Golf S Holy War

The world of golf is at a crossroads. As technological innovations displace traditional philosophies, the golfing community has splintered into two deeply combative factions: the old-school teachers and players who believe in feel, artistry, and imagination, and the technical minded who want to remake the game around data. In Golf's Holy War, Brett Cyrgalis takes readers inside the heated battle playing out from weekend hackers to PGA Tour pros. At the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, California, golfers clad in full-body sensors target weaknesses in their biomechanics, while others take part in mental exercises designed to test their brain's psychological resilience. Meanwhile, coaches like Michael Hebron purge golfers of all technical information, tapping into the power of intuitive physical learning by playing rudimentary games. From historic St. Andrews to manicured Augusta, experimental communes in California to corporatized conferences in Orlando, William James to Ben Hogan to theoretical physics, the factions of the spiritual and technical push to redefine the boundaries of the game.

Golf saved Drew Millard’s life, and he wants it to save yours, too. “Drew Millard’s How Golf Can Save Your Life is a lot of things—smart, insightful, funny, moving, in-the-know enough for serious golfers but accessible enough for newbies—but I think its most impressive quality is that it always manages to cut left when you expect it to cut right. Much like a golf shot, I suppose.” —SHEA SERRANO, #1 New York Times bestselling author “How Golf Can Save Your Life is a humble, honest, and frequently hilarious book that demystifies—and transcends—its subject. I’m not a golfer. But after reading it, I can say for sure that there’s nobody I’d rather suck with for eighteen holes than Drew Millard.” —ERIC NUSBAUM, author of Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between “With ceaseless humor and unyielding honesty, Drew Millard has created a unique look at the power a game can have on life. By tapping the vein of his own personal pain, Millard found that golf can be as fulfilling as frustrating. And by embracing the struggle, success can be measured in incremental increases in happiness, not in strokes.” —BRETT CYRGALIS, author of Golf’s Holy War: The Battle for the Soul of a Game in an Age of Science Drew Millard loves golf. We’re talking climbing a mountain, jumping over the moon, standing outside golf’s window holding a boom box levels of love. As a kid, he’d enjoyed the game, but since college, his clubs had been gathering dust in his parents’ basement. And then, a bout with depression led him back home to haul them out of the unfinished storage area under the stairs. It was what the doctor had ordered. In addition to medication and therapy, Drew needed to exercise. Exercise was not something he did. But golf? Sure, why not? As Drew fumbled his way through his first round in years, he discovered that sucking at golf was his new calling, one that helped him find a sense of balance and rhythm—both on the course and in his own mind. Drew’s deep emotional connection to the game inspired him to write this book, and his passion is infectious. Combining great storytelling with fascinating historical tidbits and moving personal insights, he writes about everything from how golf taught him to be a better listener, son, and friend, to how to slow down, appreciate what he has, and keep fighting the good fight. Along the way, he demystifies the customs, history, and rules of the game. Brimming with personality, accessibility, and a freewheeling spirit, How Golf Can Save Your Life is a celebration of the sport and an examination of all it offers. Read it and fall in love with golf—for the first time or all over again.

What does America's 'war on terror' and new era of religious and patriotic intensity look like to an Englishman living in Seattle?

World War II transformed the American home front, and golf was no exception. The world-famous Masters course at Augusta National became a farm to ease food shortages. Ben Hogan and Sam Snead were drafted, and Bobby Jones enlisted. Rubber rationing forced pros and amateurs alike to play with well-worn golf balls—and created a black market for new ones. The 1942 U.S. Open was canceled, replaced by the Hale American Open—whose winner Ben Hogan was awarded $1000 in war bonds—while golfers across the country raised millions of dollars for the war effort. When War Played Through brings to life these little-known aspects of an endlessly fascinating period in golf’s history. Bestselling golf author John Strege’s narrative extends overseas, to captured soldiers in Germany who constructed golf courses in a POW camp and English golfers who devised rules for playing around bomb craters and shrapnel during the Blitz. Many golfers returned home from battle with commendations for valor, finding unmatched solace on the links after a dark time. When War Played Through is the compelling story of how an elite sport became a selfless one—and how golf became, for a nation at war, much more than a game.

In his debut book, golf writer Jay Revell takes readers for a walk through his personal experiences, recollections, and theories from a lifetime spent in the sport. Designed to be read in small doses, The Nine Virtues of Golf features an engaging mix of essays, poems, short stories, and other musings, making it the perfect companion for golf trips, beach days, and bedside reading. Through his stories, Revell has built a global following of golfing diehards and cataloged his love affair with the game. In The Nine Virtues of Golf, Revell brings those tales together in an easily digestible read that's perfectly suited for anyone with a passion for golf.

Tiger Woods has called the U.S. Open "the most difficult national championship." With Open, John Feinstein goes behind the scenes to tell for the first time the full story of how the 2002 U.S. Open Championship came into being-how a public course was transformed into one of the most difficult and surprising in the tournament's history, and how the greatest golfers in the world rose to its almost insurmountable challenges. The Black course at the public golf club in Bethpage, New York, has long had a mythic status among golfers. Designed by legendary course architect A. W. Tillinghast in 1936, it is known as a work of genius-with long fairways, gorgeous vistas, and roughs and bunkers that stymie all but the very best golfers. It is a course where any player can compete, but its cult reputation means that golfers often have to camp overnight in the parking lot to get a tee time the next day. The 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black was the first time in history that golf's greatest championship had been held at a true public course. Open is the full drama of that championship, from the moment that officials first considered holding it there until the last putt rolled in at dusk on Sunday. Along the way, John Feinstein reveals the full glory of golf as it's never been explored before. He digs deep to find out what it really takes to make golf's most famous event worthy of the champions who compete in it. He tells the remarkable story of the artisans who transformed the Black from a downtrodden and rough-around-the-edges public course to one that top pros hailed as "unbelievable" and "the toughest par-70 I've ever played in my life." He also tracks the drama of the masters who battled for supremacy at the Black-Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, Jeff Maggert-to show how true champions respond to the toughest conditions. Open is the story of people who devote their entire lives to golf, both behind the scenes and inside the ropes. Their struggles and exhilarations as they master the monster known as Bethpage Black make for a story every golf lover will want to read again and again.

Ben Hogan is legendary, intriguing, and mysterious. It's a combination that has contributed to Hogan being the most interesting golfer of all time. Aside from his amazing competitive record, his secretive and solitary personality provoke wonder and devotion among thousands of golfers worldwide who attempt to unlock Hogan's secret code of how to swing a golf club and strike a golf ball. Hogan himself has fueled this intrigue, mainly because he openly declared that he had a "secret," one that he never publicly revealed. Many top professionals have speculated on what they thought Hogan's secret might be, but until now those speculations were not supported by any revelations from Hogan himself. Now, author Larry Miller, who was mentored by Tommy Bolt, who in turn was one of Hogan's protégés, shares Hogan's secret as he learned it. This secret fundamental, which Miller breaks down into two aspects and explains with the aid of full-color photography and illustrations, will help the average golfer implement Hogan's teachings to benefit his or her game.