The Four Foundations of GolfJon Sherman
- Genre: Golf
- Publish Date: June 17, 2022
- Publisher: Practical Golf
- Apple Books | $9.99Amazon Kindle
The top 50 best selling golf books at Apple Books. Chart of the most popular golf eBook best sellers list is updated daily.
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The Four Foundations of GolfJon Sherman
#1 Amazon Golf Book Best-Seller Lower Your Scores, Increase Enjoyment Are you struggling to take your golf game to the next level? Learn the philosophy that has helped thousands of players worldwide lower their scores and improve their relationship with golf. Swing tips come and go, but foundational golf skills last forever. Whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced player, The Four Foundations of Golf will give you the blueprint to build a stronger, longer-lasting game. This is not your typical, fluffy golf guide that leaves all the important details out. Since 2015, Practical Golf has been one of the top online game-improvement resources for golfers. Jon Sherman has written hundreds of articles, sharing his perspective as a “player-coach.” You can finally get all of the methods he’s used to become a scratch golfer and coach other golfers in one complete guide. Every golfer wants to know the secrets to golf. But they are always looking in the wrong places. There are four foundations to building a successful game - expectation management, strategy, practice, and a sharp mental game. In each of these sections, you will receive tangible and actionable advice. In this book, you will learn how to: • Become a happier, more fulfilled golfer through expectation management • Understand how scoring truly occurs and use modern data analytics to lower your handicap efficiently • Learn a strategic framework a golfer of any level can quickly adopt - pick smarter targets with every club in your bag and watch your scores drop overnight • How to practice efficiently. Get detailed, step-by-step instructions on methods that will increase your skills and finally transfer your practice range game to the course • Improve your swing without thinking about your technique • The secrets to increasing your distance used by touring pros and elite amateurs • Use statistics to customize your practice sessions and strategy • Learn mental techniques to calm yourself, build routines, and stand over the ball with more confidence • And much, much more Finally, you will no longer have to feel like you are lost and alone in your golf game. The Four Foundations will teach you how to be your own coach, and not waste time on methods that don’t work. Stop listening to your friend’s questionable tips and learn what all the greats have figured out. If you like detailed, straightforward information with plenty of examples, you will love this book. It will reshape how you think about golf entirely and give you the tools and strategies to transform your entire game.
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Make Your Next Shot Your Best ShotBob Rotella & Roger Schiffman
Discover how to reach your greatest potential in golf by focusing only on the shot in front of you—nothing before or after—with the world’s preeminent sport psychologist, Dr. Bob Rotella. Acclaimed sport psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Bob Rotella has advised countless professional golfers, as well as athletes in individual and team sports at the amateur and professional levels, on how to flourish under pressure and win championships. Rotella strives to make average athletes exceptional. With his decades of in-depth research and practical experience, he has encouraged people worldwide to persevere through adversity in a dozen internationally bestselling titles. In Make Your Next Shot Your Best Shot , Rotella’s message is simple but effective: to reach your greatest potential in golf, you need to set your sights high and always think positively. He wants you to aim for something incredible: free your mind, concentrate on your process, accept whatever happens, and commit to making your next shot your best shot. Rotella shows you how to focus your mind, create a routine for success, persevere, and overcome failure. Drawing from lessons learned in other sports, this book is about how to train your mind to play in the moment. It’s about spending your lifetime chasing greatness—and having a ball while doing it.
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Commander in CheatRick Reilly
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Reilly pokes more holes in Trump's claims than there are sand traps on all of his courses combined. It is by turns amusing and alarming." -- The New Yorker "Golf is the spine of this shocking, wildly humorous book, but humanity is its flesh and spirit." -- Chicago Sun-Times "Every one of Trump's most disgusting qualities surfaces in golf." -- The Ringer An outrageous indictment of Donald Trump's appalling behavior when it comes to golf -- on and off the green -- and what it reveals about his character. Donald Trump loves golf. He loves to play it, buy it, build it, and operate it. He owns 14 courses around the world and runs another five, all of which he insists are the best on the planet. He also claims he's a 3 handicap, almost never loses, and has won an astonishing 18 club championships. How much of all that is true? Almost none of it, acclaimed sportswriter Rick Reilly reveals in this unsparing look at Trump in the world of golf. Based on Reilly's own experiences with Trump as well as interviews with over 100 golf pros, amateurs, developers, and caddies, Commander in Cheat is a startling and at times hilarious indictment of Trump and his golf game. You'll learn how Trump cheats (sometimes with the help of his caddies and Secret Service agents), lies about his scores (the "Trump Bump"), tells whoppers about the rank of his courses and their worth (declaring that every one of them is worth $50 million), and tramples the etiquette of the game (driving on greens doesn't help). Trump doesn't brag so much, though, about the golf contractors he stiffs, the course neighbors he intimidates, or the way his golf decisions wind up infecting his political ones. For Trump, it's always about winning. To do it, he uses the tricks he picked up from the hustlers at the public course where he learned the game as a college kid, and then polished as one of the most bombastic businessmen of our time. As Reilly writes, "Golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man." Commander in Cheat "paints a side-splitting portrait of a congenital cheater" ( Esquire ), revealing all kinds of unsightly truths Trump has been hiding.
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Ben Hogan's Five LessonsBen Hogan
With a new introduction by Lee Trevino, this is the first definitive edition of the timeless golf classic that has sold over a million copies—now with never-before-seen photos and memorabilia, hand-selected from the Hogan estate archive, as well as nearly 100 pages of new writings that expand on Hogan’s unbelievable life story and extraordinary career. Over the past sixty-five years, millions of golfers have studied Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons , making it the bestselling golf book of all time. Now, Hogan’s masterpiece has received the definitive edition it deserves. Widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers in the history of the sport, Hogan is especially known for his mastery of the golf swing. At the start of his career, he played with a hook that threatened to ruin his game, until he dedicated himself to correcting it—and in doing so, he gained a rare and hard-fought understanding of the fundamentals. Curious fans itched for clues about his legendary technique, dubbed “the secret,” that allowed him to persevere and even return to the height of his powers after a car crash that shattered his body and almost took his life in 1949. His terse answer, “I dug it out of the dirt”—the dirt of the driving range—fueled the Hogan mystique. He went on to become one of only five players to win all four professional championships, claiming nine major championships in total. In 1957, Hogan partnered with Herbert Warren Wind, “the dean of American golf writers” ( The New York Times ), and illustrator Anthony Ravielli to capture his expertise from the peak of his career in a series of lessons. Hogan believed that any golfer with average coordination can learn to break eighty. In each chapter, a different tested fundamental is explained and demonstrated with clear illustrations, as though Hogan were giving you a personal lesson with the same skill and precision that made him a legend. Now expanded with a new introduction by Lee Trevino, essays about Hogan and the book’s legacy, unpublished photos of the publicity-shy Hogan, and more, this definitive edition offers greater context and fresh insight into an icon of the game.
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The Inner Game of GolfW. Timothy Gallwey
The classic guide to sharpening your mind and raising your performance as a golfer and in the game of life—part of the bestselling Inner Game series, with more than one million copies sold! “The best sports psychology book ever written about golf.”— Inside Golf W. Timothy Gallwey’s bestselling Inner Game books have revolutionized the way we think about sports. As he did in his phenomenally successful The Inner Game of Tennis , Gallwey provides methods that can be applied to situations beyond the green. The Inner Game of Golf delivers strategies to achieve potential—both in the crucible of competition and in everyday life. With Gallwey as a guide, you’ll learn how to • defeat your mental demons and find clarity under pressure • dispel tensions that can sabotage your performance • build confidence and overcome insecurities that can hijack your best instincts • employ the art of “relaxed concentration” to improve your swing, your game, and your life No matter what your skill set, Gallwey’s pioneering strategies, real-life examples, and illuminating advice are perfect for anyone who strives to live up to their full potential.
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The Cup They Couldn't LoseShane Ryan
The definitive story of the Ryder Cup — the event that pits the best golfers from America against the best from Europe — exploring the modern history of the tournament that led to the showdown at Whistling Straits in 2021. The task facing Steve Stricker at the 2021 Ryder Cup was enormous. It was his job, as the American captain, to stare down almost 40 years of Ryder Cup history, break a pattern of home losses that had persisted almost as long, and reverse the tide of European dominance in one of golf's most tense and emotional events. This was the epitome of a must-win, but it was also something more—in the entire 93-year history of the event, no American side had ever faced this kind of pressure. Starting on the morning of September 24, those 12 players competed not just for a Cup, or for pride, but to save the reputation of the U.S. team itself. The great mystery of the Ryder Cup is that America loses despite having superior individual talent. The European renaissance began in the 1980s, led by the brilliant Tony Jacklin and Seve Ballesteros, and since then, the U.S. has suffered a slew of embarrassing defeats abroad and at home. The signs in 2021 weren’t good: Tiger Woods was out after his horrific car crash, Patrick Reed (“Captain America,” to his supporters) was hospitalized with double pneumonia weeks before the event, and America had to rely on its rising stars—including Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, who spent most of the year immersed in an escalating feud—to prove their mettle. Meanwhile, the European team had a few major stars of its own, like Jon Rahm, the world no. 1 and the first Spanish player ever to win the U.S. Open, and Rory McIlroy, the four-time major winner. Throw in the complications of a global pandemic, and the stage was set for one of the strangest Ryder Cups ever. Following the drama in Wisconsin while deconstructing the rich history of the tournament, The Cup They Couldn't Lose tells the story of how the U.S. defeated Europe in record fashion, restored their status as golf’s global superpower, and transformed their entire way of thinking in order to truly understand the nature of the Ryder Cup. **The Sports Librarian’s Best of 2022 – Sports Books**
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Golf is Not a Game of PerfectBob Rotella
Filled with insightful stories about golf, Dr. Bob Rotella’s delightful book will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player. Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or “Doc,” as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include: -On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot. -Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives—anger, fear, whining, and cheating—do no good. -Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself. -It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt. Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.
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Golf's Sacred JourneyDavid L. Cook
Join David Cook--world-renowned sports and performance psychologist, speaker, and bestselling author--as he teaches you that in golf and in life, it's time to get out of your own way and let your true self shine. Based on thousands of athletes Cook has counseled and great mentors and teachers from whom he has learned, Golf's Sacred Journey is told through the lives of two characters--a rancher with a passion for teaching truth and a young golf professional at the end of his rope. In Golf's Sacred Journey, Cook has compressed his decades of peak performance coaching into a story that will give you the tools you need to: Create a meaningful life, both on and off the golf courseBe yourself amid the competitionFind what you do well and perfect it Come alongside Cook as he shows you that in life and on the golf course, we must be willing to coach and be coached--because doing only one will leave us feeling empty. Praise for Golf's Sacred Journey: "Dave teaches what I have learned from experience--that trophies do fade and tarnish, but that relationships with God and other people are where we find true meaning and significance in our lives. I know you'll love this book as much as I did. It will give you more enjoyment, confidence, and hope on your journey around the links, and for your journey to eternity." --Scott Simpson, US Open Champion 1987 "If you read this book, I can assure you that you will finish it a different person than when you started. Find what you do well and perfect it. And most of all, do it with character. Dr. David Cook is a man of character. I have learned from him. You will too." --Tom Lehman, British Open Champion 1996, US Ryder Cup Captain 2006
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Practical GolfJohn Jacobs & Ken Bowden
In Practical Golf, world-renowned teacher John Jacobs presents a simple, sound way to an improved game, no matter the skill level. Distilling his unrivaled knowledge of golf into clear, practical instruction, Jacobs shows how to develop a consistent swing, improve mental attitude, achieve superior results from the rough, cure a slice in five minutes, get greater distance, and much more. For decades, this book has helped golfers lower handicaps and better enjoy the game, making it one of the best ever.
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The Psychology of Tournament GolfDavid L. Cook
There is no other day like game day. It’s the day your score is posted for the world to see. It’s a day filled with competitive pressure and unforeseen adversity. To succeed on game day you have to have freedom in the chaos. In The Psychology of Tournament Golf Dr. Cook delivers his PGA Tour tested strategies for playing your best when it means the most. This game day primer will direct your steps from the moment you wake up on tournament day until you debrief after the round. You will also discover a revolutionary secret to the game that brings together the mental and mechanical aspects of the swing and putting. In the bonus sections Dr. Cook introduces both the Utopia Pre-Set Swing and Face-On Putting. These techniques will fuel the imagination of those seeking a competitive advantage on game day.
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And If You Play Golf, You're My FriendHarvey Penick
ANOTHER ROUND OF INSPIRATION AND INSTRUCTION When Harvey Penick signed copies of his now classic first book, Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, Bud Shrake, his coauthor, noticed that he often inscribed them with the line "To my fried and pupil." When Shrake asked him why, Penick replied "Well, if you read my book, you're my pupil, and if you play golf, you're my friend." Taking up where the Little Red Book left off, this is the second dose of Penick's singular brand of wit and wisdom, full of the simple and easy-to-understand lessons on golf that Penick is known and admired for. Like its predecessor, And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend is rich with Penick's great love of the game, a love that he delighted in sharing with golfers of all ages and levels of ability.
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A Swing for Life: Revised and UpdatedNick Faldo
An instructional guide to the perfect swing from one of golf’s most successful players and well-known television commentators. “A Swing for Life represents the ultimate collection of lessons, swing thoughts, observations, and discoveries that I relied upon in a career dedicated to the game of golf.” —Sir Nick Faldo Nick Faldo is one of the world’s most accomplished and well-respected golfers. His name is synonymous with the dedication that is necessary to reach the highest levels of the professional game, and the patience with which he analyzed and fine-tuned his swing rewarded him with six major championships. In this extensive book—revised and updated from the 1995 classic—Faldo draws on the wealth of that experience to demonstrate the skills that lie at the heart of the game, tee to green. Revealing a collection of absolute musts that underpin golf’s fundamentals, Faldo explains how to set in motion a chain reaction that inspires a flowing, repeating swing, a technique that can be applied to every club in the bag. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to timing and tempo, featuring the drills and exercises Faldo used to maintain his own trademark rhythm, plus comprehensive lessons on modern driving strategy, short-game technique, bunker play, and the art of putting. Supporting his teaching throughout are superb photographs, as well as twenty-six original videos available for you to download from the book, adding a valuable dimension to the learning experience in every department of the game. For veteran golfers, Faldo’s strategy on “working the ball” reveals the true talent of shot-making and control, while his practical advice on taking your game from the range to the course—the art of visualizing shots and reproducing your skills under pressure—is universally applicable. “At the highest level, golf is all about the respect a player has for the fundamentals—the lessons that have stood the test of time . . . and that’s precisely the message that I am going to make sure comes across in this book.” So says Faldo in his introduction to what is essentially a master class from one of the game’s most exacting students and prolific winners. A Swing for Life promises inspiration for anyone who has ever picked up a golf club. *Please note: QR codes included in book are no longer functional*
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3 Releases: The Short Game SystemDaniel Grieve
Simplicity is the key to Dan's golf coaching. He has created a short game system that any golfer can apply with immediate results – breaking down how you can improve your short game by learning new techniques and increasing your golfing IQ. Combining better technique and a better way of thinking will improve your ability to perform on the golf course. Amateurs tend to have very little understanding of the short game when playing golf, specifically how it differs from the long game or how they can make better decisions. They have no plan. This book will give you a clear, simple system you can apply immediately and further enjoy your golf. 3 Releases: The Short Game System will give you the three key shots you need around a green. A low-running chip shot, a soft-landing spin shot, and the lob shot. You will learn the set-up and swing fundamentals to execute these shots. In addition to the greenside shots you will learn the art of bunker play and pitching, along with many other specialist shots to add to your repertoire. Dan has taught these shots to hundreds of Tour Professionals and his clients have won Major Championships, Tour Championships, and several European Order of Merit titles. As well as learning these exact techniques, proven at the highest level, you will acquire crucial performance skills. You will develop an understanding of the intricacies of assessing the lie, the art of practice and, fundamentally, how to learn so you can perform to the best of your ability. Illustrated with hundreds of photographs, including swing sequences and practice drills, 3 Releases is your ultimate short game guide. Dan Grieve is head golf professional at the internationally renowned Woburn Golf Club, home of the European Tour's British Masters for many years and 10-time venue for the Women's Open Championship. Testimonials: “I was very much a long game player before I met Dan. He taught me the short game which was the key ingredient to gaining my European Tour card”. Inci Mehmet, Tour Pro and Sky Sports Analyst. “Dan’s Short Game System is revolutionary” Owen Hargreaves, Ex - England International Footballer. “Dan is one of the best coaches in the world, this is your chance to enjoy his World-Class coaching.” Sir Clive Woodward “Dan taught me a completely new way to chip and pitch” Charley Hull “I have no doubt this book will lower your scores.” Jos Buttler, England Cricket Captain
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The Stack and Tilt SwingMichael Bennett & Andy Plummer
An in-depth, full-color, step-by-step guide to the new golf swing that has taken the PGA Tour by storm The traditional golf swing requires a level of coordination that few golfers have. So it's no surprise that, despite huge advances in club and ball technology, the average golf handicap in America has dropped by only one stroke since 1990. Maverick golf instructors Michael Bennett and Andy Plummer spent a decade researching the swing, eventually combining physiology and physics to create a method they dubbed the "Stack and Tilt." The result? Big-name pros like Mike Weir, Tommy Armour III, and Aaron Baddeley are already converts, and Bennett and Plummer are now two of the most soughtafter swing coaches in the game. Making these breakthroughs available to everyone, The Stack and Tilt Swing is a handsome, fully illustrated, complete course, packed with more than two hundred full-color photographs that make it easy for golfers at all levels to adopt this radical yet simple approach. Analyzing why the traditional swing won't work for most golfers, the authors explain the importance of keeping the upper body stacked over the lower body, while the spine tilts toward the target during the backswing, greatly reducing the inconsistencies created by the old-fashioned approach. Enhanced with practice routines, a troubleshooting list, test cases, and point-by-point assistance, this is the breakthrough guide to golf's hot new secret weapon.
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Golf My WayJack Nicklaus
Hailed as a classic and read everywhere golf is played, Golf My Way has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide since it was first published in 1974. Finally, Jack Nicklaus, golf’s leading master, definitively covers the whole of his game through a lifetime of greatness. Golf My Way presents an all-inclusive, A-to-Z explanation of how this greatest of champions thinks about and plays the game. This book includes: -New introduction, endpiece, and illustrations -Brand-new chapters discussing the changes in Nicklaus’s outlook and techniques -Reflections on the differences in tournament golf today compared with when Nicklaus joined the PGA tour in 1962 -Advice on the mental elements of improved playing that are not directly related to ball-striking or shot-making
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An American Caddie in St. AndrewsOliver Horovitz
A hilarious and poignant memoir of a Harvard student who comes of age as a caddie on St. Andrews’s fabled Old Course. In the middle of Oliver Horovitz’s high school graduation ceremony, his cell phone rang: It was Harvard. He’d been accepted, but he couldn’t start for another year. A caddie since he was twelve and a golfer sporting a 1.8 handicap, Ollie decides to spend his gap year in St. Andrews, Scotland—a town with the U.K.’s highest number of pubs per capita, and home to the Old Course, golf ’s most famous eighteen holes—where he enrolls in the St. Andrews Links Trust caddie trainee program. Initially, the notoriously brusque veteran caddies treat Ollie like a bug. But after a year of waking up at 4:30 A.M. every morning and looping two rounds a day, Ollie earns their grudging respect— only to have to pack up and leave for Harvard. There, Ollie’s new classmates are the sons of Albania’s UN ambassador, the owner of Heineken, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Surrounded by sixth generation legacies, he feels like a fish out of water all over again and can’t wait to get back to St. Andrews. Even after graduation, when his college friends rush to Wall Street, Horovitz continues to return each summer to caddie on the Old Course. A hilarious, irresistible, behind-the-scenes peek at the world’s most celebrated golf course—and its equally famous caddie shack— An American Caddie in St. Andrews is certain to not only entertain golfers and fans of St. Andrews but also anyone who dares to remember stumbling into adulthood and finding one’s place in the world.
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A Course Called AmericaTom Coyne
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Globe-trotting golfer Tom Coyne has finally come home. And he’s ready to play all of it. After playing hundreds of courses overseas in the birthplace of golf, Coyne, the bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland , returns to his own birthplace and delivers a “heartfelt, rollicking ode to golf…[as he] describes playing golf in every state of the union, including Alaska: 295 courses, 5,182 holes, 1.7 million total yards” ( The Wall Street Journal ). In the span of one unforgettable year, Coyne crisscrosses the country in search of its greatest golf experience, playing every course to ever host a US Open, along with more than two hundred hidden gems and heavyweights, visiting all fifty states to find a better understanding of his home country and countrymen. Coyne’s journey begins where the US Open and US Amateur got their start, historic Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. As he travels from the oldest and most elite of links to the newest and most democratic, Coyne finagles his way onto coveted first tees (Shinnecock, Oakmont, Chicago GC) between rounds at off-the-map revelations, like ranch golf in Eastern Oregon and homemade golf in the Navajo Nation. He marvels at the golf miracle hidden in the sand hills of Nebraska and plays an unforgettable midnight game under bright sunshine on the summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska. More than just a tour of the best golf the United States has to offer, Coyne’s quest connects him with hundreds of American golfers, each from a different background but all with one thing in common: pride in welcoming Coyne to their course. Trading stories and swing tips with caddies, pros, and golf buddies for the day, Coyne adopts the wisdom of one of his hosts in Minnesota: the best courses are the ones you play with the best people. But, in the end, only one stop on Coyne’s journey can be ranked the Great American Golf Course. Throughout his travels, he invites golfers to debate and help shape his criteria for judging the quintessential American course. Should it be charmingly traditional or daringly experimental? An architectural showpiece or a natural wonder? Countless conversations and gut instinct lead him to seek out a course that feels bold and idealistic, welcoming yet imperfect, with a little revolutionary spirit and a damn good hot dog at the turn. He discovers his long-awaited answer in the most unlikely of places. Packed with fascinating tales from American golf history, comic road misadventures, illuminating insights into course design, and many a memorable round with local golfers and celebrity guests alike, A Course Called America is “a delightful, entertaining book even nongolfers can enjoy” ( Kirkus Reviews ).
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Cracking the CodePaul Azinger & Dr. Ron Braund
The U.S. Ryder Cup team ended nearly a decade of European dominance in 2008 by laying aside their individual pursuits for a single week and bonding like brothers on golf's greatest stage. Inspired by team-building techniques used by Navy SEALs, Ryder Cup captain and ABC commentator Paul Azinger divided the 12-man team into small groups, or pods. Then, with guidance from corporate team-building specialist and licensed family therapist Ron Braund, he placed golfers based on their personality types, rather than their golf games. The relationships among teammates created an atmosphere where Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, and the other U.S. golfers could perform at their highest levels. In Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You, Azinger and Braund tell the compelling story of how the U.S. team members, half of them Ryder Cup rookies, overcame their underdog status to bring the cup back to America. In the telling, they offer team-building techniques that apply to sports, business, and beyond.
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Own Your GameDave Stockton & Matthew Rudy
“The Pro Tour’s hottest coach” ( Golf Digest ) distills the lessons of a private strategy session into an indispensable “soft skills” companion. Credited with transforming the short games of world-class golfers like Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, and Yani Tseng, Dave Stockton is one of the most sought-after coaches in golf. Yet Stockton’s natural abilities are more like the average player’s than those of most tour superstars. Not particularly long off the tee and average in terms of ballstriking, Stockton has won multiple major championships through a willingness to set his ego aside and analyze his game objectively—precisely what make him so effective as an instructor. The hallmark of Stockton’s coaching is the idea that “trying doesn’t work.” He shows students how to get out of their own way and let their subconscious take over. In Own Your Game , Stockton recreates the experience of riding eighteen holes with him at one of his highly sought-after corporate outings. He explains how any player can learn to use his or her mind effectively—both in the microcosm of the shot at hand and in plotting a way through a round. Amateur golfers are tired of trying to imitate the swings of the pros—to mostly disastrous results. Stockton gives players the tools and the freedom to play better with the swing they currently have. Portable, conversational, practical—and complete with a mini-guide to playing business golf with colleagues and clients— Own Your Game shows how players at all levels can master the all-important mental game.
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The Game for a LifetimeHarvey Penick
TIMELESS LESSONS FROM THE MASTER OF THE GAME This, the fourth book by Harvey Penick, was nearly finished when he died in April 1995. A return to the timeless wisdom that has made his first bestseller, Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, a modern classic, The Game for a Lifetime does not contain the technical swing tips and stance aids of today's instructional guides, but dispenses a philosophy on golf, and on life. Harvey Penick knew that the teachings in his book would stand the test of time, and he spent his lifetime pursuing and enjoying all that the game has to offer -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Game for a Lifetime, the final book by Harvey Penick, stands as a wonderful testimonial to this legendary career, his celebrated teaching style, and his ability to affect the lives of the people who had the good fortune to know him.
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Golf Architecture in AmericaGeorge C. Thomas
Golf Architecture in America is a masterpiece of early golf literature, written by famed architect George C. Thomas. Considered by historians to be the most influential book ever written on early American golf, this guide provides rare insight into the methods and philosophies used to design, construct, and maintain the most renowned golf courses in the United States. According to Thomas, “In this book it has been aimed to aid the beginner by giving actual experiences in course building, and to place before him the practical working methods found by the writer to constitute sound practice; to illustrate strategy and construction, and to consider all the factors which must be included in the up-to-date proposition.” Written in 1927, this book features over 150 black-and-white photographs and drawings, including rare photos of Pine Valley, Pinehurst No. 2, and Pebble Beach. Also included is a foreword by the author and an appendix highlighting his design achievements.
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Winning GolfSaul L. Miller
One of the world’s leading sport psychologists offers practical techniques to improve your golf performance and learn the peak performance mindset In Winning Golf , Dr. Saul L. Miller, one of the world’s leading sport psychologists, describes eight of the most common problems limiting golfing performance and in the process gives readers powerful, practical techniques to overcome these challenges. With his guidance, you’ll learn the performance mindset and emotional management to play with more impact, consistency, and pleasure. Do you want to discover what the pros do to prepare mentally and excel under pressure? Winning Golf ’s mental training program comes with input from over 70 of the world’s top golfers. There is specific advice on how to improve your short game, develop an effective shot routine, tune out negative and anxious mental chatter, play calm and strong, master the “yips,” and use performance-enhancing self-talk and imagery to strengthen confidence and develop a more competitive golf identity. You will also get insights from the Sub-60 Club — the elite set of PGA golfers who shot sub-60 rounds on regulation courses — and hear from several pro athletes from the NHL and NFL about how the mental training they did with Dr. Miller has transferred to and improved their golf. Bottom line, Winning Golf: The Mental Game will significantly improve your golf game, and the very same techniques will enhance the quality of your life.
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A Girl's On-Course Survival Guide to GolfChristina Ricci
A Girl’s On-Course Survival Guide to Golf was first published in print in 2008 and quickly became a best-seller for its portable size, great pictures and clear-cut instructions. This guide is perfect for the weekend player, avid golfer, or the corporate executive who needs a crash course fast! It provides all the essentials from tee to green and in-between. This handy guide will be your constant companion at the driving range and your secret weapon on the fairway.
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The MatchMark Frost
In 1956, a casual bet between two millionaires eventually pitted two of the greatest golfers of the era -- Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan -- against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi. The year: 1956. Decades have passed since Eddie Lowery came to fame as the ten-year-old caddie to U.S. Open Champion Francis Ouimet. Now a wealthy car dealer and avid supporter of amateur golf, Lowery has just made a bet with fellow millionaire George Coleman. Lowery claims that two of his employees, amateur golfers Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, cannot be beaten in a best-ball match, and challenges Coleman to bring any two golfers of his choice to the course at 10 a.m. the next day to settle the issue. Coleman accepts the challenge and shows up with his own power team: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the game's greatest living professionals, with fourteen major championships between them. In Mark Frost's peerless hands, complete with the recollections of all the participants, the story of this immortal foursome and the game they played that day-legendarily known in golf circles as the greatest private match ever played-comes to life with powerful, emotional impact and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
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Every Shot CountsMark Broadie
Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie’s paradigm-shifting approach that uses statistics and golf analytics to transform the game. Mark Broadie is at the forefront of a revolutionary new approach to the game of golf. What does it take to drop ten strokes from your golf score? What part of Tiger Woods’ game makes him a winner? Traditional golf stats can't answer these questions. Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, helped the PGA Tour develop its cutting-edge strokes gained putting stat. In this eye-opening new book, Broadie uses analytics from the financial world to uncover the secrets of the game of golf. He crunches mountains of data to show both professional and amateur golfers how to make better decisions on the course. This eagerly awaited resource is for any player who wants to understand the pros, improve golf skills, and make every shot count.
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LIV and Let DieAlan Shipnuck
“A terrific history…gossipy as hell…the writing is classic Shipnuck…he will never bore you.” — Golf Digest The New York Times bestselling author of Phil and “master of both the art and science of sports journalism” ( Sports Illustrated ), delves into the heart of the golf industry controversy—the battle for the soul of professional golf between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League—in “his best book yet” ( Golfweek ). In recent years, professional golf has been at war, and Alan Shipnuck has been our most trusted correspondent on the front lines. Now, Shipnuck turns to the conflict that made Phil Mickelson, and many other top golfers, villainous in the eyes of the public: LIV Golf’s disruptive—and belligerent—storming of the professional golf world. (LIV’s unofficial motto, immortalized on hats gifted at a staff party: “F**k ’Em All.”) In LIV and Let Die , Shipnuck delivers fly-on-the-wall reporting from the yachts where LIV was hatched and within the corridors of power as the PGA Tour flailed to fend off the threat. Shipnuck has traveled seamlessly between both tours—having countless conversations with players, caddies, CEOs, agents, financiers, lawyers, flaks, fans, and Instagramming wives—to deliver a no-holds-barred account of the most chaotic moment in golf history. Anyone who had a stake in professional golf lined up for an interview with Shipnuck—because they knew everyone else was talking to him, too. The disruption to an old, proud sport was largely conducted in the shadows, but LIV and Let Die delivers numerous revelations about what really happened, and why. Shipnuck’s unparalleled access and award-winning reporting chops provide rich portraits of the brand names at the center of this sprawling tableau: Greg Norman, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Jay Monahan, His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Dustin (and Paulina!) Johnson, Pat (and Ashley!) Perez, Patrick (and Justine!) Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Jimmy Dunne, and many more. Bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf has upended the men’s professional game with vast riches—blatant “sportswashing,” from the mouth of Mickelson himself. The bitter feuding (and trolling) between the PGA loyalists and the LIV camp made the battle between the tours deeply personal—but for the top leaders of the two tours it was strictly business, and in a series of secret meetings they reshaped the future of the sport. LIV and Let Die provides the previously unknown background and crucial context to understand what happened between the tours that shocked the world in June 2023. Long known as the most fearless writer on the golf beat, Shipnuck has delivered the definitive account of the biggest (non-Tiger) golf story this century and a lively page-turner that in places reads like a spy thriller.
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Fearless GolfDr. Gio Valiante
A detailed plan for conquering the FEAR that sabotages swings and ruins psyches, from the pioneering psychologist whose techniques have benefited Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, and numerous other world-class golfers. As Jack Nicklaus once observed, fear is the golfer’s greatest enemy, inspiring Tiger Woods to "refuse" to give in to this debilitating emotion. It can turn professionals into jelly and dominate the games of most amateurs. It alters swing paths, causes “tap-in” putts to go awry, and transforms a golfer from a brilliant shot-maker on the practice range into an incompetent hack on the course. Most golfers understand this, but do not have the tools to overcome it. That’s where Dr. Gio Valiante comes in. A pioneering sports psychologist, Valiante has studied the sources of an athlete’s fear, investigated the physiological and neurological impact of fear on performance, and, most important of all, developed a groundbreaking program for conquering it. With Valiante's help and by applying Fearless Golf, Justin Leonard went from three consecutive missed cuts to three consecutive top tens, and Chad Campbell recently moved from 98th in the world to 7th. Davis Love III went from zero wins in 2002 to four wins in 2003, and Chris DiMarco made the 2004 Ryder Cup Team. Emphasizing the need to replace a fixation-on-results with a commitment to mastery of one’s body and one's mind, Valiante’s approach will not only help golfers reach their true potential, it will make playing every round fun again. Through concrete confidence and mastery drills, he presents specific ways readers can break free of fear’s grasp and perform at their best—even under the most extreme pressure. With detailed quotes and anecdotes given exclusively to Dr. Valiante from the best players in the game—including Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, and other tour professionals, Fearless Golf is the ultimate guide to the mental game, the hottest topic in golf today.
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Paper TigerTom Coyne
"Think country-club clinic meets Navy Seals training. I will pay any price, bear any burden, leave my home to follow the seasons, build my own swing studio in the basement, construct a practice green in my backyard. . . . Everything the big boys have access to, I want double." Like most amateur golfers, Tom Coyne had often wondered whether the pros won because they were more talented or because they were more obsessed. Overweight and burdened by a 14 handicap, he decided to find out for himself what it takes to play like a pro. Charting his journey, which included hiring top golf gurus such as Dr. Jim Suttie— Paper Tiger takes readers from the Michelob tournament (a win for Tom) to the Australian Tour—where forty-mile-per-hour winds and a driving rain scare off his Japanese partners. With each chapter, he tracks his weight alongside his handicap, pursuing his dream with a reckless abandon that comes to involve hardcore diets, pricey technology, even psychologists. With echoes of Dead Solid Perfect and Who's Your Caddy? Tom brings his uniquely edgy, deeply human perspective to a game that can simultaneously bring out the best and the worst in everyone who tries to master it.
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The Art of the Short GameStan Utley & Matthew Rudy
"The hottest instructor in golf" ( Sports Illustrated ) takes on old-school gurus with a far more accessible, intuitive, and innovative approach to those essential chip shots, pitches, and bunker rescues. Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening—even for the pros. One of golf's most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game . After introducing readers to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don't see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley's primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear. Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley's short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.
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The Second Life of Tiger WoodsMichael Bamberger
It’s one of the greatest comebacks of all time. And for Tiger Woods, getting back to the winner’s circle was only half the story. Written by a New York Times bestselling author and reporter who “knows the world of professional golf…like few others” ( The Wall Street Journal ) comes “the most insightful and evenhanded book written yet about one of the signature athletes of the last twenty-five years” ( Booklist , starred review). Tiger Woods’s long descent into a personal and professional hell reached bottom in the early hours of Memorial Day in 2017. Woods’s DUI arrest that night came on the heels of a desperate spinal surgery, just weeks after he told close friends he might never play tournament golf again. His mug shot and alarming arrest video were painful to look at and, for Woods, a deep humiliation. The former paragon of discipline now found himself hopelessly lost and out of control, exposed for all the world to see. That episode could have marked the beginning of Tiger’s end. It proved to be the opposite. Instead of sinking beneath the public disgrace of drug abuse and the private despair of a battered and ailing body, Woods embarked on the long road to redeeming himself. In The Second Life of Tiger Woods , Michael Bamberger, who has covered Woods since the golfer was an amateur, draws upon his deep network of sources inside locker rooms, caddie yards, clubhouses, fitness trailers, and back offices to tell the true and inspiring story of the legend’s return. Packed with new information and graced by insight, Bamberger’s story reveals how this iconic athlete clawed his way back to the top. This is a “gripping” ( Kirkus Reviews ) and intimate portrait of a man who has spent his life in front of the camera but has done his best to make sure he was never really known. Here is Tiger, barefoot, in handcuffs, showing a police officer a witty and self-deprecating side of himself that the public never sees. Here is Tiger on the verge of tears with his children at the British Open. Here is Tiger trying to express his gratitude to his mother at a ceremony at the Rose Garden. In these pages, Tiger is funny, cold, generous, self-absorbed, inspiring—and real. The Second Life of Tiger Woods is not only the saga of an exceptional man but also a celebration of second chances. Bamberger’s bracingly honest book is about what Tiger Woods did, and about what any of us can do, when we face our demons head-on.
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Positive Impact GolfBrian Sparks
This is the golf book anyone who plays the game must read. It will declutter your mind and free you to develop your own potential at whatever level you play, weekend amateur through to young aspiring tour player. Brian Sparks, a British PGA Pro since 1967, helps you to demystify all of the standard golfing jargon and show you how easily you can swing a golf club and hit a ball. This book is the natural antidote to the over-complex, mechanical way that most golf teachers now think you need to be able to improve. Scientific research now proves that this is not the way we learn. After showing you the power of traditional misconceptions about the golf swing Brian goes on to give you simple advice about how to cope with the bad shots this game will always throw your way. It is easy to understand and will prove to be the best purchase you ever made for your game. Although essential reading for all golfers it is particularly valid for women and for any man in the senior division. For you, it will take a lot of the unnecessary effort away from your game and leave you able to play 18 holes and go on to play another 9 with a smile on your face!
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The Ball in the AirMichael Bamberger
After a lifetime of writing about the professional sport, Michael Bamberger, “the poet laureate of golf” ( GOLF magazine), delivers an exhilarating love letter to the amateur game as it’s played—and lived—by the rest of us. Over Michael Bamberger’s celebrated writing career, he has written a handful of books and hundreds of Sports Illustrated stories about professional golf and those who play it—that is, the .001 percent. Now, Bamberger trains his eye on the rest of us. In his most personal book yet, Bamberger takes the lid off a game that is both quasi-religious and a nonstop party, posing an age-old question that is answered over its pages: Why does the game cast such a spell on us? Here is the story of modern golf that is not on TV. This is our story, we who pay to play, who can’t wait to get another crack at the game, even when golf doesn’t love us back. And just as every round is an adventure, every life in golf is, too. The golfers Michael Bamberger introduces will leave you inspired and moved. You’ll meet Sam Reeves, a golf-loving US Army soldier who becomes captivated by a fellow soldier, Cliff Harrington, a gifted Black golfer who’s cruelly robbed of the chance to show the world all he can do. You’ll meet Ryan French, who plays on a college golf team out of Animal House . You’ll get to know Pratima Sherpa, who grew up in a maintenance shed at the Royal Nepal Golf Club in Kathmandu and took up the game with a stick whittled by her father. The Ball in the Air is reported with Bamberger’s you-are-there intimacy and captures the sweep of time. Pratima finds her way from Nepal to a university golf team in Southern California. Ryan and his father caddie in minor-league events while sleeping in tents, a preamble to Ryan’s becoming the godfather of the popular Monday Qualifier Twitter feed. Sam Reeves, born in rural Georgia during the Depression, becomes a cotton king, the oldest amateur to make the cut at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and the ultimate man for all seasons. And there are Bamberger sightings, too, as he finds his own path in the game. You’ll make joyful side trips with the author, who’s spent more than forty years exploring golfers and golf, a way of life that captivates him down to his bones. You’ll visit the golf course at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and compete with Bamberger and other purists at the National Hickory Championship in rural Pennsylvania. At St. Andrews, you’ll get up close and personal with Lee Trevino, one of the few professionals in these pages, because Trevino, when you really get to the core of the man, is one of us. He can’t get enough of it. The Ball in the Air is Bamberger’s valentine to golf. The modern world, obsessed with fame and fortune, has infiltrated professional golf—but it hasn’t infiltrated golf . Bamberger is here to highlight the distinction and to celebrate the game and all who play it .
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Golf ArchitectureAlister MacKenzie
In Golf Architecture , famed architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie details the strict methods and philosophies that led him to design such world-renowned masterpieces as Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Royal Melbourne. Written in 1920 during the height of his career, Golf Architecture provides rare insight into Dr. MacKenzie's timeless design strategies and unrelenting pursuit of perfection. Inside this classic of golf literature, MacKenzie details the essential features of an ideal golf course and provides insight on the proper methods of greenkeeping and design. Along with his first-hand narrative and an introduction by H.S. Colt, twenty-two of MacKenzie’s original photos and sketches have been included, ensuring that every element of the first edition has been carefully preserved. Golf Architecture includes: - Characteristics of a Golf Architect - Psychology of Design - Deciding Where to Build - The Design Process - Utilizing Natural Features - The Importance of Beauty - The Object of Hazards - Greens and Greenkeeping - The Construction Process - The Future of Golf Architecture
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Golf DreamsJohn Updike & Paul Szep
John Updike wrote about the lure of golf for five decades, from the first time he teed off at the age of twenty-five until his final rounds at the age of seventy-six. Golf Dreams collects the most memorable of his golf pieces, high-spirited evidence of his learning, playing, and living for the game. The camaraderie of golf, the perils of its present boom, how to relate to caddies, and how to manage short putts are among the topics he addresses, sometimes in lyrical essays, sometimes in light verse, sometimes in wickedly comic fiction. All thirty pieces have the lilt of a love song, and the crispness of a firm chip stiff to the pin.
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The Battle for Augusta NationalAlan Shipnuck
An unprecedented look behind the scenes at one of the most intriguing controversies in golf history, when a fascinating clash of values, tactics, and political power comes to a head during a fight over Augusta National. The controversy began with a seemingly innocuous private letter, and spiraled into the biggest media event in golf history. The Augusta National membership dispute dominated headlines and watercooler conversation for nearly a year, propelled by twenty-first-century hot-button issues and a pair of perfectly drawn foils in Hootie Johnson and Martha Burk. But a year after Burk's messy Masters week protest, the meaning of the membership controversy remains elusive. Alan Shipnuck—who reinvented the PGA Tour narrative with the rollicking Bud, Sweat, & Tees— provides the definitive account of what really happened and why. Shipnuck chases the story from the chairman's office at Augusta National to the living room of the One Man Klan, along the way bringing to life a vivid cast of characters and revealing subplots aplenty. With meticulous reporting and penetrating insights, Shipnuck provides a nuanced look into the complex and contradictory worlds of Hootie and Martha, who were drawn together like moths to a flame; reveals Augusta National's secret plots to undermine the press and the accompanying turmoil at The New York Times, including an exclusive interview with the Times's disgraced executive editor, Howell Raines; and explores the Southern politics that led to Burk's Masters week banishment, drawing on Senate confirmation hearings and campaign contribution documents to link local politicians and a federal judge to Augusta National. From Tiger Woods to Jack Welch, Sandra Day O'Connor to Bryant Gumbel, Treasury Secretary Snow to Jesse Jackson, the gang's all here in this withering look at a story that never stopped churning.
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The Tiger SlamKevin Cook
WINNER OF THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARD GOLF BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 “A captivating tale.” — Kirkus Reviews • “Masterful.” —Mark Frost • “The rare must-read.” —Alan Shipnuck • “This book is truly as grand as it gets.” —Jim Nantz Twenty-five years ago, Tiger Woods achieved the greatest feat in golf history: the “Tiger Slam.” Now, for the first time, the award-winning author of Tommy’s Honor delivers a riveting account of Tiger at his most brilliant—dominating the game in a way we will never see again. In 1997, as every schoolchild knows, Tiger Woods won the Masters by the largest margin in history, becoming the first Black player to win a major championship. Four years later, the world watches with breathless anticipation as he returns to Augusta National, aiming for a milestone no other golfer has ever achieved: four professional Grand Slam triumphs in a row. In The Tiger Slam , Kevin Cook delivers a gripping, inside-the-ropes account of an astonishing streak of victories that left Woods’s rivals scrambling to keep up. Readers will hear from many of golf ’s biggest names—Tiger’s caddie, his coach, his opponents, his idols, and others, all offering fresh insight into the electrifying highs of his victories and the obstacles on and off the course that threatened his relentless pursuit of perfection. We join Tiger at the beginning of his Slam: the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach. In a notoriously grueling tournament designed to bring golfers to their knees, who could even dream of winning by a record margin of fifteen strokes? Tiger could. We follow him to the hallowed grounds of St. Andrews a few weeks later for the 2000 Open Championship, where he transforms his game to meet the singular demands of the links. Still only twenty-four, he leaves the Old Course as the youngest player ever to complete a career Grand Slam. We proceed with Tiger to the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he fights a spectacular Sunday duel with a player he grew up idolizing, ending with a playoff that changes the course of golf history. Finally, we return to legendary Augusta National, site of his record-breaking first major championship, to see if he can be the first to sweep all four majors. Dogged by reports of an early-season slump, facing a supposedly “Tiger-proofed” course, golf’s superstar tees off against his two fiercest adversaries in an unforgettable final round. The Tiger Slam is the epitome of greatness in sport, a feat as exhilarating today as it was twenty-five years ago. In fact, it’s even more so, now that we know we’ll never see its like again—such dominance is unthinkable in modern golf’s era of parity. Kevin Cook invites us to close our eyes and remember a young champion at the peak of his powers: unmatched raw strength, single-minded focus, strategic genius, and utter fearlessness. The Tiger Slam takes readers behind the scenes in the thrilling months when Tiger Woods took an ancient game to new heights.
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Accurate Iron Play: A RuthlessGolf.com Quick GuideMike Southern
Do you want to attack the pin and leave yourself shorter putts? Then "Accurate Iron Play" is the Quick Guide for you. It focuses on the approach shot—what makes it different from a drive for distance—and how it enables you to zero in on your target. It looks at the techniques that improve both distance control and accuracy with your irons: ** Understand the strategic choices involved in approach shots ** "Hold" your wrist c**k during the downswing ** Avoid casting from the top ** Make a crisp downward strike on the ball that prevents flipping ** Learn to "dial in" distances with different irons ** Control your trajectory ** And more! "Accurate Iron Play" is noticeably longer than other Quick Guides simply because it covers so much material necessary to good iron play. However, the information is still presented in the most direct, condensed format possible so you don't waste time reading about golf when you can be playing instead. The first third of the guide focuses on the factors that affect your shot choices and the remainder of the book focuses on the techniques for actually making those shots. The techniques for making better approach shots aren't hard to learn, and it doesn't take endless hours on the range to gain an amazing amount of control. All you need is a clear understanding of why the ball behaves as it does and how to choose and use the best iron for the job. All you need is "Accurate Iron Play."
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How to Play GolfHarry Vardon
Harry Vardon (1870 – 1937) won The Open Championship a six times, a record that remains unbeaten. This classic, filled with Vardon's wit and wisdom, contains the following chapters: I. The Trend of the Game II. Golf Course Architecture III. Equipment: Some Trifles That Amount to Much IV. Two Essentials of Success V. How to Drive VI. Cleek and Iron Shots VII. Mashie Shots VIII. On the Green X. The “Push” Shot XI. Golf in a Wind XII. Some Common Faults XIII. Prominent Players and Their Methods XIV. Summer Golf and Winter Golf XV. The Game Abroad
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Harvey Penick's Little Red BookHarvey Penick
The twentieth anniversary edition of this classic work—the bestselling golf instruction book of all time and hailed as “the golfer's equivalent of The Elements of Style ” ( The New York Times )—includes a new introduction by a prominent golfer, twenty new illustrations, and never-before-published materials from the Penick family archives. The most beloved golf book of all time, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book has become required reading for all players and fans of the game, from beginners to seasoned pros. The legendary Harvey Penick, whom Sports Illustrated called the “Socrates of the golf world,” began his golfing career as a caddie in Austin, Texas, at the age of eight, and over the course of nearly a century worked with an amazing array of champions. In this classic book, which is named for the red notebook he always kept, Penick’s simple, direct, practical wisdom pares away the hypertechnical jargon that’s grown up around the golf swing, and lets all golfers, whatever their level, play their best. This twentieth-anniversary edition features a treasure trove of rare images from the Penick family archives, commemorates Penick’s lasting achievement with a moving new foreword by 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III—whose father learned the game under Penick’s tutelage—and reminds golfers everywhere to “take dead aim.”
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The Golf Drills, DistilledPete Styles
The Golf Drills, Distilled is an illustrated step-by-step guide into the best golf drills and exercises (over 25 in total). It features over 100, carefully produced illustrations that along with text clearly show you what to do - and what not to do - in order to improve your golf swing and become a better golfer. You'll find drills that target every aspect of your golf swing (takeaway, backswing, top of the swing, downswing, impact, release & extension, and the follow through). In addition, you'll also find drills that will help you cure your golf swing of errors and bad shots such as slices, hooks, fat shots, thin shots, and shanks. Whether you are at the range or in front of a mirror hitting into a net, or a simulator, make the most out of your time practicing by mastering these drills. Your golf game - and ball striking - will thank you!
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The Big MissHank Haney
The Big Miss is Hank Haney’s candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance: at tournaments, on the practice range, over meals, with his wife, Elin, and relaxing with friends. The relationship between the two men began in March 2004 when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men’s lives. Tiger—only 28 at the time—was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already he was among the world’s highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win. But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank’s help. What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he’d ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly. And yet Tiger is human—and Hank’s expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger’s perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of “the big miss”—the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round—and it was because that type of blunder was sometimes part of Tiger’s game that Hank carefully redesigned his swing mechanics. Hank’s most formidable coaching challenge, though, would be solving the riddle of Tiger’s personality. Wary of the emotional distractions that might diminish his game and put him further from his goals, Tiger had developed a variety of tactics to keep people from getting too close, and not even Hank—or Tiger’s family and friends, for that matter—was spared “the treatment.” Toward the end of Tiger and Hank’s time together, the champion’s laser-like focus began to blur and he became less willing to put in punishing hours practicing—a disappointment to Hank, who saw in Tiger’s behavior signs that his pupil had developed a conflicted relationship with the game. Hints that Tiger hungered to reinvent himself were present in his bizarre infatuation with elite military training, and—in a development Hank didn’t see coming—in the scandal that would make headlines in late 2009. It all added up to a big miss that Hank, try as he might, couldn’t save Tiger from. There’s never been a book about Tiger Woods that is as intimate and revealing—or one so wise about what it takes to coach a superstar athlete.
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For the Rest of UsMike Stair
Ben Hogan, author of The Modern Fundamentals of Golf , believed that golfers with average coordination could learn to break 80 if they applied themselves intelligently to learning his concepts. Author Mike Stair has created this companion piece from the position of an average golfer. He has benefited from Mr. Hogan's instruction and has applied more than thirty years of teaching and analysis to the clarification of Hogan's more obscure instructions. If you are eager to improve your game, and wish someone could explain it in terms you can make sense of, this book will help lower your score while raising your appreciation for Ben Hogan and the game he played so well.
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PhilAlan Shipnuck
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “A rollicking good time.” — Golfweek * “Thoroughly engaging.” — The Washington Post Now with a new afterword: a juicy and freewheeling biography of legendary golf champion Phil Mickelson—who has led a big, controversial life—as reported by longtime Sports Illustrated writer and bestselling author Alan Shipnuck. Phil Mickelson is one of the most compelling figures in sports. For more than three decades he has been among the best golfers in the world, and his unmatched longevity was exemplified at the 2021 PGA Championship, when Mickelson, on the cusp of turning fifty-one, became the oldest player in history to win a major championship. In this raw, uncensored, and unauthorized biography, Alan Shipnuck captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and countless controversies. Mickelson is a multifaceted character, and all his warring impulses are on display in these pages: He is a smart-ass who built an empire on being the consummate professional; a loving husband dogged by salacious rumors; a high-stakes gambler who knows the house always wins but can’t tear himself away. Mickelson’s career and public image have been defined by the contrast with his lifelong rival, Tiger Woods. Where Woods is robotic and reticent, Mickelson is affable and extroverted, an incorrigible showman whom many fans love and some abhor because of the overwhelming size of his personality. In their early years together on Tour, Mickelson lacked Tiger’s laser focus and discipline, leading Tida Woods to call her son’s rival “the fat boy,” among other put-downs. Yet as Tiger’s career has been curtailed by scandal, addiction, and a broken body, Phil sails on, still relevant on the golf course and in the marketplace. Phil is the perfect marriage of subject and author. Shipnuck has long been known as the most fearless writer on the golf beat, and he delivers numerous revelations, from the true scale of Mickelson’s massive gambling losses; to the inside story of the acrimonious breakup between Phil and his longtime caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay; to the secretive backstory of the Saudi golf league that Mickelson championed to wield as leverage against the PGA Tour. But Phil also celebrates Mickelson’s random acts of kindness and generosity of spirit, to which friends and strangers alike can attest. Shipnuck has covered Mickelson for his entire career and has been on the ground at Mickelson’s most memorable triumphs and crack-ups, allowing him to take you inside the ropes with a thrilling immediacy and intimacy. The result is the juiciest and liveliest golf book in years—full of heart, humor, and unexpected turns.
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Unconscious PuttingDave Stockton & Matthew Rudy
"The Pro Tours' Hottest Coach" ( Golf Digest ) reveals the secrets that helped Phil Mickelson win the 2010 Masters and can utterly transform every player's game. When a resurgent Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship in September 2009, he was quick to credit a series of simple putting lessons from veteran golf champion and instructor Dave Stockton. As a top coach, Stockton has taught a long list of pro players-including Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng (winner of four LPGA tournaments), Adam Scott (Texas Open champion), Hunter Mahan (Phoenix Open champion), and Morgan Pressel (World Ladies Championship of Japan winner)-the putting strategies that finessed their game. Stockton's breakthrough concept is that every player has their own Signature Stroke, which is unconscious. Good putting comes from the mind, Stockton says, not from a series of stiff mechanical positions. With visualization, the right frame of mind, an efficient pre-putt routine, and connection to the individual internal stroke signature, any player can make far more putts. Putting has always been taught as an offshoot to the full swing, when in reality it is far different- almost a different game. Unconscious Putting will help players get out of the rigid, mechanical, overthinking trap. In Unconscious Putting , Stockton shows how players at every handicap level-from pros to weekend golfers-can putt effortlessly and with confidence by integrating a new mental approach with a few simple physical routines that will keep them locked on target. Readers will also gain invaluable advice on reading greens and equipment. Illustrated throughout and filled with anecdotes about how Stockton's lessons have helped today's leading players, Unconscious Putting is a must-have golf book and a category classic-in-the-making.
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Zen GolfJoseph Parent
A highly original and groundbreaking book from a noted PGA coach and Buddhist instructor • “The lessons in Zen Golf make the mental game seem so simple. Dr. Parent has given me very effective methods for working with thoughts and emotions, and for taking the negatives out of the picture.” —Vijay Singh, Masters and PGA Champion By combining classic insights and stories from Zen tradition, Zen Golf helps eliminate the mental distractions that routinely cause poor shots and loss of concentration, allowing golfers to feel in “the zone” that professionals have learned to master. The best players know that golf is a game of confidence, and most important, concentration–the ability to focus and block out distraction. The goal of achieving clear thought is also at the heart of Buddhist teachings. PGA coach and Buddhist instructor Dr. Joseph Parent draws on this natural connection and teaches golfers how to clear their minds, achieve ultimate focus, and play in the moment for each shot. Zen Golf presents a simple system for building “mental game mastery.” Dr Parent’s unique PAR Approach (focusing on Preparation, Action, and Response to Results) guides golfers with specific techniques for each aspect of their games. In chapters such as “How to Get From the Practice Tee to the First Tee”, “You Produce What You Fear”, and “How to Enjoy a Bad Round of Golf”, the author shares a personal teaching regimen that has helped improve the games of professionals and amateurs alike. Clear, concise, and enlightening, Zen Golf shows golfers how to prepare for, execute, and equally important, respond the results of any golf shot. A different approach to golf instruction, this book shapes ancient philosophies into new teachings.
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Putting Out of Your MindBob Rotella
This old adage is familiar to all golfers but is especially resonant with Dr. Bob Rotella, the bestselling author of Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and one of the foremost golf authorities today. In Putting Out of Your Mind, Rotella offers entertaining and instructive insight into the key element of a winning game—great putting. He here reveals the unique mental approach that great putting requires and helps golfers of all levels master this essential skill. Much like Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and Golf Is a Game of Confidence, Putting Out of Your Mind is an informative and valuable guide to achieving a better golf game. While most golfers spend their time trying to perfect their swing so they can drive the ball farther, Rotella encourages them to concentrate on their putting—the most crucial yet often overlooked aspect of the game. Great players are not only aware of the importance of putting, they go out of their way to master it, and mastery can only begin with the understanding of the attitude needed to be a better putter. Rotella's mental rules have helped some of the greatest golfers in the world become champion putters and, for the first time, are now available to golfers everywhere. With everything from true-to-life stories of such greats as Davis Love III, David Duval, and Brad Faxon to dozens of game-changing practice drills, Putting Out of Your Mind is the new bible of putting for amateurs and pros alike.
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The SwingDavid Leadbetter & Ron Kaspriske
Discover the simple, body-friendly swing technique that's revolutionizing the game of golf, from the world's #1 instructor. David Leadbetter, the most recognized golf instructor in history, presents The A Swing - a groundbreaking approach to the golf swing that follows biomechanically sound, scientific principles, and requires minimal practice. Thoroughly tested with players of all levels, from beginners to tour professionals, this alternative swing method has produced dramatic results. The A Swing offers a simple, easy-to-learn technique that develops a consistent, repetitive motion, improving accuracy and distance while being easy on the body. With over 200 illustrations, easy drills, and a 7-Minute Practice Plan, The A Swing provides golfers with the tools to play the way they've always dreamed of. Having coached tour players to 19 major championships over his 30+ year career, Leadbetter's swing theories have successfully helped thousands of golfers globally. The A Swing promises to fix many common faults and allows for individualism within the technique. Whatever your level of play or goals, The A Swing could change your golfing life and help you enjoy the game more. In essence, it's a shortcut to great golf.
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Slaying the TigerShane Ryan
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In Slaying the Tiger, one of today’s boldest young sportswriters spends a season inside the ropes alongside the rising stars who are transforming the game of golf. For more than a decade, golf was dominated by one galvanizing figure: Eldrick “Tiger” Woods. But as his star has fallen, a new, ambitious generation has stepped up to claim the crown. Once the domain of veterans, golf saw a youth revolution in 2014. In Slaying the Tiger, Shane Ryan introduces us to the volatile, colorful crop of heirs apparent who are storming the barricades of this traditionally old-fashioned sport. As the golf writer for Bill Simmons’s Grantland, Shane Ryan is the perfect herald for the sport’s new age. In Slaying the Tiger, he embeds himself for a season on the PGA Tour, where he finds the game far removed from the genteel rhythms of yesteryear. Instead, he discovers a group of mercurial talents driven to greatness by their fear of failure and their relentless perfectionism. From Augusta to Scotland, with an irreverent and energetic voice, Ryan documents every transcendent moment, every press tent tirade, and every controversy that made the 2014 Tour one of the most exciting and unpredictable in recent memory. Here are indelibly drawn profiles of the game’s young guns: Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irish ace who stepped forward as the game’s next superstar; Patrick Reed, a brash, boastful competitor with a warrior’s mentality; Dustin Johnson, the brilliant natural talent whose private habits sabotage his potential; and Jason Day, a resilient Aussie whose hardscrabble beginnings make him the Tour’s ultimate longshot. Here also is the bumptious Bubba Watson, a devout Christian known for his unsportsmanlike outbursts on the golf course; Keegan Bradley, a flinty New Englander who plays with a colossal chip on his shoulder; twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth, a preternaturally mature Texan carrying the hopes of the golf establishment; and Rickie Fowler, the humble California kid striving to make his golf speak louder than his bright orange clothes. Bound by their talent, each one hungrier than the last, these players will vie over the coming decade for the right to be called the next king of the game. Golf may be slow to change, but in 2014, the wheels were turning at a feverish pace. Slaying the Tiger offers a dynamic snapshot of a rapidly evolving sport. Praise for Slaying the Tiger “This book is going to be controversial. There is no question about it. . . . It is the most unvarnished view of the tour—the biggest tour in the world—that I’ve ever read. And it’s not close.” —Gary Williams, Golf Channel “A must-read for PGA Tour fans from the casual to the most dedicated . . . This book is certain to be as important to this era as [John] Feinstein’s [ A Good Walk Spoiled ] was two decades ago. . . . A well-researched, in-depth look at the men who inhabit the highest levels of the game.” —Examiner.com “A masterfully written account of an important time in golf history.” —Adam Fonseca, Golf Unfiltered “Absolutely marvelous . . . Ryan’s writing flows and his reporting turns pages for you.” —Kyle Porter, CBS Sports “A riveting read.” —Library Journal “Ryan’s fresh look is just what we golfer/readers want.” —Curt Sampson, New York Times bestselling author of Hogan “Ryan does a fantastic job painting a thoughtful and accurate portrait of the new crop of heirs apparent.” —Stephanie Wei, Wei Under Par
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The Unstoppable GolferBob Rotella
From the bestselling author of Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and the preeminent golf psychologist to the game’s top players comes the defining guide to mastering the enormous challenges of chips, pitches, bunker shots, and putts. Dr. Bob Rotella is the preeminent golf psychologist to the game’s top players—he has coached stars like Keegan Bradley, Padraig Harrington, and Darren Clarke—and he has offered his advice to golfers of all skill levels in his bestselling books, including Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and Golf Is a Game of Confidence . Now, he tackles the mind’s role in the most difficult aspect of golfing—the short game. It’s no secret that more than two-thirds of the shots a golfer makes are short ones: putts, chips, and pitches. Long drives may garner applause, but whether a golfer wants to win the Masters or just five bucks from a friend on Saturday morning, it’s the little shots that make the difference. Yet many players either fail to recognize or choose to ignore the importance of the short game. In The Unstoppable Golfer, Dr. Rotella applies the same wisdom and experience that have worked for clients like Davis Love III and Graeme McDowell to help every golfer master this special art of short shots and take all the frustration out of this increasingly challenging element of the game. Requiring extraordinary levels of concentration, the short game is typically a source of fear for amateurs and pros alike. In this book, Dr. Rotella teaches readers how to overcome that fear by using their minds to achieve a state of calm in which the focus is on one thing alone: the hole. Rotella shares stories about professionals with whom he has worked who have mastered the psychological aspect of successful putting by adhering to simple—but hard-to-follow—rules and practices that will improve any golfer’s game: stay focused on your targets, visualize your shots, commit to your routine, and accept completely whatever happened to the golf ball. On top of citing his experiences with golfers, Dr. Rotella also probes the science of memory and how knowledge of the brain’s workings—especially those areas that deal with physical tasks—can markedly improve a golf game, particularly when it comes to getting out of a bunker or taking the measure of a long putt. For casual and dedicated golfers alike, a better short game provides one of the ultimate pleasures of golf—a pleasure they will come to know by training their minds to allow them to become unstoppable golfers. Since 1984, golfers coached by Dr. Bob Rotella have won a total of: -74 major professional titles 2 Masters tournaments -12 U.S. Opens -12 British Opens -11 PGA Championships -4 U.S. Women’s Opens -6 LPGA Championships -5 Kraft-Nabisco Championships -5 Tradition Championships -7 Women’s British Opens -2 Senior PGA Championships -5 U.S. Senior Opens -3 Senior Players Championships
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The Greatest Game Ever PlayedMark Frost
In 1913, golf's first superstar went up against a green 20-year-old amateur. It was the birth of modern golf. Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the most spectacular match the sport has ever known. Vardon had escaped a life of poverty in Britain to achieve universal recognition as the greatest champion in the game's history. Ouimet, a virtual unknown from Massachusetts, was only three years removed from his youthful career as a lowly caddie and worshipped Vardon. When these unlikely opponents finally came together in their legendary battle at the 1913 U.S. Open, the world's reaction to its remarkable drama and heart-stopping climax gave rise to the sport of golf as we know it today. Weaving together the stories of Vardon and Ouimet to create his narrative, Mark Frost has crafted a uniquely involving, intimate epic: equal parts sports biography, sweeping social history, and emotional human drama.