In the mailbox today: a review copy of Better Recreational Golf: Improve Your Game in the Time You Have

It’s an interesting and useful premise. Most of us are too busy with our jobs and families to dedicate the kind of time to golf that it takes to really play well. Author Bob Jones wants us to just use what time we have to practice and play better.

And God Said, “Tee It Up!”: Amusing and Thought-Provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Golf

by Gary Graf

Grade: B-
Teacher’s Comments: Not as profound as I hoped, and sometimes hard to follow, but still a decent read.

And God Said: Tee It Up is a wonderful premise for a book. What author Gary Graf tries to do is to illuminate “the many remarkable, mystical connections between that sport and Spirit, links and Lord, game and God.” He professes to be neither a good golfer, nor a biblical scholar, but instead a student “of scripture and sport.”

The book is organized into nineteen chapters—one for each hole on the course, plus the clubhouse. Each chapter begins with an examination of famous holes with the same number as the chapter, and then branches off into related golf history, and then finally to scripture.

For example, in the sixth chapter, Graf begins by describing the sixth at Winged Foot East (nicknamed “Trouble”), the sixth at Carnoustie (the “Beast”), and the sixth at Saucon Valley Country Club Old in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. That leads directly into a discussion of the Holy Family’s trip to Bethlehem. Graf then muses on the fact that Jesus was born into humble circumstance, which in turn passes into a discussion of Lee Trevino’s humble beginnings.

The twelfth chapter begins with a discussion of the Chicago Golf Club’s Twelfth (Punch Bowl) and the twelfth at Southern Hills. Graf then digresses into a discussion of the Masters and a list of its multiple winners, and then to a description of Augusta’s twelfth. That leads into a discussion of the number of Apostles, Jesus’s prayers to reconnect with his Father and the value of prayer in general.

If it sounds a bit disjointed, sometimes it is. Graf often has to stretch a bit to reach his point; non-sequiturs abound. At times I wasn’t sure how he got from point A to point B. Often, Graf doesn’t so much make connections as point out coincidences, and offer reminders. But in the end, it’s ok, because Graf writes in a pleasant, breezy and conversational style that covers for any logical shortcomings.

In a way, the book reminded me of an old country music song called “Deck of Cards,” written by Texas Tyler and recorded by Bill Anderson, among others. It’s about a soldier who gets in trouble for having a deck of cards on Sunday and who explains that in the field, the deck serves as his Bible. The soldier explains that the Ace reminds him of the One True God; the Deuce of the Old and New Testaments; the Three, the Holy Trinity; the Four, the four gospels; the Five of the five virgins; the Six of the Days of Creation; The Seven of the Sabbath; the Eight of the Righteous spared from the flood (Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives), the Nine of the Lepers who did not thank Jesus for healing them; the Ten of the Commandments; the Jack of Satan, the Queen of Mary; the King of Jesus Christ, the 365 spots of the days of the year to be thankful; 52 cards of the weeks of the year to be thankful; the Four Suits of the seasons; and the Twelve Face Cards of the Apostles.

If you’re looking for a deep theological discussion, And God Said: Tee It Up! isn’t it. But if you’re a golfer who wants to reconnect to his Church and God, this just might be the vehicle.

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A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee

by Tom Coyne

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A thoroughly pleasant travelogue.

Tom Coyne has to be either the luckiest man in the world, the most self indulgent or the most audacious.

After spending two years chasing the quixotic dream of becoming a Tour pro (detailed in Paper Tiger), Coyne takes off on another mad golfing fantasy—this time to walk the perimeter of Ireland, playing every golf course along the way. By journey’s end, Coyne spent sixteen weeks walking more than 600 miles and playing fifty-six different courses for a total 990 holes. If an addict can be said to have overdosed on golf, it’s Coyne. He played more golf in those four months than most weekend hackers will play in a decade.

In the final analysis, I vote for audacious, for it takes a sort of mad genius to even conceive of such a plan. It’s the golf equivalent of Hillary’s Everest expedition, of Roosevelt’s trip down the River of Doubt, or Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon Tiki. It’s a publicity stunt worthy of PT Barnum.

And it makes for a fine read. A Course Called Ireland is a light hearted excursion, full of humorous moments and keen observations of both golf and life in Ireland.

Fortunately, Coyne avoids the temptation to tell the reader about every one of those thousand holes. There’s nothing more boring than the guy at the bar telling you about every hole—every shot—of his last round. Instead, offers highlights, describing the courses in general, and perhaps one or two noteworthy holes. Coyne actually is quite good at this, easily evoking images of the wind (and rain) swept Irish links.

I want to go to Ireland to play tomorrow. The Irish Tourist board owes Coyne some money for his book length travel advertisement.

Ironically, it’s not the golf that I’ll remember the most. Instead, it’s the trip itself that I found most fascinating. Coyne writes about the roads, the towns, the pubs, the food, the bread-and-breakfastes, shops, dogs, sheep and mostly, the people. Ireland is apparently a rapidly changing society,with remnants of the 18th century living alongside elements of the 21st. There are also bits about family ties to Ireland, and previous visits with his father.

Coyne’s accounts of the details of his long walk are fun. I laughed at his gamy Keen shoes (I have the same pair of Keen hiking boots shown in the photo), his backpacking, (as an Eagle Scout, I have done my fair share of backpacking), and the various hiking issues he faced —blisters, sore muscles, chafing bits and so on.

Coyne also gets a good deal of mileage out of the various companions who joined him for parts of his trip, and of their different approaches to his epic journey. I’ve heard it said that you really get ot know a fellow when you travel together on a golf trip. In Coyne’s case, the extreme nature of his travels revealed character very quickly.

For several legs of the trip, Coyne was joined by his wife Allyson. She’s an interesting character, always on the periphery of the story, but only making brief appearances. I fouind myself wondering, though: What kind of a woman puts up with this sort of foolishness? First he spends two years chasing the PGA Tour dream, and then he takes off for Ireland. I don’t know many wives who would put up with that.

I have just two complaints about the book. The first is that it’s a little too long. At several points, it became tedious (and I can only imagine how it was for him): another road, another links course. Coyne always managed to bring it back wiht a humorous anectdote, but I think a little less would have been more.

Second, the photos of the trip in the middle of the book are horribly reproduced—something I’ve seen in several books lately. If a publisher is going to offer photos, it should take care to ensure that they’re worth viewing. Otherwise, leave them out of the volume.

Recommended.

In the mail: And God Said, “Tee It Up!”: Amusing and Thought-Provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Golf

Review coming.

Chris Collins has recently started a site featuring his golf novel, Golf In The Field of Time. He’ll release two chapters of the book each week.

The next best thing to playing golf is reading about it.

Television is a weak third.

Mrs. GolfBlogger and I were shopping at Ikea on Monday and I spied this book in a display case.

A quick search on the ‘net, with help from a Google translation shows that it’s an anthology of golf writing and anecdotes. The back cover of the book mentions Bobby Jones, James Bond, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Sam Snead, Peter Aliss, and Seve Ballesteros. Quite a collection.

The Edict: A Novel from the Beginnings of Golf (Vintage)

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: A good novel, but for one jarring chapter

In The Edict, golf architect Bob Cupp builds a story around a singular historical oddity: King James’ 1457 ban of the sport of golf from Scotland.

It’s hard to say exactly what the novel’s about. There’s a golf match; a love story; a crooked land deal; a wager gone bad; political intrigue; and a couple of action scenes. It’s a clever story and a far cry from the more pedestrian and usual run of golf mysteries and fantasies.

The Edict is a pleasant read, and Cupp shows some skill as a writer. The characters are nicely drawn, and the story well plotted. The book also is enhanced by some very nice line drawings.

If the novel has a failing, it’s a rather jarring chapter called “The Players” in which Cupp not-so-cleverly draws parallels between those ancient Scotsmen and more modern golfers. He proceeds as if making a roll call: The Dandy; The Blacksmith; The Wee Ice Mon; The Blonde; The Natural; The Highlander and so on. Here’s his description of “The Blonde.”

“Nectan had beaten all comers since he was eleven, mostly because he was even at that tender age to launch the ball prodigious distances; he reached the longest of holes in two shots, and on the fair greens he literally willed the ball into the hole. Slightly taller than most, he had the cherubic good looks of a big farm boy, with powerful legs and an almost chunky waistline but surprisingly small hands.”

And the Dandy:

“He was always dressed to the nines, like an earl, and often showed up for matches in a splendid carriage, still dressed for his festivities of the previous night.”

The Edict would have been a better work if all of this had simply been left out.

But that’s a small failing in a book that, overall, was very good.