Bud, Sweat, & Tees: Rich Beem's Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour (Paperback)

by Alan Shipnuck (Author) "THERE WERE NO BARS on the windows at Magnolia Hi-Fi, though it certainly felt that way to Rich Beem..." (more)
Key Phrases: Kemper Open, Rich Beem, Las Cruces (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Rick Reilly Sports Illustrated Warning: Strippers, groupies, gambling, drinking: Someone forgot to tell Alan Shipnuck that books about golf are supposed to be boring. -- Review

Review
David FehertyCBS Sports and Golf MagazineBud, Sweat, & Tees tells the stories I only wish we could tell on TV. And thank God Alan Shipnuck wrote them all down, because on the basis of what he's told us, I don't think Rich Beem and Steve Duplantis would remember them.

Rick ReillySports IllustratedWarning: Strippers, groupies, gambling, drinking: Someone forgot to tell Alan Shipnuck that books about golf are supposed to be boring.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743249003
• ISBN-13: 978-0743249003
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #560,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rich Beem and the PGA. It's Wild, But Not That Wild but Play-By-Play is Excellent!, April 30, 2007

By	Ronito (Alberta) - See all my reviews

The title of Alan Shipnuck's book, "Bud, Sweat, & Tees: Rich Beem's Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour" led me to believe that Beem and Duplantis (his caddie) were going to be the Motley Crue of the PGA Tour. They really seem like regular golfers to me...strippers and drinking by a golfer? It is called the 19th hole as far as the sport goes.

Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated gives a warning on the cover of the book that states: "Warning: Strippers, groupies, gambling, drinking: Someone forgot to tell Alan Shipnuck that books about golf are supposed to be boring". OK, there are some crazy times but this is not the best part of the book. In fact, this is the boring part of the story.

The best section of the book is the detailed play-by-play of Beems' win at The Kemper Open and activity thereafter. Shipnuck makes you feel like you are right there playing with Beem and Duplantis, he describes the smell of the golf course so well it's like Charles Dickens wrote it.

Details of family life, difficulty of travel, and general life on the road are also brilliantly explained. Life is not as sweet as one would believe when it comes to tour travel and Shipnuck captures this completely. The failures after a win will surprize anyone who reads this. Beem and Duplantis show that sometimes winning brings too much of what one has wished for. Shipnuck makes you think about what you would do in the same situation (if I could ever break 80!).

I think the "wildness" of this book has been a bit overemphasized, otherwise, it is an excellent read if you want to know the nitty-gritty of what it takes to make the big leagues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Party-Time Nearly Sunk Beem, October 22, 2007

By	J. Goodwin "Big Band Lover" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great story of life on the PGA Tour. It's also a story of a common man "who made it big" by winning tour events and a major.

But he was also a man who was immature and who nearly lost it all by partying too much. The good news: he eventually realized it and cleaned up his behavior.

I have never understood the "let's party all the time" and "get blasted every night" mentality. But it's sold to us every waking minute by beer commercials as the way to be the hippest, and coolest person around. Tragedies just waiting to happen, and Rich Beem came very close to being one. Drink up!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want it to end!, March 27, 2004

By	Eric R Williams "eric23775" (CA) - See all my reviews

Great book, If you ever had a competitive bone in your body, you will love this book. A perspective on golf from an everyday guy like you and me.