What's the best golf book you have read?

[hellojude]

Trying to find some good golf books to read on an upcoming trip. Let me know what your favorite reads are. Thanks!

 

[Hawkeye77]

American Triumvirate

 

I've read dozens of golf books and have many favorites but this one still comes to mind as the best crafted golf book I've read to date.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Hawkeye77

[IcemanYVR]

The golf book that helped my game the most was "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect", by Dr. Bob Rotella. Easy but very thought provoking read.

[Mcgeeno]

Lowest Score Wins for playing the game and trying to improve.

 

The Match for an excellent true story.

[miamistomp]

Gardner Dickinson--" Let er Rip"

 

[Hawkeye77]

2 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

Gardner Dickinson--" Let er Rip"

 

Never, ever seen that - now I'm searching for it!

 

Edit:  now Amazon will be delivering to my house on Sunday!

Edited March 3, 2022 by Hawkeye77

[miamistomp]

 I got this off Ebay-Lots of terrific vintage photos of Mr Icicle

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by miamistomp

[KBong]

The Match by Mark Frost.

[Roody]

I enjoyed Who's Your Caddy? by Rick Reilly. 

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book is always a must-read as well. 

[Murphy76]

 

I really liked The Masters: Golf, Money, and Power in Augusta Georgia by Curt Sampson .  

 

It is a great history.  Certainly makes Cliff Roberts look like an iron-clad SOB

 

[milesgiles]

head and shoulders above them all, the only book on any subject Ive ever read literally in one sitting. Now a major motion picture..

 

 

 

 

 

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

Was about 15 pages into Zen Golf, really liking it. My dog picked it up and consumed it, cover to cover. He wasn’t a fan, I guess. 

 

For helpful tips, Penick’s Little Red Book and Rotella’s Not a Game of Perfect (mentioned above) were helpful and are evergreen. 

[aenemated]

I absolutely love Golf in the Kingdom. Re-read it every couple years (and have since a high school friend and teammate gave it to me for like my 15th birthday). 

[Steele47]

Dead Solid Perfect.

[Hickory4ever]

 

A very good read. Covers early years until around 1989.

[Soloman1]

Here’s a fiction based on true-life events and people that’s not instruction. More of a fun read with some stories of real characters.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Hustlers-Fatman-Eric-Crafton-ebook/product-reviews/B007CDBNEU/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

 

 

[Nels55]

Lots of great choices above!  I recommend "An American Caddie in St. Andrews" by Oliver Horovitz.  It's a good read with lots of fun stuff about caddies and life in St. Andrews.  Curt Sampson says; "While exposing the insular world of the St Andrews caddie, Oliver Horovitz discovers a great deal of truth about golf, golfers, and himself.  A terrific read. Recommended."

Edited March 5, 2022 by Nels55

[Murphy76]

 

Also:  Titanic Thompson:  The Man Who Bet on Everything.  by Kevin Cook

 

It isn't strictly golf, but there is a lot of golf in it.  Thompson was an infamous gambler/hustler who played.  Great read

[kwcsports]

A Good Walk Spoiled and Open by John Feinstein were really good.

Edited March 5, 2022 by kwcsports

[isaacbm]

Some good ones in here!  Thanks guys!

[Nels55]

On 3/4/2022 at 7:05 PM, Soloman1 said:

Here’s a fiction based on true-life events and people that’s not instruction. More of a fun read with some stories of real characters.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Hustlers-Fatman-Eric-Crafton-ebook/product-reviews/B007CDBNEU/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

 

 

I read this the other day and enjoyed it.  LOL caused me to start cleaning the grooves on my wedges!  Unfortunately clean grooves with a wear spot the size of Texas on the face are not particularly impressive but it is a start I guess.

[Soloman1]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:06 PM, Nels55 said:

I read this the other day and enjoyed it.  LOL caused me to start cleaning the grooves on my wedges!  Unfortunately clean grooves with a wear spot the size of Texas on the face are not particularly impressive but it is a start I guess.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I signed an option for a movie from a pretty well known Hollywood production company a few years ago, but not many movies were green lit then.

 

It was a lot of fun for a year or so. I got to say things like, “Hold on, I have to take this call from my producer…”

 

I working on a screenplay now for a better version.

[Brayden Wilson]

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella is an incredible book, I really appreciate it. I am currently reading books not only related to golf, as I am studying at university and plan to enter graduate school. I turned to a personal statement writing service that will help me write a quality personal statement.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Brayden Wilson

[slocagolfer]

A Course Called Ireland...by Tom Coyne 

 

He's written on on Scotland and the U.S.ofA. but I haven't read those...yet.

 

Lots of great suggestions in previous posts.

[JNK]

Anything by Tom Coyne. I started his books last October and I'm about an hour to finishing the last book. These books have rekindled my love for golf...which is often times more the people I have met over playing the actual game. Don't get me wrong, though, I love playing. 🙂

[islesmb]

On 3/4/2022 at 10:27 PM, Nels55 said:

Lots of great choices above!  I recommend "An American Caddie in St. Andrews" by Oliver Horovitz.  It's a good read with lots of fun stuff about caddies and life in St. Andrews.  Curt Sampson says; "While exposing the insular world of the St Andrews caddie, Oliver Horovitz discovers a great deal of truth about golf, golfers, and himself.  A terrific read. Recommended."

 

I'll second An American Caddie in St. Andrews. I enjoyed that book thoroughly.

[Abh159]

John Feinstein has sort of a love it or hate it kind of writing style, but I really enjoyed A Good Walk Spoiled when I read it years ago. 

 

It's going to be a bit out of date now (follows Tour Players in the mid-90s), but it does give you some good insight into what it like for the guys trying to fight to make a living on the PGA Tour.

[Nels55]

Another really good book that I recommend highly is:

The Secret of Golf: The Story of Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus by Joe Posnanski

 

I really enjoyed this one and it does contain some good advice on how to approach the game.

[deadsolid...shank]

On 3/22/2022 at 7:41 AM, Abh159 said:

John Feinstein has sort of a love it or hate it kind of writing style, but I really enjoyed A Good Walk Spoiled when I read it years ago. 

 

It's going to be a bit out of date now (follows Tour Players in the mid-90s), but it does give you some good insight into what it like for the guys trying to fight to make a living on the PGA Tour.

I’m more in the camp of hate it. He just jumps around so much. Each storyline veers off onto another tangent, and then another, and so on.  When he finally gets around to finishing that original one, I’ve forgotten what it was. 
 

If I remember correctly (because it’s been quite a few years since I read his stuff), Tales From Q School was the absolute worst for this. 

[DoughBack18]

Open by John Feinstein is one of my favorites and to me a better read than A Good Walk Spoiled, especially if you’ve ever played Bethpage. 
 

Will also give a nod to Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book and If You Play Golf You Are My Friend.