Radical Golf: How to Lower Your Score and Raise Your Enjoyment of the Game [Paperback]

Michael Laughlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 1996

The next time you play golf leave your woods at home, putt with your 2-iron, and you will be on your way to shooting in the 70s.  Sounds radical?  Well, you're right on par!  Golf enthusiast Michael Laughlin, whose day job is in the film business, reveals his proven, but completely radical strategies that average golfers can use to dramatically lower their score.

In Radical Golf, Laughlin rethinks how the game of golf is traditionally played and shares his surprising and innovative ideas on how to play better golf.  Unlike the usual technique-riddled golf books, Radical Golf offers practical and easy-to-use tips, and is written for the legion of average players who will never have the long, crunching power game of the professional.  

"Golf is not a linear game," insists Laughlin, and "Scoring is definitely not related to advancing the ball as far as possible on each shot."
  
In this fun and accessible book, the radical golfer contends, for example, that players should approach the pin much like basketball players maneuver to shoot a basket by striving to shoot from their best, or "sweet" spot on the court.  Laughlin also suggests that golf should be played as two separate games (of tee-to-green and putts) and that golfers should keep a separate scorecard for their putting game.  Equally radical, Radical Golf calls for using a 2-iron for putts rather than the "dreaded" putter (the loft of the 2-iron matches the putter, "Calamity Jane," of legendary golfer Bobby Jones).  

Hole by hole, sensible shot after sensible shot, Radical Golf simulates a round of golf with a pro to show how a radical golfer can stay within strokes of par play.  Written in a witty and easy-to-understand style, with entertaining sidebars and line drawings, Radical Golf will revolutionize how golf is played both on and off the course.  Most of all, Radical Golf will increase the enjoyment of playing this great and challenging game.  Radical Golf is just the book that could become the bible of the weekend golfer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The next time you play golf leave your woods at home, putt with your 2-iron, and you will be on your way to shooting in the 70s. Sounds radical? Well, you're right on par! Golf enthusiast Michael Laughlin, whose day job is in the film business, reveals his proven, but completely radical strategies that average golfers can use to dramatically lower their score.

In Radical Golf, Laughlin rethinks how the game of golf is traditionally played and shares his surprising and innovative ideas on how to play better golf. Unlike the usual technique-riddled golf books, Radical Golf offers practical and easy-to-use tips, and is written for the legion of average players who will never have the long, crunching power game of the professional.

"Golf is not a linear game," insists Laughlin, and "Scoring is definitely not related to advancing the ball as far as possible on each shot."

In this fun and accessible book, the radical golfer contends, for example, that players should approach the pin much like basketball players maneuver to shoot a basket by striving to shoot from their best, or "sweet" spot on the court. Laughlin also suggests that golf should be played as two separate games (of tee-to-green and putts) and that golfers should keep a separate scorecard for their putting game. Equally radical, Radical Golf calls for using a 2-iron for putts rather than the "dreaded" putter (the loft of the 2-iron matches the putter, "Calamity Jane," of legendary golfer Bobby Jones).

Hole by hole, sensible shot after sensible shot, Radical Golf simulates a round of golf with a pro to show how a radical golfer can stay within strokes of par play. Written in a witty and easy-to-understand style, with entertaining sidebars and line drawings, Radical Golf will revolutionize how golf is played both on and off the course. Most of all, Radical Golf will increase the enjoyment of playing this great and challenging game. Radical Golf is just the book that could become the bible of the weekend golfer.

About the Author

Michael Laughlin, a successful producer, director, and screenwriter, whose latest screenplay, "Town and Country" starring Warren Beatty for New Line Pictures, will begin production this summer . . . is also a pretty good golfer.  After years of making films, he re-introduced himself to the game while on hiatus in Hawaii, and he virtually reinvented it, dismissing the traditional techniques, and surprisingly, lowered his scores and raised his level of enjoyment.  He decide to reveal the "radical" techniques in Radical Golf.  It could become the bible of the weekend golfer.

Rethinking traditional ways is not new to Laughlin.  For instance, he produced several non-mainstream films including "Two Lane Blacktop" (1971) which starred James Taylor and Warren Oates and was directed by Monte Hellman which had such an extraordinary screenplay that is was published in its entirety in Esquire magazine.  He wrote and directed the off-beat genre films "Strange Behavior" (1981) which starred Michael Murphy and Louise Fletcher, and "Strange Invaders" (1983), which starred Paul LeMat, Nancy Allen, and Wallace Shawn at a time when formulaic movies were more the trend.  These three movies, "radical" for their time, are now considered cult classics.

After graduating Principia College in Illinois, he decided to attend law school at UCLA so he could be closer to Hollywood and the movies.  By the age of twenty-five, after a short career producing musical concerts in colleges, Laughlin dismissed his law career and moved to London where he began producing movies including "The Whisperers," with Dame Edith Evans who was nominated for an Academy Award.  "Joanna" a pop art movie which he produced for Fox, starred Donald Sutherland and took him to the Cannes Film Festival where he met the actress Leslie Caron.  There was a brief courtship and they married in Jamaica and then moved to Hollywood where Laughlin continued his producing career.

After an eight-year marriage, Laughlin moved back to Europe where he lived in London, Paris, and Italy.  In the early 80's, now living with the novelist, Susanna Moore (My Old Sweetheart, In the Cut), and her young daughter, Lulu, he settled in New York where he took another challenge and began writing and directing films.  Aside from "Strange Behavior" and "Strange Invaders," both of which received critical acclaim, he wrote and directed the thriller "Mesmerized" which starred Jodie Foster and John Lithgow, about a young bride in New Zealand at the turn of the century.

Future projects for Laughlin include more books about other sports, and of course, he is working on several screenplays.  Michael Laughlin lives in New York City, Los Angeles, and Kauai.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (May 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051788626X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517886267
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,161,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get more enjoyment out of your golf game., July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Radical Golf: How to Lower Your Score and Raise Your Enjoyment of the Game (Paperback)

The premise behind this book is simplicity and it is written so anyone can implement its system. The basic idea is to manage the course and not the other way around. Put yourself in position to hit a short wedge into the green as many times as you can (your free throw shot) and practice your free throw often. The book challenges your traditional thinking of the game (i.e. hit the ball as far as you can). I was a little hesitant at first to try it out but found that while my buddies teed off with woods on every hole, I hit a 3 iron and was in play consistently while they consistently scattered around the course to play their shots. The simplicity of the radical golf concept is to play the ball rather than just hit it. Plan your game so that you are in position to hit failiar shots.

This book is for the average golfer who watches tournaments on TV and thinks (erroneously) that he/she can duplicate what they see on the screen. They can't and end up hacking around the course muttering about their clubs or what ever else they want to blame their game on. You can do more for your golf game with this $12 book than spending hundreds of dollars on oversized clubs and space aged putters. After finishing this book you really begin to realize that golf is 90% between your ears.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best golf bookk I have ever read., November 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Radical Golf: How to Lower Your Score and Raise Your Enjoyment of the Game (Paperback)

The book is so good, I would like a lesson. any information you can supply about Michael Laughlin, I would appreciate. I'm sure he's a good player. I'll bet he plays tennis as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific golf book, December 24, 2002

By 

Ben C. Garrett (Dallas, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radical Golf: How to Lower Your Score and Raise Your Enjoyment of the Game (Paperback)

Michael Laughlin has written a terrific book. It's amusing, fun to read, and teaches you not only how to cut strokes from your game, but also how to increase your enjoyment of the game. Most golf books are too technical, discuss the mechanics of the golf swing, and want you to improve by changing your swing. For the vast majority of players, this simply doesn't work well. You are pretty much stuck with the swing you now have, unless you take lessons from a golf pro and practice a lot. You might as well make the best of the swing you have. Michael teaches you the quick way to improve your game - by using course management and working smarter, not harder.

As an example, I played a lot of golf as a kid, and always assumed that it made sense to hit the ball as far down the fairway as possible on each shot. On a 410 yard hole with an elevated green, and an out-of-bounds all the way down the right side of the fairway, I would hit a driver, then a long iron. Sometimes I would be on the green, but more often I would hit into a greenside trap or hit the slope near the green and bounce 30 yards away, into the rough, with a difficult pitch shot to follow. Michael shows that it might make a lot more sense to hit a smooth 5 iron off the tee, then another safe 5 iron down the middle, to set up a simple 80 yard wedge shot onto the green. His point is that the 80 yard full-swing wedge shot from the middle of the fairway may well be easier to get close to the hole than the 30 yard finesse shot from the rough, even though you are hitting the full-swing wedge shot from 50 yards farther away from the hole. Thus, he puts great emphasis on planning, before you tee off, where you want to hit your approach shot from. He even has some great tips about planning your entire round before you tee off, simply by looking at the scorecard. Some sample chapters are titled: "Thinking Your Way Around the Course", "When To Play Short? When To Hit It," and "How To Break Down A Course For Playing A Round."

Michael appears to be a character. He is a writer, producer and director of several Hollywood films, as a kid knew Dean Martin, and was evidently married to Leslie Caron (according to Imdb.com)! I don't know about you, but I just instinctively trust someone with that pedigree. Needless to say, he charms as he goes along, advising the reader to "Dress well - play well," eat chocolate and fall in love. He even has a helpful, very short chapter on how to evaluate your fiancé based on her opinion about the game of golf. This is in addition to his sage advice about how to cure hiccups and "What To Do When You're Not Playing Golf."

The bottom line: I've read a lot of golf books. This is a terrific book. It is fun to read, but make no mistake -- there is plenty of extremely useful information here that will help you improve your score immediately. I believe that for most players, even those who already shoot in the low 80's or high 70's, Michael's approach will immediately lower your score and increase your fun quotient. If you feel the need for a more serious book, pair Michael's book with David Pelz's Short Game Bible, and you have an unbeatable combo.