No comments about The Green Road Home: Adventures and Misadventures as a Caddie on the PGA Tour.

4 comments about Clearview: America's Course, the Autobiography of William J. Powell.

1. this book is one of the most inspirational and motivational books I have read in a long time. It teaches many lessons for people of all ages, especially to never give up.



2. Once I began reading "Clearview:America's Course" I simply could not put it down. It is a personal historical account of the transition of our country from a place where only some enjoy freedom to a country where finally we can boast that all people are free. We see the past 7 decades through one man's vision, uncluttered by resentment and bitterness at the unjust treatment he endured simply because he was black. Dr. Powell is an inspiration to all. Ms. Nosner writes in a manner that is easy and enjoyable to read.



3. This is a story of triumph over discrimination based upon the color of one's skin.

   Imagine serving your country to win a war, and then returning to your homeland, and not having available to you the resources available to others who worked by your side.

   Be amazed that there is only one golf coure in the United States in the year 2001 that is designed, built, and maintained by an African-American family.

   Consider that the Professional Golf Association of America eliminated its white-only policy in the early 1960s.

   Become inspired by imagining or playing this golf course that is available to any person, regardless of level of skill; for the love of the game.

   Ellen Nossner's writing of this man's story is focused, fluid, and revealing.

   America has come a long way, in part, due to triumphs of spirit like that of Mr. Powell. We must not lose sight that we still have a ways to go.




4. An excellent work to understand the cultural and historical issues facing blacks in pre civil rights history and beyond. It is a penetrating and inspirational look at overcoming obstacles in pursuit of a dream. It is not contexted solely in racial struggles of minorites but goes beyond this to the courage and deliberation required for any of us that have dreams and aspirations to accomplish something to make this a better world.

1 comments about The King of Swings: Johnny Goodman, the Last Amateur to Beat the Pros at Their Own Game (.).

1. Great stories these days are hard to find, so reading the King of Swings was a rare treat. Michael Blaine's golf descriptions of actual tournaments from 70 years ago brought each match to life as if I was watching on TV as I was reading. I couldn't wait for another match to begin with Johnny Goodman taking on the best in the world. He was a unique and special person and I treasure being introduced to him. This has been a book that resonates within me months after my reading experience.

5 comments about Maybe It Should Have Been a Three Iron: My Year as Caddie for the World's 438th Best Golfer.

1. I read this book because I loved Donegan's other book 'No News At Throat Lake', which was both moving and hilarious.

   I don't play golf but know enough about it to enjoy the humor in this book, which kept me amused while I traveled around Ireland for three weeks. Donegan has a great ability to capture well the itinerant lifestyle of the B-grade pro-golfer, the emotional ups and downs of losing more than winning, the little triumphs and pleasures of golf, and the mental stamina needed to be a pro-golfer.

   I recommend this book to golfers as well as anyone who just wants a very funny read.




2. Period. And I have read them all.



3. but this one is readable if only because it is a take on the Euro tour. It takes you to golfing venues and places that others dont. If you want a book about a player you know or courses and tournaments you are familiar with, then this is not your book. That, however, is the redeeming factor of this book. It does get dry because of that though, as it does the usual, painful breakdown of all of Ross Drummond's (Ross who?...exactly)shots and putts. This of course it what drops its rating down. A book like this on Tiger might rate 5 stars as we would all like to hear the inside scoop from his caddy. Where it does excel is with Donegan's wit, humor and exploits. When their relationship starts to sour Donegan takes more of an interest in his social life, and in places like Morocco you know it will get interesting. Chapter seven on his experience in Rabat is pretty dang funny.



4. This is a very intelligent and witty book that all of us who understand golf's struggles must surely appreciate. But beyond a golfer's perspective, this should also be enjoyed as a story about any passion in life that proves to be extremely challenging or unattainable, and the humor of brushing aside all obstacles and pressing forward no matter how ridiculous the circumstances become.
   
   True, this isn't a book about Tiger Woods or Madonna or Bill Clinton, so if you are looking for pop culture, you'll need to look elsewhere. But if you are someone who cheers for the underdog and if you also like golf stories from an insider's point of view, I don't think you will be disappointed!



5. I thought I was going to read about golf..Wrong..I am not interested to hear Mr Donegan's opinion's on world leaders.. Unfortunately I purchased it at an airport so can't return it and get my money back..

1 comments about Byron Nelson: The Story of Golf's Finest Gentleman and The Greatest Winning Streak in History.

1. Visually striking layout... fantastic photos of Nelson and some of golf's greatest from that era. Book initially requires sequential reading, then opens up later into short, choppy highlights of tournaments where Byron prevailed. Makes a wonderful book to place somewhere visitors might want to browse through without committing to tons of reading. GREAT GIFT for a golfer.

1 comments about The Scrapbook of Old Tom Morris.

1. Old Tom Morris lived to the age of eighty-seven, witnessing, and being a major part of, the development of a sport which is now played all over the world (and once on the moon). It is therefore extraordinary that this seems to be the only book dedicated to his life; or even to this time in golf's history. Prior to this publication, the exceptional characters of the time - Old Tom Morris, Willie Park, Allan Robertson, Young Tom Morris - have merited only the occasional paragraph in golfing encyclopedia.

   Compiled as an actor's stage prop - from sources including the golfer's actual book of cuttings - it has the feel of a genuine, beautifully bound scrapbook: its not-quite chronological order, happy-accident compilation seems the sort of thing someone would put together in their spare time. This adds enormously to the book's appeal - starkly setting out a man's life in cuttings and photographs, with no explanatory notes, proves very moving.

   Though this fresh approach to biography allows the reader to interpret material free of the bias normally brought by the author, it also means it is free of any correction: the original authors of the clippings would, no doubt, have their own agenda, as would the person collecting the material. Another disadvantage of this format is that it lacks a social context: sporting event takes precedence, leaving the world around relatively unimportant (reading 'A Century of the Scottish People 1830-1950' T C Smout, would help the reader fill this gap). This book gives the initial impression that the golfing professional was a rich man of high status, which runs contrary to other sources which suggest that he was not welcome within clubhouses, and that much of his income was reliant on club and ball making; his wealthy backers being the main benificiaries of his golfing talent.

   These points aside, the book contains a huge amount of information which will keep anyone interested in history and/or golf fascinated for years. I would suggest you find a comfortable chair, pour a generous glass of whisky (28 year old Springbank as a preference), open a page of this book at random and look back one hundred and fifty years at the pioneers who look exactly like their contemporaries in the wild west, except rifles are replaced by golf clubs.

5 comments about The Feeling of Greatness: The Moe Norman Story.

1. Moe Norman's incredible, tumultous life is thoroughly chronicled in this book, complete with photographs. If you use the natural golf system and are as passionate about it as I am (and most natural golfers are) you will thorougly enjoy this book. Conventianal golfers will also enjoy learning about Moe, the greatest ball striker ever. His life was full of ups and downs, and certainly was never dull!



2. This is a great story of a relatively unknown personality who could not be a part of the "system". His whole life is unconventional; however, his golf is exceptional. An upolished man, Moe Norman never achieved PGA greatness in the US, but is a legend in the amateur ranks in Canada, owning 33 course records and several rounds shot in the 50's. I was fascinated by the many examples of his ball striking capabilities, like hitting over 1500 drives in one afternoon. Each one traveled over 220 yards and each was in a 30 yard wide fairway. The average golfer loves this story. A guy like you and me CAN hit the ball well! That is what we all want.



3. Having lived in the North Florida town where Moe and Craig Shankland give golf clinics every Wednesday of the winter, I have watched Moe in action many times, continually to my amazement. One day, during my 1000 balls a day stint, Moe gave me a lesson I will never forget. He's wonderful. I only wish the jerks on the tour could have accepted his idiosyncracies and made him feel comfortable out there. But who wants to make someone who can beat the pants off you feel comfortable?



4. As recently as 10 years ago, Moe's Norman's very existence was considered apocryphal. A few American golf pros, Paul Azinger and Lee Trevino come to mind, told stories about an eccentric Canadian with a strange swing so accurate he could stand on a driving range and hit the 250 yard sign repeatedly with his driver. Or they told of the time he hit three balls off the tee that were later found huddled together like mushrooms in the middle of the fairway. Then there's the time that, upon hearing someone in the gallery say he was a poor putter, he proceeded to hit a hole-in-one, boasting "I guess I won't be putting today." They said he was so good that if a hole called for a 3-wood and an 8- iron, he'd play it 8-iron/3-wood just to keep it interesting. The stories always held the not-so- subtle claim that if Norman had played the US tour, no one would have ever heard of Jack Nicklaus.

   But nobody had seen him recently. He was a ghost. Finally, in 1995, Golf Digest ran a cover story that brought Moe and his strange swing back to life. By that time he had become the poster boy for a new golf movement called Natural Golf, and the leaders of that company were splashing Moe's image around as much as they could. This biography soon followed.

   Fortunately, readers of "The Feeling of Greatness" will discover not an advertising piece, but a balanced look at a complicated man. Because of a childhood head injury, or perhaps just because genetics occasionally breeds the strange and unusual, Moe Norman represents obsessive-compulsion applied to golf. He is described as golf's "Rain Man", a savant-like creature of habit who found solace in striking golf balls -- hundreds a day for thousands of days -- but who was so shy, he wouldn't appear at awards ceremonies. He muttered a continuous stream-of-consciousness monologue and played so quickly that he often struck his shot before his partner had pulled his tee out of the ground. He never paused over putts, but rather hit them in full stride. He was not your typical golf pro.

   However, while he was very successful on the Canadian tours of the 50s and 60s, he was a flop on the US PGA tour and, in fact, was reprimanded by fellow pros for boorish behavior. The book is honest enough to make it clear that any notion of his tearing up the US tour if only given a fair chance is just false. While he is generally regarded as one of the finest ball strikers of all time, he never came to terms with the real scoring clubs in his bag - his wedge and putter. In the end, Moe Norman was most at home on the driving range, where he gives impressive demonstrations to this day.




5. This book is easy to read and gives us a good look at Moe's life. He was a showman, shy, unpredictible but I think his extreme sensitivity hurt him the most. One of my business associates was playing golf here in Kitchener and Moe was playing six balls at once behind him. He said all six balls would land within a three foot diameter. This is December 2007, There are people here asking about Moe Norman. They plan on shooting a movie about him in the spring. Todd Graves will teach the main actor how to swing like Moe. The screen play will be written by the same person that wrote "Rainman"

No comments about How I Played the Game: An Autobiography.

5 comments about Embedded Balls: Adventures On and Off the Tour with Golf's Premier Storyteller.

1. Once again Jacobsen and Sheehan have outdone themselves writing a book about their love of the game and the great stories that have ensued from the fairways worldwide...
   
   I laughed until I cried and am going to pass the book on to my friends in the dental society (and huge golf fans) in golf course mecca in Central Oregon..



2. There's nothing really bad about this slim book, but the writing is bland and cliches abound. I found the book neither enlightening nor funny. I'm a big golf fan and like Peter Jacobsen as a player. I always like to see him win or do well. I think that the problem with the book is that Peter is simply too nice a guy, at least in print (and that does not mean to imply he is not otherwise a nice guy), to be very interesting.



3. This is at least one book too many for Peter. Most of the stories are old and too many involve farts. If you find this funny, your sense of humor has not developed since the second grade. The book is full of errors. Peter tells how Riviera is one of his favorite courses and then tells about his hole-in-one on the 15th hole. Sorry, Peter but the 15th hole is a par four. You made your ace on the 14th hole. It is evident that Peter not only did not write the book, he didn't even read it.



4. I ENJOYED READING EMBEDDED BALLS BUT IT WAS MORE LIKE A PETER JACOBSEN AUTO BIOGRAPHY. THATS WHY IT GOT 3 STARS. I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE MORE GOLF HUMOR INVOLVING A LOT MORE TOUR PLAYERS. I REALLY LIKED HIS FAMILY AND THEIR VALUES AND IF THIS BOOK WAS MARKETED AS THE PERSONAL LIFE OF PETER AND FAMILY IT WOULD BE 5 STARS.



5. Peter Jacobsen is an excellent story teller. Great book for any golfer. There are many funny happenings on the golf course and during tournament play that I enjoyed. This book was co-authored by Jack Sheehan as was his previous book "Buried Lies". It is a fast read and Peter Jacobsen has made golf interesting and funny.
   
   Letta Meinen

No comments about Tiger Virtues.