of two, O'Grady received his first cut down golf club from his father. He would play the game through his teenage years, but like many of his generation, he would give up the game in the '70s as the press of other activities precluded spending time on the golf course.
ON GOLF is a remembrance of those early years of golf as well as teenage years that O'Grady spent as a caddy at Edgewater Golf Club. During his six years as a caddy he saw Bob Hope, Arnold Palmer, and amateur champion Chick Evans. Towards the end of his caddying days, the 18-year-old O'Grady finally beat his 63-year-old father. After adding the score the younger man observed, "I won." His father could only reply, "It's about time."
It was O'Grady's writing career, or rather lack of writing career, that brought about his return to golf. While working in England as a stagehand he joined co-workers for early morning nine-hole rounds. Slowly the love of the game returned. Ultimately, the opportunity to write golf articles would come to O'Grady. In 1991 he published his first article for Esquire magazine.
ON GOLF is an eclectic mix of biography, golf history and golf literature. It is one of those joyous little books that has something for every reader, and is an eloquent discussion of a maddening yet magical game.
 Finally, this month's British Open once again returns to the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews in Scotland. In 1897 British writer Horace Hutchinson published a chronicle of the great courses of the British Isles. Sports Media Group has republished BRITISH GOLF LINKS in its original form, down to the advertisements that were placed in the original publication. More than 50 golf courses, including almost every course in the modern British Open rotation, is described in glorious detail. Playing tips also are included as well as turn-of-the-century photographs. For any collector of golf books or for anyone planning a trip to the links of Great Britain, this book is a must addition to your library.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
More Golf Roundups by Stuart Shiffman:
• 2005 SPRING GOLF BOOKS
• 2004 SPRING GOLF BOOKS
• 2003 SPRING GOLF BOOKS
• 2002 SUMMER GOLF READING
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