Good Golf Books

[reid]

I liked
"Paper Tiger" by Tom Coyn
- absolutely hilarious and well-written. Golf and tournament golf are not the same.
"The Fine Green Line" by John Newport
- funny. A real look at how hard tournament golf can be
" I Call the Shots" by Johnny Miller
- my favorite announcer makes some very good points . I agreed with almost everything he said except him claiming that Annika could make a living on the men's tour. On a short course suited to her, she "played the best round of my life" and missed the cut by a mile (5 shots). Make a living? C'mon Johnny.
"Golf is Not a Game of Perfect" by Robert Rotella
- Helped me when I started
"Who's your Caddy?" by Rick Reilly
- a zany kind of funny

Oh. Can I include my own book? Recently published, its called:
"Striking It Rich: Golf in the Kingdom with Generals, Patients and Pros"

and tells the story of my path to the pro tour after a 28 year absense from golf and while living and working as a surgeon in Cambodia

[ryanf]

I ordered "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book" based on the positive comments read here. It finally came in this morning (can't complain too much, paid $4 shipped for a new paperback copy) and I just finished it. It was great little book and I really enjoyed reading all the little bits of valuable info. I will surely read it a couple times a year.

I had knee surgery two weeks ago so I'm "out of the game" for now. I should be walking around and such by the end of the year and hope to make it to a practice green in early January. I'm definitely going to get some more of the recommended books. It certainly helps pass the time (I have to spend about 4-5 hours a day with my leg in a machine bending the knee).

To add my own reviews:

Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect - Bob Rotella
-great book full of insights, a must read to grow your mental game and shave stokes

Golf Is a Game of Confidence - Bob Rotella
-another great book for mental development, helped me shave many strokes while only being on occasional player, definitely increased my consistency

Who's Your Caddy? - Rick Reilly
-a funny and meandering story about caddying for sort of people, a good laugh and some good lessons

Zen Golf - Joseph Prent
-couldn't get through it yet, too much Zen, not enough golf. Maybe I'll give it a shot again soon. So far, it can't hold a candle to the Dr. Rotella books above.

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book of Wisdom - Harvey Penick and Bud Shrake
- very enjoyable, quick read, lots of bits of info and some very interesting history. After reading I very much wish Harvey were alive so I could meet him and have a conversation with him.

-Ryan

[reid]

Oh I forgot Dave Pelz's book "The Short Game Bible" . I really enjoyed that one although the pros hitting their wedges 14-18% from the hole has to be a mistake

[Poatrivialis]

I read "The Rub of the Green" by William Hallberg almost twenty years ago and then gave it to my roommate. Something about the cover art convinced me to buy it A work of fiction, but one any moderately cerebral golf enthusiast would enjoy IMHO. Kind of hard to find these days, but most large public libraries should have a copy.

Publisher's description from worldcat.org:

Hailed by bestselling author Walker Percy as "brilliant and highly original," this funny, touching, and very moving novel by the author of The Soul of Golf chronicles one man's glorious victories and bitter defeats in the most challenging sport of all: life.

The son of a devoutly golf-hating dad, Ted Kendall comes to embrace the sport as a way to soothe his grief after his mother's death. Then his knack with a club lands him a scholarship to Ohio State--and soon he's driving and putting his way through the electrifying and glamorous world of the PGA tour.

The grass is greener and life is good until a love triangle on the links goes bad, and Ted trades his bag of irons for the iron bars of a jail in the deeper than Deep South. With two years to kill alongside a motley crew of fellow misfit inmates, Ted turns once more to the gospel of golf--and finds his own odd brand of salvation.

[cbe_golfer]

Oh I forgot Dave Pelz's book "The Short Game Bible" . I really enjoyed that one although the pros hitting their wedges 14-18% from the hole has to be a mistake

So I bought your book on Amazon. Enjoyed reading the first chapter on the website. Cant wait to get the book.

[reid]

cbe_golfer:
Thank you so much. I tried the experiment all of us dream about thanks to the Champion's tour but I went ahead and went for the regular tour against guys 25 years younger (and 30 yards farther off the tee). I never would have tried for it if McCumber and Azinger hadn't told me I had "it" - whatever that is.Please tell your friends about my website where they can read the first chapter as you did and read reviews , etc. There are some customer reviews on Amazon too and let me know how you liked it (maybe write a review on Amazon too.) Thank you
Reid

[reid]

Poattrivialis:
I hadn't heard of that one . Thanks for the heads up. Walker Percy is a fine writer. He won the National Book award for " The moviegoer" which was good. I tend to prefer nonfiction books, however when the world of sports meets pen and paper. It is hard for me to identify with a made-up story when golf is so real. Reading about real-life struggles down the stretch is what I like to do. Try "Paper Tiger " by Tom Coyne and "The Fine Green Line " by John Newport. I really enjoyed those

[reid]

cbe_golfer:
Oh I see... Broken Bow/Tulsa. Sorry. I can be a little slow on the uptake

[rrassoc]

"The Greatest Game Ever Played" written by Mark Frost. He talks about the early origins of the game in the UK and USA. I bought this whilst holidaying in Florida last week and I couldn't put it down. A truly fantastic read, highly recommended.

I second the motion! The movie was fantastic. I'm reading the book right now. There is so much rich history, and Frost tells it like it should be told. (Find out where the term "country club" came from!)

Also - Golf is not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella Lot's of others have said this one. My copy is the abridged version on CD. I no doubt dropped 2 or 4 stokes immediately after listening to it.

[DGStinner]

For Instruction: Golf My Way - Jack Nicklaus
For Fun: Alice Cooper, Golf Monster - Alice Cooper

[cbe_golfer]

cbe_golfer:

I got the book and read three chapters last night. I like to read real slow.

Dr.Reid, I am extemely impressed so far with the book and the work you do. I have read Rotella's perfect book and so far, I think this book compares very well. Especially if you pursue your dreams aggressively in golf and in life. Wherever your golfing ambitions take you, I hope you dont stop writing. Genius is often a misused word but in your case, I can surely say genius is what genius does. I hope TST does a review for the book soon.

[reid]

cbe_golfer:

That was really nice of you. I'm speechless.

JP Bouffard of TST.com will be publishing his review over the Christmas holidays.

Writing the book was something new for me. As you will learn from the coming chapters, I am a right-sided brain person- not a left-sided one.

Writing turned out to be only part of the story. I could produce another book about what it is like, as an unknown, to get an agent and look for a publisher.
And then of course, after all of that is done, getting the word out to potential readers is "Volume III".

The biggest issue I had to overcome was the disparate nature of the subject matter. Editors at the big houses told me not to include
the stories of the injured children because it is a golf book and would
confuse the audience. But I held firm. I wanted to offer a real-life
picture of Cambodia and my life there while struggling to make it as a pro. In the end, the story is about "Striking It Rich" in ways that go far
beyond the game of golf.

[Hacksaw]

Some good books I've read on the mental side of golf are:

One I like is

Going Low by Patrick Cohn. It stresses the 3 C's of sport psychology, confidence, concentration and composure with emphasis on eliminating preconceived limitations. I'll have to look into Rotella's work.

[Shindig]

So, another batch to report on, now that this quarter's qualification exam is over and I had some more time to read:

* Hale Irwin's Smart Golf . Stuff about what to do during the round, off the course, equipment, and how to use the rules to your advantage. And it's written in a decent style too.

* Leslie Nielsen's Stupid Little Golf Book . I've heard bad things about the videos, although I've been a fan of Nielsen's for a while. If you gave me that book at age 8 (or anytime after that), I would've wanted to play right away. The book is amusing; I found it at a used book store.

* Stan Utley's The Art of Putting - I enjoyed the read, and I'm going to give it a try at some point. I'm still experimenting with putting, and although I stick to one thing during a round, I'd like to try something else to see if I can't get my putts under 30 (best so far: 33 in one round). Utley has the TOUR record for fewest putts through nine holes - six. I just ordered his short game book to see what he has to say, since that's likely the cause of the six more than his putting.

* John Feinstein's A Good Walk Spoiled . This sat on my shelf for a good six months before I started reading it. I'm halfway through it and I see why so many people recommend his books.


On the queue are Utley's short game book and John Daly's new book.

[tm22721]

I got a lot out of "Breaking 90" by Johnnie Miller.

The Impact chapter reveals that his 5 year head-to-head rivalry with Nicklaus was due to relentless improvement of impact position using high speed film.

To this day he is revered as one of the most accurate iron players.

[Parker0065]

Little Red Book - Harvey Penick
Golf is not a Game of Perfect - Bob Rotella

[geezer]

I would highly recommend 'How I Play Golf' By tiger Woods with the Editors of Golf Digest. For all aspects of the game.

[Alex B]

I particularly like Mark Frost's two latest golf books, namely The Greatest Game Ever Played and The Match (newly released). Both combine the minute details of the tournament/match itself and stories about the players involved; they are both a fascinating and carefully crafted read. John Updike's Thoughts on Golf (a collection of essays he wrote about the game) also reads well, with wit, charm, and clever insight.