The most recommended golf books

I have a recurring dream about living in St. Andrews. Sean Zak did so for a summer, and it was glorious.

To get to spend time at the Home of Golf is special, something I’ve done on several occasions. But always as part of work and never for an extended period of time. Zak lived there for months and brings to life all the things about the ancient town that are special beyond the golf.

I especially enjoyed the backstories, the people of the town, the explanation of links golf, all of it. He shows a nice curiosity, an American seeking answers in a foreign country that I felt particularly enlightening.

As you might have deduced, I love Michael Bamberger books. This one had me enthralled because it took me down a path I did not envision.

He introduced me to three characters in the game I might not have otherwise come upon. Instead of the top players in the game, he focused on those who love the game in their own way, and while their stories – another golf writer, an old friend, a woman who overcame incredible odds in her home country – are not well known, they are nonetheless fascinating.

This was a difficult book to put down.

Bamberger is a terrific golf writer and what made me love this book is the fact that it’s a 30th-anniversary edition! Michael wrote this book in the early 1990s when golf—and the golf world—was in a far different place. Think about it: this was before Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

It is Michael’s own story and is one I found myself living through his words: giving up his job and his apartment, going on a European sojourn with his new wife to experience caddying, and meeting some of the world’s best players.

I had read this book before, and it enthralled me reading it once again.

Unlike the other books here that predominantly hone in on Moe as a person and on his accomplishments; Todd focuses on Moe's swing and mechanics. If you are interested in Moe, you know his swing was quite different and here you find out specifically how and why – in complexity. And who knows? Some of what you learn may even improve your game! The author is also involved in a new documentary to be coming soon on Moe.

Every time you buy something, aren’t you wondering if you should have bought something else? These authors show how companies make use of our endless waffling about coulda-shoulda-woulda, and focus on all of those categories that you might have overlooked as being part of the status quest, like dog food and appliances, as well as the things that you know the corporate world is doing an upsell on, like sporting equipment and wine. Along the way, you begin to realize that absolutely everything you ever buy, give, or receive is carrying a message about your actual identity -- or the identity that you’re hoping for.

I love how Malcolm, a kid who doesn’t like sports despite his athletic dad’s enthusiastic encouragement, finally finds a place to call his own in mini-golf. Malcolm has always felt like a loser but once he signs up for lessons and meets some friends, he slowly improves, in his game and in his opinion of himself. Unfortunately, Malcolm also carries the weight of feeling it’s up to him to keep his parents’ troubled marriage together. With tournaments and family problems mounting high, this is an exciting read. The eighteen chapters, set up like holes on a golf course, are a fun addition.

There is an old adage in sports writing: the smaller the ball the better the writing. 

According to that adage, golf, with its small ball, should inspire the very best writing. I am a golfer and I have read a lot of golf books. The adage is certainly true for The Match.

The setup is that a wealthy auto dealer attending the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament in 1956 declares he has two amateur golfers working for him – Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward - who can beat any other two golfers in a match.

Another well-heeled golf fan takes the bet and shows up the next day with a team of two professionals: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.

Pretty good setup. The 18-hole match played on the legendary Cypress Point golf course on the Monterey Peninsula is even better.

John Updike, writing about golf? Well, why not? This novel, from one of America’s greatest writers, is something of a riff on Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, in a story about a disgraced minister sent off on a sabbatical. He keeps a daily journal, which is what makes up the novel.

Naturally, this being Updike, there are stories about his affairs, his drinking, his family relationships, and more. But there are also wonderful passages about his golf game. Like much of Updike’s work, this book is thought-provoking and an interesting window into the American mind of the 20th century.

In my own way, I lived this book. As a writer for Sports Illustrated, I chronicled the early beginnings of LIV Golf, the tension it brought to the PGA Tour, the defections of some of its top players to this upstart league that was paying huge sums and leading to disruption that still exists.

I appreciate the way Shipnuck handled this story. There is no agenda. He was critical of both sides, yet fair to both sides, trying to understand the motives. I appreciate this because the issue has been so toxic and so polarizing. It is a terrific read to understand where we are in the world of golf today.

I suspect more people saw the movie (starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron and Jack Lemmon in his final role) than read the book by Steven Pressfield. Too bad, because the book’s pretty good.

It tells the entirely fictional tale of a 36-hole showdown match during the Depression between Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, and a local hero named Rannulph Junuh and his caddie, Bagger Vance. Grantland Rice and O.B. Keeler are there (famous sportswriters in the 1920s), and, of course, there is a femme fatale. But there is an underlying respect and honor for the game, which makes this novel a keeper.