The Making of the Masters, by David Owen, is a look at the beginnings of possibly the most prestigious golf tournament in existence today. Augusta National Golf Club was founded in the 1930′s by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts during the Great Depression. The club very nearly died before it got off the ground. Decades later, the club has long since achieved financial security and The Masters, one of golf’s four modern majors, has been elevated to the pinnacle of tournament golf. This book looks at the beginnings of Augusta National, but really centers on Clifford Roberts. It examines his role in the founding of the club and in the founding of The Masters tournament. It also looks at the man himself: from his humble beginnings, to his often misreported or misunderstood decades as chairman of the club, to his eventual death. David Owen was given unprecedented access the records and archives of the club. It shows in the level of detail he is able to present on the history of Roberts, the club, and

The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations is about as accurate a title as I’ve ever seen a book. Edited by Jim Apfelbaum with a foreword by Arnold Palmer, this book is absolutely loaded with golf quotations. Organized by subject and indexed by name, the book contains several thousand different quotations relating to golf. Subjects range from the definition of what golf is to competition to instruction and everything in between. Here are a few of my favorites: “Golf wasn’t meant to be fair.” – Pete Dye “Every kid learning to play golf dreams about winning the Masters, and about winning the Open, not about being the leading money winner.” – Tom Kite “Man, I can’t even point that far.” – Gay Brewer, Winner of the 1967 Masters, on John Daly’s length off the tee. The Good It contains a huge selection of golf quotes. The book is well organized into topical chapters, but also indexed by name for easy look-up. Excellent reference book for anyone who lives and loves golf. It’s well-suited as a coffee

Being a huge John Daly fan, I was pleased to see his new book as I scanned the bookshelves at my local mega store. His latest offering, Golf My Own Damn Way: A Real Guy’s Guide to Chopping Ten Strokes off Your Score with Glen Waggoner, is classic Daly. No frills, just straight to the point. This is Daly’s version of the Little Red Book. It’s a primer of what makes him tick as a player and how you can follow his example to lower your own scores and have some fun in the process. Let’s break it down. The Good The writing style is very conversational, as if J.D. was sitting there chatting golf. Literature snobs would consider this a negative, given that Daly isn’t Bill Shakespeare, but I like it just fine. Daly has interesting insights into the game. His approach is simplistic, so you’re not going to get talk about angles and planes. It’s simple concepts that will save strokes. Aside from the game improvement information, there was a good amount of

Johnny Miller is known for the candidness he brings to his golf commentating job with NBC. That certainly continues in his book I Call the Shots. Teaming up with Guy Yocom for the book, Miller gives us more of what keeps us tuning into NBC when he’s, well, calling the shots. If you’re a fan of Johnny Miller, then this book is required reading. It’s an extra strong dose of Johnny. It’s got the same kind of candidness that got him in hot water on a couple of occasions but to a level of detail that he simply can’t get into while he’s on his TV job. Chapter List Welcome to Smackdown Golf: The Decline of Etiquette in Today’s Game The Dreaded “C” Word: A Primer on Choking Calling the Shots: Adventures in Broadcasting Can Tiger Catch Jack: The Case for an Emphatic “No” Contenders or Pretenders: Why Tiger Makes Winning Look Easy For Better or Worse: Surviving the “Grand Canyon Syndrome” Courses for Horses: Examining our Fields of Dreams Is the PGA Tour a

How I play Golf, by Tiger Woods is a look at how the greatest player in the world approaches the game. It’s part technique and part philosophy. The book was released in early 2001, a mere four seasons after Woods lit the PGA Tour on fire. He’s undergone a couple of big swing changes since then and has also moved on to a new coach, switching from Butch Harmon to Hank Haney. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Tiger Woods is still the most dominant player in the world, and will probably be the most dominant player in history. Chapter List How to Start How to Putt How to Get it Down How to Escape from Sand How to Swing How to Flag Your Irons How to Nail Your Fairway Woods How to Smoke Your Driver How to Handle Problems How to Stay in Control How to Master the Mind How to Get Strong How to Play The Good The book is a comprehensive look at how Tiger Woods approaches the