Authors: Bill Geist
ISBN-13: 9780446678476, ISBN-10: 0446678473
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Date Published: May 2002
Edition: REPRINT
Country clubs that don't want you as a member...rules clearly in need of revision... and high-performance socks that promise to take two strokes off your score. Ah, golf! Has there ever been a sport that comes with so much baggage and heartbreak? Never fear: Emmy Award-winning commentator Bill Geist, author of The Big Five-Oh and Little League Confidential, has taken up -- and taken on -- the sport that makes duffers of us all. Geist intrepidly shares the misadventures, hilarity, and uproarious learning curve that has marked his own golfing experiences.
Geist, humorist and regular CBS commentator, takes on one of the most popular American pastimes, despite his obvious skepticism about golf's appeal. Geist (Little League Confidential) resents hearing his friends endlessly discuss their latest golf outing or having to schedule his dental appointments around his dentist's games. "What is it about this sport? Is it a sport? I mean are there teams? Uniforms? Stadiums? Coaches? Cheerleaders? Hot dogs and beer? Bench-clearing brawls? Any of that stuff they have in real sports?" he quibbles. Ever the adventurer, Geist attempts to understand the widespread enthusiasm for the game by enrolling in an indoor class at a New Jersey elementary school in the middle of winter. The six lessons are just enough to get him started, and Geist goes to the driving range and then to the actual course. Disregarding his snail-paced improvement and persistent dislike of the game, he checks out the necessary paraphernalia at a Golf Merchandise Show, where he learns that there are special performance socks ("Now, how, exactly, will these socks perform for me?"), hand lotion, golf tension bands and so much more. He makes lots of suggestions for enriching the culture of golf, from playing in the carts, "polo-style," to introducing a little spirit via cheerleaders, pep bands and bonfires. Geist's amusing, inimitable style will engage sports and humor fans alike, with particular appeal for those golf widows and widowers who share his displeasure with the game. This light, delightful jab at a leisure-class sport comes just in time for the spring golf season. (Apr. 25) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Introduction: How Green Is My Fairway? | 1 | |
1. | A Life in the Rough | 13 |
2. | Possibly the Last American Male Takes Up Golf | 20 |
3. | Bogeyman Goes Public | 33 |
4. | Do This, Don't Do That: A Game of Rules and Etiquette | 48 |
5. | Driving Ourselves to Drink | 53 |
6. | Golf Wars Weaponry | 62 |
7. | Tiger and Me: Different Strokes for Different Folks | 82 |
8. | Golf 101 | 91 |
9. | Country Clubbed | 96 |
10. | Mind If I Join You? | 113 |
11. | Among My Own Kind | 123 |
12. | The City Game | 127 |
13. | SwingCam: Golf in the 21st Century | 138 |
14. | Goat Hill Golf | 146 |
15. | There's the Fairway and Then There's My Way | 152 |
16. | What's Your Handicap? | 156 |
17. | Be the Ball | 164 |
18. | Tips for Beginners | 173 |
19. | Like Father, Like Son | 176 |
20. | Big Bertha and Me | 186 |
21. | It Takes Alotta Balls | 193 |
22. | Cutting Your Losses | 197 |
23. | A Few Modest Proposals | 202 |
24. | The Bad Golfers Association National Tournament | 206 |
Epilogue: Still Par Free | 229 |