We all have more time than we would like, so why not read?
If you want to ensure you, unlike the average American, aren’t streaming eight hours of video per day, few things beat a great golf book and here are five of the best, in no particular order.
— These are grim times, making the appeal of the Dan Jenkins classic “Dead Solid Perfect” all the greater. Enjoy the tale of degenerate pro golfer Kenny Lee Puckett and his quest to win the U.S. Open. You will laugh out loud, a welcome diversion in the spring of 2020.
— In a “Good Walk Spoiled,” John Feinstein was embedded on the PGA Tour during the 1993 and ’94 seasons, taking you inside Nick Price’s British Open victory, Paul Azinger’s emotional return from a bout with cancer, and Davis Love III’s Ryder Cup heroics. A “Good Walk Spoiled” offers a trip down memory lane you will enjoy 25 years later.
— Tom Coyne is one of golf’s best contemporary writers, and “A Course Called Ireland” takes you on an unforgettable walk around the Emerald Isle. The book is equal parts funny and reflective as Coyne recounts his adventures on Irish courses (and in pubs) you’ve dreamed of playing and others you couldn’t find with a GPS. It’s a great read, as is Coyne’s follow-up offering, “A Course Called Scotland.”
— If you want to improve your game, read “Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.” The lessons Hogan imparts are as relevant today as they were in 1957 when the book was first published.
— The only book on the list I haven’t read – yet – is Michael Bamberger’s latest offering, “The Second Life of Tiger Woods.” Bamberger, like Coyne, is on the short list of golf’s best, and his telling of Woods’ return to the top of the game has been greeted with rave reviews. By all accounts, the book provides an even-handed (and page-turning) account of Tiger’s trials and tribulations on and off the course, concluding with his most improbable triumph at the 2019 Masters. I can’t wait to read it.