It's Only a Game: Words of Wisdom from a Lifetime in Golf | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jackie Burke, Guy Yocom
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $22.50
Buy New: $5.42
You Save: $17.08 (76%)
New (9) Used (10) from $4.93
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 347971
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.352
ASIN: B000NA1XTE
Publication Date: March 23, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Gems of wisdom about golf and lifeand a spirited call for a return to the games core valuesfrom one of the games most respected elder statesmen and former champions
Legendary player and teacher Jackie Burke is the preeminent elder statesman of American golf. A PGA Champion, a Masters Champion, a Vardon Trophy winner, and a PGA Player of the Year, he won four consecutive tournaments in 1952; and is a winner of seventeen events on the PGA Tour, a five-time Ryder Cup member (twice as captain), and a member of the PGA, Texas Golf, and World Golf Halls of Fame. Before leaving the PGA Tour he cofounded (with Jimmy Demaret) the world-famous Champions Golf Club (host of the Ryder Cup, U.S. Amateur, and five PGA Tour Championships) and has instructed students including Phil Mickelson, Hal Sutton, Steve Elkington, Ben Crenshaw, and many other PGA Tour pros in a career that has spanned seven decades. Reverberating with the straight-talking Texas wisdom that could only come from Jackie Burke, Its Only a Game will bring the words of this venerable sage to everyone who loves the links. Spiced with anecdotes from a long and illustrious career, this stirring book features pithy insights on the nature of competition and the erosion of amateur play. Burke goes on the record about profit-minded equipment manufacturers and self-promoting golf gurus. His provocative topics include insight into why the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team suffered its worst defeat ever (Burke was a cocaptain), the alarmingly high cost of playing public and resort courses, country clubs that stress cosmetic appearances over the playing of the game, and a host of other topics. He also provides no-nonsense, time-tested secrets for improving anyones golf game, based not on shallow tips but on a well-rounded, sensible approach to the game that he began developing before the Great Depression.
Acclaim for Its Only a Game:
Easily the best golf instructional-type book since Harvey Penicks Little Red Book. . . . This book is a classic.
Bud Shrake, coauthor Harvey Penicks Little Red Book Jackie is a warrior. He is a born competitor who meets every challenge head on, on and off the golf course. His values and integrity are unassailable, as pure as those of any man I've known.
Ben Crenshaw
This book is pure Jackie, and I hope that from reading it you get some of the fulfillment and enjoyment hes given to me and others over the years.
Steve Elkington
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A Good Solid Par March 10, 2008
Not a great book, but a good solid golf book.
Too much instruction, not enough story-telling and reminiscing.
The more you like golf, the more you will enjoy this book.
The story of a good golfer and a great man...That alone makes it worth the read.
Pure Jackie... June 1, 2007
Now I am going to be somewhat bias in my review simply because I know Mr. Burke and his family from my years as a cart boy at Champions during the mid-80s'.
I would, and have, recommended this book to my friends who golf and my non-golf friends.
One of my favorite parts in the book is when he talks about being an Assistant Captain on the Ryder Cup Team with Chris Riley.
 A must read for the true golfer April 19, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The title of can be a bit misleading but not in the way one might assume. The title seems to convey the diea that Burke doesn't take golf as seriously as others; the exact opposite is true. He views the game through a different viewpoint where instead of the game being involved within every aspect of your life, life is involved throughout the game of golf. He at the same time views golf not as a game to be taken lightly but instead one that falls back on the basic human instincts of competition. I've had the personal luxury of growing up and maturing as a golfer at the club he and Jimmy Demaret founded, Champions Golf Club, and because of Jack Burke I see the game differently from my peers. This book comes as close as possible to discovering who he is and the way he believes the game of golf should be played. He hasn't been caught up by who he is and what he has accomplished; he instead continues to try to teach others what golf is, what it used to be, and what it should continue to be.
Review of "It's Only a Game" March 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book, full of the wit and wisdom of Jackie Burke. Fun to read and a combination of personal reflections, advice and a few tips along the way.
Burke Fan Club January 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jackie Burke is a breath of fresh air amidst the hype of modern golf writing. His clear and concise commentary on all aspects of the game leaves little to conjecture. A great read...
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