In a long, award-winning career writing about golf, Bill Fields has sought out the most interesting stories--not just those featuring big winners and losers, but the ones that get at the very character of the game. Collected here, his pieces offer an intriguing portrait of golf over the past century. The legends are here in vivid profiles of such familiar figures as Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Mickey Wright, and Tiger Woods. But so are lesser-known golfers like John Schlee, Billy Joe Patton, and Bert Yancey, whose tales are no less compelling. The book is filled with colorful moments and perceptive observations about golf greats ranging from the first American-born U.S. Open champion, Johnny McDermott, to Seve Ballesteros, the Spaniard who led Europe's resurgence in the game in the late twentieth century. Fields gives us golf writing at its finest, capturing the game's larger dramas and finer details, its personalities and its enduring appeal.

Golf can be a vexing and cruel game, and teaches us much about ourselves. It has been described as “a contest calling for courage, skill, strategy and self-control. It is a test of temper, a trial of honor, a revealer of character.” In the end, as with most of life, success hinges on the character and spirit we possess. But how would our tempers be tested if we suffered a career-threatening injury from a near-fatal car accident, as Ben Hogan did in the prime of his life? How would our honor be preserved if we faced constant derision and racism both on and off the golf course, as Charlie Sifford encountered his entire career? How would our character be revealed if cancer robbed us of the ability to play the game we loved, as it did to Babe Didrikson Zaharias? Would we give in to self pity, or persevere and keep going? In Trials and Triumphs of Golf’s Greatest Champions: A Legacy of Hope, Lyle Slovick has pulled together the inspirational stories of six golfers and a caddy whose strength of character sustained them against the physical and emotional trials that threatened both their careers and lives. In an era when many athletes have lost their luster as role models, the people in this book—Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Charlie Sifford, Ken Venturi, and Bruce Edwards—offer lessons in perseverance, dignity, humility, and faith. Slovick tells each of their stories with rich detail, including the childhoods that shaped their characters, their rise in the world of professional golf, the crises they faced in their lives, their struggles to keep doing what they loved, and their refusal to give up. They had their flaws, to be sure. But when faced with a true test of will, all showed a strength that inspired those around them. The first book to gather the stories of these golfers into a single volume, Trials and Triumphs of Golf’s Greatest Champions offers a unique blend of characters who shared the same love for a game that gave them the courage and fortitude they needed to face whatever life threw their way. This book will not only interest golfers and fans of the game, it will also inspire those who have suffered their own personal setbacks and show them they are not alone in their trials.

The authors objective is to provide to the reader, as near as possible, a definitive record of the playing career of one of the best golfers who has ever lived. In addition, as happens with many researchers, it is inevitable that such a project will stray into other related areas; for example, other people or linked events. To illustrate, JFK assassination conspiracy theorists would no doubt have studied events surrounding Bobby Kennedy or Martin Luther King or indeed the Mafia, who some say were linked to that fateful event in November 1963. Similarly with my writings about Harry Vardon, I feel it important to illustrate to the reader how the life of a professional golfer differs in Vardons era to that of a present day PGA Tour player. How golf evolved will also provide the reader with a basis for making comparisons between players of yesteryear with those of today, and how difficult such comparatives might be. What was the norm in the late nineteenth century is quite different from today, and I believe the reader should be aware of that before making a judgment about someone like Harry Vardon. This book, therefore, is not only a diary of Harry Vardons playing career, but also a history of golf, which I sincerely hope the reader will find fascinating, of interest, and enjoyable. Any deviations from the subject matter, therefore, are intended to provide a backdrop and, hopefully, a better understanding of what golf was like in Vardons era.

Mind Over Golf Whether you struggle to break 100 or consistently break par, you've already discovered that golf is the most mentally demanding of all sports. Dr. Richard Coop, one of the foremost sports psychologists in the country, has developed a unique mental approach to the game, helping both skilled pros and beginning amateurs alike to play better. Mind Over Golf examines all the demanding psychological challenges of golf and explains in detail how to conquer them. Golfers have discovered that there are ways to lower their scores that go beyond getting tips on their swing and stance. In order to play better, you have to find the key that allows your natural athletic ability to come to the fore, without being impeded by anxiety about making a poor shot. By following Dr. Coop's principles and ideas you'll be in the strongest possible position, both physically and mentally, to put your best swing on each shot. As Payne Stewart says in his foreword to Mind Over Golf, "Not everyone can swing like a tour pro, but most everyone has it within himself or herself to think like one, and Dr. Coop lays the foundation for that within these pages." Visit us online at http://www.mcp.com/mgr/macmillan

"Was golf better (to use one of Tiger's favorite phrases) back in the day? In [this book], Michael Bamberger, who fell for the game as a teenager in its wild Sansabelt-and-persimmon 1970s heyday, goes on a quest to try to find out. The result is a candid, nostalgic, intimate portrait of golf's greatest generation--then and now"--Dust jacket flap.

A key book for the golfer's library, exploring the intricacies of golf architecture--and how this knowledge can improve your golf game.