Around the World in 80 Rounds: Chasing a Golf Ball from Tierra del Fuego to the Land of the Midnight Sun | 
 enlarge | Author: David Wood
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $11.89
You Save: $14.06 (54%)
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 360391
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0312375778
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3520207
EAN: 9780312375775
ASIN: 0312375778
Publication Date: March 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
“Jealous. That’s what I am. Green with golf envy…Why didn’t we think of that? I mean, what golfer worth his, or her, balls wouldn’t want to trade all the troubles of life for the adventure and privilege of teeing it up everywhere from the glacial volcanoes of the Andes to the Arctic Circle in Norway?”--from the foreword by Turk Pipkin
At 47, David Wood sold everything he owned and set out to fulfill every golfer’s dream: For one year, he traveled the world (covering 60,000 miles and every continent except Antartica) by plane, boat, train, motorcycle and rickshaw, to play the game he loves in the most exotic locales, including the world’s highest, driest, hottest, coldest, and most remote golf courses, and lived to tell the tale.
Along the way, he met a bevy of fascinating characters, including surly cabbies, taxi drivers with a death wish, welcoming golf course managers, threatening kangaroos, and golf pros out for a quick game. David faced dire situations, such as bouts of food poisoning in India and Egypt, altitude sickness in Argentina, getting booted out of the Ukraine by armed guards, and muddling through with limited language skills, but through it all he maintained a sense of humor and of course his passion for golf, which he played every chance he got.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A funny insightfull dash around the globe for even me a non golfer August 15, 2008
I enjoyed this book because it is a intresting stoy about someone getting off the couch and persueing their passion,golf and people..the story unfolds and inspires me to take some chances and ride some trains,meet some new people....and play some golf...the books provides just the right amount of history and moves quickly..proof that all that wander are not lost..
We all have a dream, David lived his! July 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everyone has a dream but how many have the courage to make it happen? If you play golf, you'll enjoy reading about the different courses, golf and travel challenges and get David's glimpse into local cultures. If you don't play golf, it's still funny and inspiring. In our post 9/11 world, imagine someone taking a year out of his daily routine and "to do" list to live a dream of traveling around the world alone, living each day fully, and connecting with strangers through a common passion - some strangers becoming new life friends. Give this to family and friends to enjoy funny stories about playing golf world-wide and perhaps to be inspired to have courage to leave one's comfort zone and go on their own life adventure.
A Virtual World Tour July 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed David Wood's book. Although I'm not a golfer (at least, not a good one), I never felt left out. I think this is because David's stories aren't so much "golf" stories as they are "human" stories. Plus, he's a former comedian, which explains why the book is so damn funny.
While I understand those who have a problem with David's "American tourist in a strange land" attitude, the fact is that he IS an American tourist in MANY strange lands. He's not trying to be objective, he's trying to share his experience in a humorous way--which he does wonderfully well! Of COURSE he sees the world through the eyes of a "pampered American;" how could he not? We all see the world through our own filters; David's filters just happen to be American--and hilarious.
 Only for rich privileged snobs July 2, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was fascinated by the title and the premise of the book when I saw it in my neighbourhood library.
The problem I had with this book was nothing specifically about golf but about his attitude..
- The author's latent ignorance/prejudice about life in a developing country, poverty and the issues surrounding that.
- The author came across as being a rich American snob with no taste for understanding/empathising with the plight of poor people.
- So, when he tries to make light of those things be it poor roads/hygiene/hot conditions line jumping/small shanty towns in remote S.America, it sounded like whining and making fun of the poor people. It definitely left a VERY poor aftertaste.
He seemed to specifically have a problem with India(maybe 'cos he fell sick there) and the indian experience going so far as to say "I disliked India.." but a taste of somemore interesting comments.
It is truly amazing to see how he was able to make such a commentary on a nation(India), its ancient, proud culture by spending a few days in India and basically going around golf courses!! You would think the tremendous positive news coming out of India that we read of in the news is fictional.
Downright nasty stuff:
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"Mind-altering drugs are mandatory for serenity in India."
"Indian inability to avoid walking into each other.." (he mentioned this point atleast 10 times in different ways)
"Mumbai is the quagmire of India"
"India has more blah, more poverty....more people living on the streets, more people trying to fleece you and your money. In 15 minutes of walking you'll be hit on hundreds of times"
"...families keep breeding like rabbits on Viagra"
Exaggerations
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"Pigs, goats, monkeys, water buffalos, cows...all are jostling for elbow room with all the humans."
"The initial joy of my fist glance at S.Africa reflected my happiness at being out of India"
"People demand a tip just to get out of the way. It boils down to simple arithmetic: there are way too many Indian people, not enough rupees, you the tourist have dollars/euros/pounds that can be converted into many rupees."
The positive thing about the book is that it indeed is funny in parts. It also gives us a good idea about the kinds of places people have built golf courses. The most interesting one was the Arica (Chile) golf course that had no grass! The author takes through this interesting golf based journey via South America to Australia, NZ, S.E Asia, China, India, Egypt..
All in all, I would avoid this book.
Go Places You'll Otherwise Never See June 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Only the privileged few, whether by the level of their bank account or their skill at the game, have the chance to fully experience every kind of wonder the game of golf has to offer. The rest of us have a new second-choice option: living vicariously through David Wood.
Wood went to places most of us would never dream about visiting, let alone lugging our clubs to. His journey is not a story of golf courses but of golf culture. What motivates us to play we find shared by golfers he encounters in remote southern South America or in the jungles of Vietnam or in economically devastated Zimbabwe. Like any memorable golf round, he shares with us stories of triumph over long odds and unanticipated pitfalls. He also uses his keen observational skills developed as a professional comedian to often make the people he encountered on his journey gain a sharp edge in the reader's mind.
Any true golf fan will be jealous of Wood's experience and, at the same time, glad that he took the journey that he did. There's a lot more to golf than most of us know firsthand from our own little corners of the world or from watching the Golf Channel. Wood's book has the ability to both broaden your golfing horizons and brighten your day.
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