In The Hole: Poetic Justice For Golf Fanatics CD and Book

Grade: B-
Teachers’ Comments: An amusing cd of golf poetry.

In The Hole: Poetic Justice For Golf Fanatics is an unusual product. A CD and booklet combination, it consists entirely of short poems about golf. There are ditties about practice, the first tee, warming up, holes-in-one, handicaps and more—indeed, fifty in all.

There isn’t anything deep here and the poems are not going to remind anyone of Tennyson—or even E.E. Cummings. But they do have a whimsical quality and remind me mostly of Dr. Seuss, as in this example:

They tell me that practice makes perfect
so I practice and practice each shot

And although I practice and practice
quite perfect is what I am not

The CD is quite professional, with quality voices, sound effects and music.The accompanying booklet is spare, and contains the words to all fo the readings.

It was an amusing hour of listening, but it really wasn’t my thing. There’s nothing wrong with it, except that I prefer to read my poetry. Never liked those poetry slams.

I couldn’t help thining that they missed their calling here. The poetry would have been so much better as the text of a picture book—a coffee table book, even. Cartoons, paintings, photographs, or a mix of media could have been used to accompany each bit of verse.

Maybe they’ll do one like that in the future.

In the meantime, this just might be a good gift for a golfer with a sense of humor. Even better: I think it would make a good prize at a social—and not quite so serious—golf outing.

Tom Watson’s Strategic Golf

New Year’s Resolution #4: Resolve To Play Smarter

You can shave several strokes off your score simply by playing smarter. And I think that Watson’s book has a lot of really good advice. One simple bit that I think would benefit most amateurs has to do with which side of the box to tee off from. Too many tee off from the same side of every box without consideration for the shape of the hole.

Play It As It Lies: Golf and the Spiritual Life by Mike Linder

There is a trend, among the “golf is life” books to equate what happens on a golf course with a sort of Eastern mysticism. I suppose that it all got started with the seminal “Golf In The Kingdom,” and has found its way into many other golf titles.

But I’ve always wondered what the ancient Scots would have thougth about this, for the inventors of the game also had a reputation as staunch Christians. I have been sure that there were elements of the game that appealed to their Presbyterian hearts, particuarly the elements of failure and redemption.

In Play It As it Lies, Mike Linder, a Catholic Priest, offers a Christian ethos of the golf game.  It’s a refreshingly different take on the “golf mirrors life” genre, and one that I, as a Presbyterian Deacon, really appreciated.

Linder, who is an enthusiasic, but not particularly skilled golfer (like your friendly neighborhood Golf Blogger), writes both of the spiritual lessons that he has learned from golf, and of the golfing lessons he has learned from the spiritual life. It has a nice circular feel.

Final Fore (Golf Lover’s Mysteries)

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Cassie Burdette is a likable, if flawed heroine

With Final Fore, Roberta Isleib presents the fifth in her series of mysteries about LPGA golfer and sleuth Cassie Burdette.

In the latest installment, Cassie is making her debut in the US Women’s Open, but as usual, nothing is easy. Cassie’s regular caddie, Laura, is away tending her critically ill father; she’s worrying about an invitation to play in a men’s tournament; her love life is (as usual) a disaster; her family is more dysfunctional than ever; and she’s receiving threatening notes and emails.

And oh, by the way. A fellow competitor—a rising teenage star—has been poisoned.

I’ll make a couple of confessions at this juncture: I’m not much of a mystery reader (my tastes tend toward non-fiction), and I don’t generally enjoy books with female protagonists (I confess to not understanding the fairer sex).

But I really enjoy the Cassie Burdette mysteries and look forward to the next installment.

It’s not just because they’re about golf—although that helps. It’s because Isleib’s plots are interesting and she writes with a clean style that hurries you along from beginning to end.

And I like Cassie.

I’ll note that Mrs. GolfBlogger, a non-golfer, enjoys these books as well—in fact, probably more than I do. I actually got Final Fore some months ago, and Mrs. Golfblogger snatched it as soon as I opened the package. She then forgot to give it back until last week ... thus the reason for the delay in the review.

Add this one to your reading list.

Sticks: A Golfers’ Tale Book Review

Sticks - A Golfer’s Tale

Grade: C
Teacher’s Comments: Good story, poor writing.

William Sautter’s novel, “Sticks: A Golfers’ Tale,” is a self-published effort, so you won’t find it in the stores. But Sautter makes an unusual offer. He’ll send you the book for free. If you like it, you should pay him and keep it. If not, you should send it back. You can’t get a better deal than that.

Sautter bills “Sticks” as the “ultimate golf fantasy.” In it, a hack golfer named Bob Andrews does what so many of us do: he tries to “buy a game” with a new set of expensive clubs. Unfortunately, the new clubs don’t perform any better than the old ones and Bob is frustrated and humiliated to the point where he gives up the game. But then, Bob acquires an old, beat up set with magical properties ...

It’s a good story, and would even make a good made-for-tv movie. But unfortunately, Sautter’s writing skills do not do the story justice. Without rubbing it in, I think you could classify it as a good effort for a college freshman.

I’d actually like to see Sautter hawk “Sticks” as a story idea to the studios. I think a good screen writer could do a lot with it.