Great Golf: 150 Years of Essential Instruction from the Best Players, Teachers, and Writers of All Time [Hardcover]

Danny Peary (Editor), Allen F. Richardson (Editor), Gary Player (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

A century and a half of golf instruction, 127 great essays, 96 of the sport's best players, teachers, and writers

Nearly 150 years have passed since H. B. Farnie's The Golfer's Manual was published in Scotland. In all that time there has been no comprehensive book that brings together the classic lessons of the great players and teachers of the game and presents that wisdom in their own words-until now.

Here, in one elegantly designed and illustrated volume, the men and women who both pioneered and popularized the game of golf provide instruction in every aspect of the sport. From H. J. Whigham's unified swing theory (1897) to Ben Hogan's modern fundamentals; from Joyce Wethered on visualizing the shot to Lee Trevino on psyching out your opponent, the 127 original, idiosyncratic, and trailblazing essays in this book represent the very best instruction from 1857 to the present. Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, Harry Vardon, Butch Harmon, Bobby Jones, Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus, Harvey Penick, Sam Snead, Dr. Bob Rotella, and Annika Sorenstam are among the 96 authors whose contributions are included in this must-have addition to every golfer's library.
The only comprehensive book of the best classic golf lessons
60 instructional line drawings plus vintage photographs
All the greats of golf are included
Chapters devoted to each phase of the game link the great lessons together and put them in historical context, showing the evolution of the sport and of golf instruction
The perfect gift for every golfer, from the weekend duffer to the consummate pro

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Danny Peary is a sports historian and film critic who has written for newspapers, magazines and television, and has published eighteen books, including STC's 1,001 Reasons to Love(tm) Baseball. He lives in New York City.

Allen F. Richardson is an award-winning journalist who has worked both in America and overseas, and is the author of five books, including four on golf instruction. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158479464X
• ISBN-13: 978-1584794646
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,432,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a boy I was passionate about sports, movies, television, and music, and now I make my living by writing about each of these topics. Pretty amazing. I was born in West Virginia, grew up in South Carolina and New Jersey, got a B.A. in History at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an M.A. in Cinema at USC. I have been living in New York City since 1977 with my wife Suzanne (our married daughter Zoe and granddaughter Julianna live too far away in Maryland), publishing books and articles on movies and sports (mostly baseball). I watch an insane number of movies and politely root for the A's, Lakers, Giants, and UConn women in basketball. I am the writer-researcher on the long-running television interview show, "The Tim McCarver Show," and have done three books with Tim, who is a close friend. I also worked with the dear Ralph Kiner on his autobiography, "Baseball Forever." My twenty-first book, written with Tom Clavin, is my first biography, "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" for Touchstone/Simon&Schuster. We have a facebook fan page for the book, for which we interviewed 130 people. I also contribute celebrity interviews on brink.com and am the New York correspondent for the Australian magazine, "FilmInk." I love to write, but there's nothing more exciting than creating a project or more satisfying than finishing it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure of a Golf Book, March 22, 2006

By 

Cory Gann (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Golf: 150 Years of Essential Instruction from the Best Players, Teachers, and Writers of All Time (Hardcover)

I bought "Great Golf" because I wanted an instruction book that gave me the tips I was looking for but also kept me immersed in the words and images of the heros I grew up admiring: Snead, Hogan, Player, and my favorite: Dr. Cary Middlecoff. Little did I know my wife would also treasure this book. She took up golf two years ago, took lessons, and now is at a level where she can check the finer points against this historical chronicle of advise and instruction. She especially appreciates chapters from golf's women icons: Nancy Lopez, Babe Didrikson Zacharias, Anika Sorenstam, and others whose take on the game has a women's perspective. You wouldn't think an instruction book would be one that we just sit down and read and peruse through, but that's what "Great Golf" has us doing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to enjoy the history of golf, April 4, 2009

By 

Josh - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Great Golf: 150 Years of Essential Instruction from the Best Players, Teachers, and Writers of All Time (Hardcover)

A great book on the fundametals of golf. Very in depth and detailed. Need to understand the basics of golf before reading. Provides an insight to the orgin of the game and some the founding players.

4.0 out of 5 stars One "unique" book, June 13, 2007

By 

Beber Daniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Golf: 150 Years of Essential Instruction from the Best Players, Teachers, and Writers of All Time (Hardcover)

This book isn't recommended for beginning players, because it talks and describe a lot of topics along a widely year of golf... be cautioned when you read it. For advances player: it's an amazing book with "instruction and tips", added the gift that you can live years of golf.