A good read?

ShankyBoy

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Just finished Dream On, really enjoyable read, any other great golf books folks can recommend to get the inspiration soaring? I'm not after manuals or how to's though. Although, I'm intrigued to read the Hogan one.
 
The Hogan book is my bible - though my Pro tells me that what he writes about his swing does not actually describe what he did - just what he thought he did. In any case - the drawings are brilliant - many are engrained in my memory I will often pull them to mind when playing if I want to get into my head a picture of what I want my swing to be like.
 
The authorised biography of Ben Hogan is a fantastic read. It has one of the saddest opening paragraphs I have ever read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ben-Hogan-A...UTF8&qid=1442478977&sr=1-5&keywords=Ben+hogan

"The Education of a Golfer" by Sam Snead, really funny & very Seve like in his upbringing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Education-G...UTF8&qid=1442479155&sr=1-1&keywords=Sam+snead

And a must is John Hoskison's "No Hiding in the Open" It has a shock ending which will make you want to read his next book. He's an occasional poster on here & I'm actually playing with him in October at Kingswood in the Doug Mc.Clelland charity golf day.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Hiding-O...=UTF8&qid=1442479398&sr=1-5&keywords=Hoskison
 
The authorised biography of Ben Hogan is a fantastic read. It has one of the saddest opening paragraphs I have ever read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ben-Hogan-A...UTF8&qid=1442478977&sr=1-5&keywords=Ben+hogan

"The Education of a Golfer" by Sam Snead, really funny & very Seve like in his upbringing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Education-G...UTF8&qid=1442479155&sr=1-1&keywords=Sam+snead

And a must is John Hoskison's "No Hiding in the Open" It has a shock ending which will make you want to read his next book. He's an occasional poster on here & I'm actually playing with him in October at Kingswood in the Doug Mc.Clelland charity golf day.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Hiding-O...=UTF8&qid=1442479398&sr=1-5&keywords=Hoskison

Thanks for pointing me to Hogan's biography - I never thought of looking for one - and yes - that first paragraph is moving.
 
A Good Walk Spoiled and The Majors by John Feinstein. Both old books but excellent reads. He also wrote Monet of Glory which isn't quite as good but still a decent read.

I also enjoyed A Course called Ireland by Tom Coyne.
 
Was that the book that had the controversy over Patrick Reed?

Yeah. I've not read it all yet, but each chapter is dedicated to the author's experience with a different player. So far I've read fascinating pieces about Bubba, Jason Day, Spieth and others. It's well worth a read. Jason Day's story is a great one, to have got to where he is now after his childhood and his troubles is remarkable.
 
I took Dream On, Bring Me The Head Of Sergio Garcia, and Four Iron In The Soul with me on holiday for a week in July with the boys.

I had to start chatting up a girl from Sheffield by the 5th day as I'd rattled through them so quickly. All great reads.
 
Just finished dream on myself. Also stories from the 19th hole by sam Torrance. vastly underestimated the amount of reading material required for the beach.

Going to have a stab at a David Attenborough book then heaven forbid a fiction novel. Why oh why didn't I stock up on golf books.


Dream on - whilst inspiring, it is not the most exciting book you will ever read. He did raise an interesting point about his 'game being plastic'. He focused on driving and short game and worked out how to play his home course. He wasn't interested in getting his all round game to a brilliant level. His course was reasonably short so focused on his main strength (driving) and short game (scoring zone). He didn't waste his time learning to play a low drawing 3iron. He wasn't fussed that he couldn't go to a links on any given day and shoot a great score. The point resonated with me as it just goes to highlight actually how good pros really are. We try as we might, week in week out on mostly the same course trying to lower our handicap. Never once threatening course records (most of us). The pros shoot ridiculous scores on different hard as nails courses under pressure all the time. They truly are amazing at what they do.
 
Not factual and really quite old, but PG Wodehouse's collections of golf short stories, The Heart of a Goof and The Clicking of Cuthbert are very funny if perhaps a bit quaint for some on here. However if you like hilarious prose and skilful word smithery then fill your boots I say.
 
In Search of the Tiger by Ian Stamford (?) was a really good read.
Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr Bob Rotella is very good indeed.
 
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