Well-written, enjoyable read whether you're a golf lover or not!
928813
I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw how important golf was to the main character, Allan Vickery, but I was so pulled in by Allan, the game of golf became a background character.  I saw this man struggling to survive in different worlds, learning lessons from the people around him that not only helped him to survive, but ultimately thrive. I found myself rooting for him, even when he was engaging in behavior that I wouldn't normally approve of.  I also appreciated having a realistic ending that left me imagining possibilities for this character, rather than tying his life up neatly in a bow.
2963156
I should start by saying that I have never played a hole of golf, nor have I read a book about golf or even watched it on television extensively (though I have occasionally watched the last few holes of tournaments on a Sunday because of the drama that sometimes lurks there).  So unlike the author of a negative review I just read of this book, the author didn't have to show me stuff I haven't already read in numerous magazines and books over the years.

With Nicklaus and Watson and Trevino and others, however, it concerns golfers I remember seeing on TV and in Sports Illustrated back when I was more of a sports fan - even though I didn't follow the sport back then either. So I guess that is what grabbed me and I decided to read it.  I really enjoyed it.  It is a behind the scenes peek at the pressures of the pro golf tour, the dedication it takes to succeed there, and it highlights how important mental toughness can be to the golfer.

I gather that balls are made to fly farther now, and I am sure golf courses are designed differently, so like any sport, it is difficult to compare golfers of different eras to make a list of the best golfers. But I think all I needed to hear about the golfers in this book was near the end when it discussed Tiger Woods briefly and these golfers, now much older, said they would love to have played against Tiger in their prime.  The competitive drive that made them great did not diminish with age.

Anyway, as a non-golfer I highly recommend it to other non-golfers who may not otherwise read a book on the subject.  There is stuff about life to be learned here.
3442018
First I should say you don't have to be a golf fan to read this book, because their is a lot more than golf going on. The game and the Prairie Winds golf course are the backdrop for the story. J.W. Shroeder has been a golf fanatic his whole life. J-dub, as he is called decides against the pro circuit and becomes partners with Lew as owners of Prairie Winds. J Dub is a fairly honest man and his partner Lew is about as opposite as you could be and J Dub is finding that out the hard way. This is the first book in this series and I will be reading two more in the collection. I found the book interesting and if you are a fan of golf, law and corruption, grab this.
2255409
Good read and feel good story about middle age crisis and golf.  Enjoyable, especially if you are a golf nut.
2884566
I was recommended to read this book by a friend who is an avid golfer so I went in a little leery thinking, "What do I know about golf?" but I will say this, you do NOT need to be a golfer to enjoy the stories. While each story stands alone, they are all connected by characters, so I wouldn't call this short stories. It's a smooth flowing story that flows from one situation to the next with a distinct style and flavour that was refreshing.

A bit of mystery, ghosts, humour and feel good endings made this a read I can easily enjoy and recomend to others.
1720049
I really enjoyed reading this book.
Easy reading, plenty of laughs as you realise that most of the situations apply to yourself.
I like the way the hates and likes are combine to demonstrate what golf is about. Just reading this book has made me consider lightening up a little during a round when it isn't going so well. Well done Fred and thanks for the great insight into the real game of golf.
3072602
Alan Shipnuck has made himself into one of golf's snarkier voices with his classic shaggy-dog-story "Bud Sweat & Tees" and his sometimes barbed, often candid commentary for Sports Illustrated. So what is he doing writing a sober account of one of golf's loudest social controversies? Is he trying to be John Feinstein all of a sudden?

Actually, the motivation is purer. Shipnuck offers a detached, analytical view of what exactly happened when the Augusta National Golf Club, site of the Masters, refused demands that it admit women members.

"Hootie Johnson has four daughters," one woman tells a reporter. "How does he sleep at night?"

While some bashed Hootie, Augusta's chairman and the voice of the gender ban, others excoriated Martha Burk, the activist whose cry for membership equality seemed at times a personal crusade. Ultimately, it came down to how people felt about things like abortion, equal pay in the office, glass ceilings, female circumcision, anything but golf.

That's about my only problem with Shipnuck's book. I want him writing about golf, not peripheral culture issues like this. He overblows the importance of this particular story. But Shipnuck does a great job putting both sides of the argument in a fair light, and detailing in a clinical scorekeeper fashion just how the controversy was resolved.

Shipnuck's interest is not ideology but people. He manages to get under the placards and in the face of just about everyone who took a stand on this issue, including, in exclusive interviews, the two main players. Hootie comes across as a prickly but likable character, neither as exclusionary nor as unthinking as his critics often claimed. Martha is a cagey, doughty crusader with periods of understandable exhaustion and a fine sense of humor. When someone brings her an anti-Martha T-shirt ["If Martha had balls...She could join the club"] she gets a real kick from reading it.

She needed that sense of humor, as her strong charge, seemingly on the verge of making a miracle and bringing women members to Augusta, caused instead another miracle, that of making Americans feel sorry for a coterie of rich white men. Overplaying her hand, claiming common cause with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and equating the Augusta National with the Ku Klux Klan all killed the momentum of her campaign, along with the savvy PR work of Augusta?s media consultant, Jim McCarthy.

Also damaging was the fickleness of the press, rallying behind her and then against her. Shipnuck's best work, an easy five-star essay on its own, details the various shifts in press coverage of the campaign, particularly at the New York Times, which tried to adopt Burk's campaign as their own only to have it instead contribute to the unhorsing of its own executive editor. Shipnuck's pen is sharp, whether the subject is TV commentators like Rich Eisen ["a one-time standup comic masquerading as a journalist." Ouch!], rabid bloggers, and even SI colleague Rick Reilly, who gets into a silly macho face-off with a one-man Imperial Wizard whose only white accoutrements are his prize poodles.

In the end, Shipnuck makes clear his belief that Augusta should admit women, that Johnson's refusal has denigrated the sport and forever equated him with the ardent segregationists who supported Jim Crow laws in the 1950s, but that the feminists lost their heads too quickly to make a clear case. The nice thing about "The Battle For Augusta National" is you don't have to share that view to enjoy the book. Shipnuck writes with clarity, humor, and a sense of fairness that really does credit to his profession. That puts him in the minority in the Augusta controversy.
2272230
Rick Reilly makes you laugh, think, and occassionally shed a tear while taking a different view of the sports world in his weekly Sports Illustrated column.  With Who's Your Caddy, Reilly takes the sometimes too serious golf community and turns it on its head.  I found myself laughing out loud at least a couple of times per chapter and often had to share a passage with my wife (who doesn't even golf).

The title perfectly describes the range of golfers that Reilly chronicles in this book.  While caddying for golfers ranging from pros to celebrities and scratch golfers to hacks, Reilly reveals the reasons so many of us play and love the game.  You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy this book, but if you do golf, you'll be able to relate to many of the situations that Reilly describes.  His offbeat sense of self-deprecating humor and his commentary on rounds with the non-professionals such as Donald Trump and professional gambler Dewey Tomko are especially enjoyable.  Reilly's empathy for golf's more enigmatic characters such as John Daly, David Duval, and Casey Martin offer a different perspective from the mainstream sports reports.

This is a great book to unwind with after a long day and you'll find yourself wanting to read one more chapter before putting it down.
1422636
Awesome stories about the PGA Tour and it's players. For sure an amazing, must-read book for true golf fans! Got a little slow at times because he starts breaking down every shot of every tournament, randomly in the middle of the book. Regardless it's still awesome.
818745
Been playing "at" golf for 30 years. I never really figured out that, " Either the golfer manages the course, or the course Will manage the golfer".
Sounds simplistic, but great ideas are always sort of simple when explained correctly,
Great  insight from a great writer. Definitely worth the time to read.
67089
I really enjoyed reading this book and it validated how I feel about playing golf with men and in general. I re-read the book aloud to my husband while in the car and it helped me to explain golf from my perspective.
3073872
All the "gossip-national-enquirer" part of the book aside, if you're a fan of golf, you will really appreciate this book.  I consider myself a "swing theory enthusiast" so, if you're like me, you will soak up and enjoy the technical aspects of what Haney was trying to teach Tiger regardless of whether you agree with his method or not.

As another reviwer stated, the book evolves into Haney telling "his side of the story."  I don't think Haney will ever get over the Butch Harmon comparison and many renowned analysts, players, and other teachers have all stated at one time or another that the Haney swing can't be compared to the Harmon swing that Tiger possessed when he dominated and anihilated fields.  It's the over-whelming perception of golf fans and analysts alike.  Haney, in his book alludes to these comparisons, and then toward the end, goes into a statistical comparison of Tiger's stats under his vs. Harmon's tutelage.  The stats don't tell the whole story because Haney did coach a more mentally mature Tiger Woods, and you can't dispute the 2000-01 season.  Haney "tries" to do just that, with arguments that it's a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, etc. but his argument is tinged with lots of sour grapes.  In the end, the reader won't be convinced that Haney was the superior teacher, and I think that was some, if not most, of Haney's motivation for writing this book.  (well..that and money...for #$%%'s sake, the guy only made $50k a year).

In summary, if you're a guy who watches golf on weekends, loves golf stats and pays attention to PGA Tour gossip, then you will definitely enjoy this book.  I read this in 2 days while on vacation.
2125542
I disagree with some of those that say the title of the book is misleading... While it is true that the title "inside the ropes" might suggest the narrative is focused on the golfers -- I think John does a masterful job of letting the reader inside the world of the USGA, and also giving us a brief but fascinating glimpse of the golfers as well.

The stories of the qualifiers that barely make it in are fascinating, as are the antic dotes regarding Tiger Woods "sneaking into town" to play the course before the Open. And of course the logistics of setting up a Major and pulling it off despite the challenges are really engaging. Understanding what went into everything from pin locations, to parking lot locations was pretty interesting to me!

From someone that is an avid golfer -- and yet is a busy business professional -- i found the narrative fascinating and was riveted when it came to the details of a major golf tournament, and all the challenges that the "characters" of the USGA/tournament staff faced.  A great read for any golf fan, or anyone that's fascinated by what it takes to pull off a major event.

If you aren't a big golf fan -- and aren't curious about challenges faced by people that coordinate major events than this book might not be for you.... But my guess is that most people will find John's work pretty fascinating.
4930853
Frank Deford's memoir is full of wonderful and enjoyable writing about his life in general and sports in particular.  Within, we get to learn about how he grew up, and grew as a writer of all things sports, in a manner that's free of ego or self-consciousness.  He comes off as the kind of guy that you'd love to just sit and listen to, telling tales of the interesting people he's met and things he's done, but in an "aw shucks, I've been lucky" kind of way, rather than "I achieved this. I, I, I..."

It's 345 of the quickest pages I've ever read, with tales of sports mixed in with his life story (giving one the opportunity to jump around the book by chapter as interest dictates) and I sure hope that his next book is called "Double Overtime", as I'm sure he's got more stories to tell.

While I thought I was mostly familar with Mr. Deford from his NPR commentary, I used to have a Sports Illustrated subscription when I was a younger guy, and in the course of reading his memoir, I found out that I'd read a lot more of his writing than I'd thought.  The fact that his writing has stuck with me after all those years, and that his mention of those past articles instantly summoned them to mind, says a lot about the quality of his writing then, and now.  I was also stunned to realize that I remembered seeing him a Miller Lite commercial lo these many years past, and his recounting of his experiences on the "Tastes Great! Less Filling!" All Star Team were both unexpected and quite enjoyable.

Some of the other topics in the book of general interest to sports fans include:

* The pioneers of sports writing, including Grantland Rice
* Ted Williams vs. Joe Dimaggio
* The tragedy of Jimmy the Greek
* The failure of National Sports Daily
* The mystery of golf
* A magically classy moment from Magic Johnson
* The legacy of Arthur Ashe

...and quite a lot more.  While most of the concentration is indeed on sports, I learned more about Deford himself than I expected, and my admiration of him as a man is now added to my previous admiration of him as a writer and commentator.

Well worth a read.
3894547
Enjoyed the personal side of the story. I recommend this book to anyone who loves golf history. Well worth the time.
1977547
One mark of a good writer is that he or she can get you interested in a subject that you weren't before. In this case, it was golf--a sport I enjoy ok, but rarely play and can't bear watching on TV. But Feinstein made it interesting, so much so that I raced through the book and will look out for other works of his in the future.

One of the most illuminating things about Feinstein's book was his dramatizing the unimaginable pressure that many golfers face as they battle to stay on the tour every week. Feinstein clearly developed close relationships with many of the golfers featured in the book, and that closeness comes out in the level of detail he's able to give about their backgrounds, which humanizes these preppy-clothed guys, whose lives, families, and psyches ride on their maddeningly-ephemeral abilities to hit a small white ball.

Feinstein's insight into the psychology of golf also captivated me, and whether you're a sporadic golfer like myself, or an eight-handicapper, these observations are the kind that can only come from a fine writer who's spent countless hours with people who do something, or attempt to, for a living. And you know what? Now I want to hit the links.
2230730
Im not a golfer. I don't watch golf. But the guys in my life watch and play. Anything I know about golf is from pure osmosis.

None of that matters because this book was still a pleasure to read. Everyone knows who Arnold Palmer, the legend, is. Now I feel like I know something about Arnold Palmer, the man.

This book is a veritable love-fest both for the King, and for his hometown, Latrobe, PA. The author shared a hometown with Arnold Palmer, and was honored to get to know him over the years while writing for Golf magazine. At his core, Arnold Palmer was a bit of a homebody. He loved his humble town and the people, and was happiest rooted right from where he came. When Chris Rodell asked him why he was still in Latrobe when he could live anywhere in the world, Mr Palmer told him , This is the most beautiful place in the world. It has everything. It has mountains, fresh water, four beautiful seasons, and friendly people. Ive been all over the world and have never found a place better than this. I love that. I don't know Latrobe, but Im from Pennsylvania and I know the kind of town hes talking about. Its an anywhere-USA kind of small town.

Arnold Palmer was also apparently quite a people person. He didn't put on airs. It didn't matter if you were the President or a mechaniche made time, was interested, and was just a good guy.

The author has a wealth of Palmer trivia. He talks about the courses Palmer played and the highlights of his career. I cant wait to impress my husband or dad when I mention Arnies aces in two consecutive days. They will be astounded that I know that.

I loved the story about Chris playing a hole at Latrobe as Arnold watched, and keeping his cool as a car beeped its horn just as he was swinging. He later discovered it was the wife and kids trying to say hi. That gave me a chuckle.

This book is very well-written. Its full of Chris Rodells trademark wit. Its a real peep at the man behind the legend. This is quite a memorial to a man Chris clearly admired.