Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Still reading, but thus far book is entertaining. It jumps around a bit, I guess necessary to tell both Rich Beem's back story before he went pro and Steve Duplantis'(Beem's caddie) and how the two ended up together. Didn't realize Steve Duplantis tragically passed away since book was written.

Couldn't stop reading.
Wish there was a part 2.
What a brilliant and intimate portrait of those two characters (Benn and Duplantis)
The only downer is that it doesn't cover Been's victory at the 2002 PGA National, although the victory at the Kemper (in his rookie year, coming from nowhere) is one of the most well written in the history of sports book.
Two thumbs up.

I went to high school with Rich and even knew him at university. This book is a very raw/honest look at Rich and Steve. I admire his honesty and how open he was in sharing his rookie year.

I'm not sure I could ever look at Rich the same way, but I know that I will always wish him great success. He is an amazing golfer.